Dec 2, 2010
By New England Design and Construction
Child proofing your house tips
Once you start raising a family, there’s a lot you have to consider when you redecorate. You have to consider the safety of the child but you also have to consider the fact you wouldn’t want your entire house look like a day care.
So the main areas of concern are the cabinetry, appliances, electrical outlets, and bookshelves.
For cabinets, you should consider buying cabinet latches. Cabinets are usually full of hazardous cleaning supplies. Same thing goes for appliances such as the refrigerator. Make sure anything reachable put a latch on it. They range from 3-5 dollars each and come in different forms, the ones that are hidden are the more expensive type compared to your typical latch like the first picture.
Then consider anchoring down your bookshelves or using L brackets to screw your bookshelves into the stud of the wall. There have been many cases of bookshelves falling over due to kids climbing on them so don’t think just because it “seems” sturdy it wouldn’t fall over.
Outlet covers are another must have in your house. Any little corner where a toddler may crawl next to, and any exposing wire ( example, where the T.V. is generally has the most condensed amount of wires) stick a cover onto it. Very handy since you can still run wires through it.
For even more protector, get some cord protectors. Kids will literally chew/eat anything…..
Something you should also consider is your entertainment area, where the T.V sits usually is reachable to children. Try either increasing the height of the T.V. so when kids reach over then can’t actually touch the T.V.
And regardless where the stairs leads to…. ALWAYS PUT A GATE UP! And gate anywhere they would be potentially lead to somewhere unsafe for a child like fireplaces and in the kitchen area.
Also, move your lamps and lighting in a location where kids cant reach. They are the easiest thing to knock over. Just be super aware of things that will knock over. Go around your house and just look for things that can be reachable and knocked over and place them in safer areas or higher places.
Now, that you have some baby protection going on, consider now how each rooms will be used. You want things to be elegant but still last against food spillage and tossing, and vomiting, and many others. Meaning when you choose furniture or covers by aware of the type of stains that may appear or even just buy covers for all furnitures. Reconfigure your spaces to have the maximum amount of space. So there’s more open room to run around and not hit themselves on furniture and ends of tables.
Consider the drapes you have. Long dangling on can be prone to accidents and kids can easily trip and fall on them. And when you buy coloring sets and art supplies make sure you always buy washable, you wouldn’t want your walls to be covered with scribbles.
To protect your hardwood flooring buy some area rugs for play areas. Not only do they cover up spills and such it’ll protect the children from a softer landing if they tend to fall over a lot when they play.
you can always ask us any questions on nedb.jasonridesabike.com
or read our past articles on https://www.nedesignbuild.com/blog/