You Should Let Your Kids Design Your Home — Here’s Why

After months of planning and pinning, you and your family are ready to give your home a refresh. Now for the fun part: dreaming up how your family wants to use this space!

Before you get started, consider this: Nearly 80 percent of parents polled in a Northwestern Mutual survey said their families would spend more quality time together in a space inspired by their children’s ideas — and more than half believe their kids are more creative sources for home design than outside sources.

Here's how to tap everyone’s creativity and vision — yes, even the little ones — to bring your home to life.

1. GET THE WHOLE FAMILY INVOLVED

Gathering ideas from every member of the family helps ensure that your space is one where everyone is excited to spend time together. It can also be a fun activity! To start, have each family member help create a wish list for the space. What are each person’s hobbies and interests? What are your favorite activities to share as a family? What are some of your favorite memories together?

Work as a group to assign some adjectives that describe how you want to feel in the space. Do you want the family room to be a place to relax and unwind? The center of activity? Bouncing your ideas off each other is a great way to get everyone involved and on the same page.

Even the most out-of-the-box ideas can inspire a shared space that brings everyone together.

2. SHARE VISION BOARDS

Next, have everyone pull their own design inspiration together, whether through Pinterest, Instagram, magazines or blogs. To really spark your family’s imaginations, you can even go beyond what’s already out there and have the kids draw what their ultimate home experience would look like. You might be surprised by their creativity. Even the most out-of-the-box ideas can inspire a shared space that brings everyone together.

3. BRING IT TO LIFE

Once you have everyone’s ideas, it’s time to bring your vision to life. No matter the size of your budget, there are creative ways to showcase your family’s personality and interests. For example, if you have aspiring artists in the family, a wall of chalkboard paint is an easy way to create the perfect space for a group mural — or a quick round of family tic-tac-toe. Have a family of movie buffs? You could gather plenty of comfy blankets and cushions and queue up a home theater system for weekend movie nights. Want your living room to be the center of activity in your home? Try outfitting it with open seating, multifunctional storage and plenty of space to spread out for lively game nights.

If you have trouble agreeing on a shared activity, you can always mix and match to accommodate different opinions and personalities. For instance, maybe a cozy reading fort can be stowed to make way for an artist’s easel when the mood strikes. What’s important is that everyone feels, well, at home — and excited to spend time together as a family, creating memories you'll never forget.