I saw a story on the ABC news (below) about families living in apartments. Due to affordability and supply, more families are looking at apartments instead of houses. The problem is that many apartments haven’t been designed for families in mind. Here’s how to create a family friendly apartment.
Apartment size doesn’t matter
In Australia we think that size matters. The bigger the home the better. But, I’ve mentioned previously, people in Europe have lived in small apartments for many more years than we have. They have also been raising families in apartments for a long time.
But I’m also remembering my Godparents’ house. So many European migrants came to Australia and lived and raised families in flats and units. My Godparents still live in a Mid-Century Modern two bedroom one bathroom house.
Their sons shared a room. Their house has a small back yard so as kids we played on the street, and the local park. A small corner kitchen, still managed to help feed an extended family for Greek Easter feasts. It’s doable.
More space, means more stuff. It’s the stuff that comprises functionality not the size of your apartment.
Trish Khoury, Interior Designer, Grace Interior Designs
Even my parents were in a two bedroom villa unit for many years. With two kids, grand mother and aunt recently moved from Egypt. Maybe because money wasn’t plentiful and we didn’t have a lot of stuff but we managed. In fact we didn’t think twice about it.
In short families can happily exist in apartments with a change in mindset and limited stuff.
Apartment tips for family friendly living
In the ABC news story I saw the mother being interviewed complained about the following;
- daughter’s room too small,
- not enough kitchen counter space,
- hot oven door below the counter,
- children easily opening sliding door to balcony,
- bringing in the shopping from a basement garage with kids, shopping bags and broken lift.
All of this is valid. But the oven can be changed. To a kid friendly oven door with heat resistance. The sliding door lock can be changed. To a pull pin that is installed in the frame. Out of reach of children. Extra counter space can be found in the kitchen if you work with an interior designer.
In my Southbank apartment project I increased the counter space by changing the kitchen layout. With good interior design it’s possible to increase counter space in your apartment kitchen.
Indeed apartment bedrooms are small. But this is where the idea of the third space comes into consideration. Other places than the apartment to spend time. Such as parks, café, libraries.
In Europe the piazza is the central hub of a neighbourhood for a reason. While we don’t have piazza’s we do have other spaces in community to use.
For families to successfully live in an apartment we need to change our ideas about home. And instead of being sedentary and spending hours and hours in our homes view the community as extensions of home.
We also need to consume and buy less. Things like toy libraries are great. Regular decluttering is important. Less stuff is vital for family friendly apartments.
Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash
