If you're a new parent or expecting to have children in the near future, there are ways to make your home a better environment for your family. This goes beyond simply purchasing safety locks for your kitchen cabinets. The right floor plan and dcor choices can save you a lot of trouble in the future as you take care of your babies and raise your family. Here are some tips for working with your contractor to create a child-friendly new home:

Keep the bedrooms on the same level.

Baby monitors allow you to hear your baby at night, even if he or she is sleeping in the basement while you're on the third floor. However, as your child grows, there will be times when he or she will need you at night after a scary dream or when insomnia strikes. When that happens, you don't want your child to have to climb stairs or navigate a dark house to find you. Instead, keep all of the bedrooms on the same level of your home with at least one of them close to your master bedroom or suite.

Beware of sharp corners in your kitchen.

Your children will fall and get hurt from time to time. You can minimize the danger, however, by making sure that you countertops and tables in the kitchen are rounded instead of coming to sharp points at the corners. Kitchens are most notorious for accidents because of all the hard surfaces, but take these same ideas to other parts of your home as well, opting for round end tables or oval coffee tables whenever possible.

Aim to please with your bathrooms.

With a growing family, the bathroom situation can get tricky in a hurry. If you have a master bathroom, there should be at least two others in the house-one for the rest of your family and one for guests. You should also consider placing your bathrooms on multiple levels. When you're potty-training children, it comes in handy to have a bathroom very close to you at all times! As you're planning the bathrooms, make sure that one of them (other than your mater) has a bathtub. It will probably be several years before your child starts taking showers.

Create a space for entertaining.

Just because you're a parent doesn't mean that you can't have fun. A space to entertain is crucial in your house, be it a living room, a game room, a home theatre, or a refinished basement. Try to plan this space as far away from the bedrooms as possible. That way, if the kids have to go to bed, your guests don't have to whisper in the next room. A space for entertaining will also be extremely important as your children grow. It gives them a place to hang out with their friends that is less awkward than a bedroom but still gives them a bit of privacy.

Stay safe with the stairs.

With small children, stairs can be a hug hazard. Most homes have at least one set of stairs, and unless you specifically want a ranch, there's no reason to avoid stairs just because you want to have kids someday-just plan the stairs with safety in mind. Make sure there's a lockable door if you have stairs leading to a basement, and use rails that are safe for all ages. You should also consider carpeting your stairs to prevent slips and adding gates to the tops and bottoms of staircases that can be removed when your children are old enough.

Decorate rooms to grow.

It can be frustrating for your teenage son to live in a bedroom that is painted powder blue and has teddy bears and balloons on the ceiling. While your decor choices may look sweet when your baby is still in diapers, unless you're willing to shell out the money for a makeover every few years, it pays to decorate with the future in mind. Paint the walls a neutral color and add accessories that can be easily and inexpensively exchanged as your child grows.

Forget formal spaces, for the most part.

Formal spaces, like formal dining rooms or formal living rooms, just don't lend themselves well to a busy family. You don't have to give up these spaces completely if you're in love with the idea of more traditional rooms, but make sure that there are plenty of places for casual living as well in the home. Otherwise, that expensive carpet will be covered in drool and those large formal area rugs under your dining room table will have spaghetti stains.

Just because you have a family doesn't mean that you have to totally compromise the space you create for yourself. It's all about being practical. Build or buy a house that is safe for your family and can evolve as everyone gets older.

Arranging living room furniture can be quite a tricky task especially for people who are redoing this area of the home for the first time. Designing the living room also needs careful planning because there are factors to consider in arranging your furniture such as having enough space between the occasional table and sofa for people to be able to pass through. It is not as simple as selecting Vancouver furniture in the hope that it will fit when the furniture arrives. To be able to create the perfect living room space, it is important to classify the kinds of living room furniture that one can incorporate in this area.

The sofa or couch and chairs are the biggest items that usually make up the living room. These are usually used for seating but there are certain kinds of sofas such as day beds that can be converted into a full-sized bed when not in use. Sofas can be large or small depending on how many people it can seat. When choosing a sofa, consider the scale because it can quickly overshadow smaller furniture pieces. Also consider how it will be used on a day to day basis to determine the kind of durability you are looking for.

Area rugs are a great way to define the living room space or seating area. These can small or large depending on personal choice but in general, an area rug is supposed to be able to accommodate the furniture in the living room. They are also great for protecting small living room furniture from collecting dirt such as bean bags.

Coffee tables are usually placed in the middle of conversation areas or in at the centre of sofas and chairs. Ideally, the height of a coffee table should be a little bit lower than the height of the sofas and chairs surrounding it. The ideal length should also be half or two thirds of the sofa. In modern living rooms sometimes, ottomans or smaller tables replace the coffee table but most are for decorative purposes only. If you are one who likes having coffee, tea or dessert in your living room area, the coffee table is a practical solution.

Side tables are not so important but this will depend if your coffee table can accommodate how much seating you have. These are ideal for chairs that are too far from the coffee table. They can also be used to display lamps and books depending on your liking.

To be able to correctly arrange your living room furniture it is imperative to establish the central or focal point of the room so you know exactly how to arrange your furniture around it. This can be fireplace, a big window or technology related equipment such as a plasma television or a home theatre. It can also be artwork you would like to display such as a nice painting, a mural or art pieces such as statues and sculptures. Try to arrange the furniture in such a way that guests, friends and family members can converse comfortably without having to lean over or raise their voices to be heard.

In large rooms, it will be ideal to create more conversation areas or a separate area for your home theatre so if someone in your family wants to watch television while you want to entertain friends, you would not be bothered. Also consider foot traffic so people do not accidentally bump into your coffee or occasional table while passing through. Create enough space so people can walk back and forth comfortably and so you eliminate the risk of accidents. Imagine that treasuring that ornate antique vase sitting on top of your Vancouver furniture only to shatter in pieces because somebody accidentally bumped into your furniture. Also, try not putting furniture against the wall because this is something that you would really like to display just like you would an art piece. After all, the reason why people buy furniture is not limited to practicality but to also show them off. There is no use backing them to a wall where people cannot see and appreciate its beauty. Beautiful furniture deserve to praised so do not make the mistake of hiding them.

The common place where people are spending more money very recently are the houses. The house is the best place where people can rest them after a long day in office with loads of work. More money is spent in the houses for the preferences to be done which is required by the people.

The professionals are being paid heavily for making their preferences in their home but one can maintain his home by himself which is not done. The houses decorated by the professionals will have the taste of his own thinking in our houses which will not really please the people instead of it if its done by oneself we can feel the heaven in our houses.

The kitchen and the gardens is the most important places where we can improve in our houses. The place where we consume food is the kitchen so its very important that we maintain our kitchen properly. There should be improvement in the kitchen. The professionals are the one's who give a complete look to the kitchen in our home because they give a good interior to it so we cannot have a complete kitchen only with the latest appliances.

Garden is the second most important place in the houses. To get fresh air in our houses without any pollutants it is a must that every house should have a garden. The integral part in the houses is the garden. The home and garden tips is available in the internet but its better we hire a gardener with experience to maintain the place. The gardener is a must only if we have a huge garden.

It is better that people go for home and garden tips in the internet to maintain the gardens available in flats of various buildings. The best place to spend time with family and friends is our houses but it can be done only by searching the internet for home and garden tips. The house can be completely worth living by using all the kitchen home improvement.