When it comes to living spaces, they have to work hard. Not only are they the centre of most homes but they are also for lounging, entertaining and playing.

It can be a challenge because you want one that’s going to be beautiful and comfortable. Add children and pets to the mix and you’ve got a space that needs to work double, or maybe even triple duty! So today I wanted to share a few tips for creating a space that caters to a family, in collaboration with Sunbrella who make incredible performance fabrics that look great and stand the test of time for families.

Tips For Creating A Family Friendly Living Room

Opt for Durable Fabrics

No matter how careful you are, accidents happen – like spills, smudges or craft projects gone awry. So make it easier on yourself and your family by choosing good quality durable fabrics for sofas, ottomans and cushions. Here are some things to consider:

Always opt for high quality fabrics where you can, performance fabrics like those made by Sunbrella are specifically designed to be stain and moisture resistant, and be washable.
Choose a fabric with a grain or light speckled pattern, which will also help to disguise any accidents that happen.
Consider darker fabrics for items of furniture that can’t be easily washed, marks and spills will be a lot less obvious.
Slipcovers are another great choice for the living room. When accidents happen, simply pull off the cover and toss it into the wash.

Choose Soft Corners

When it comes to coffee tables, the arms of chairs or other hard surfaces, opt for softer upholstered styles that won’t cause so much injury if a child falls or trips onto it. An upholstered ottoman is great as a coffee table!

Think Storage

When you’ve got a family, you can never have too much storage. Look for pieces of furniture that do double duty and include storage like an ottoman or coffee table that has a lid and a place to store things inside.

Secure Shelves to Walls

Make sure to secure any item of furniture that could fall onto a child to the wall. I do this using small L brackets on the sides of bookshelves, cabinets and consoles.

Enjoy Your Space

At the end of the day, you want a space that is conducive to making great memories with the whole family. So it’s worth investing in furnishings and decor that are durable as well as being aesthetically pleasing, so that everyone can relax and be themselves.

Updating Our Space

I love our open space living space, but recently decided it was time to refresh the space to make it better for Frankie – we have a gorgeous marble coffee table that looks so lovely but isn’t ideal when it comes to how she uses the space. I decided it was time to put an ottoman in the space that would act as both coffee table, footstool and as a softer landing for her unpredictable toddler behaviour. I got an old ottoman that my parents had in their garage, it has seen much better days! I checked the height and worked out it would be a great coffee table, it just needed to be recovered. I picked this gorgeous Sunbrella Blend Clay fabric, I liked the darker tone and I also knew the speckled nature of the fabric would be better for hiding small stains which always happen with children around. We’ll be sharing the tutorial for this ottoman epicycle shortly! The best thing about this fabric is that it can be machine washed, is stain repellent and can easily be spot cleaned. How great! I love how this colour looks in the space and it is such a comfortable addition.