Just because you’re decorating your living room with your kids in mind doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style. Here are some of the best kid-friendly living room furniture ideas to help you design the home of your family’s dreams.
Bring on the Area Rug
Area rugs have a wide range of functional and stylistic uses that can be especially important in designing a kid-friendly living room. Not only will placing an area rug on the floor of your living room create extra padding that can protect kids when they fall, but area rugs can also protect the flooring underneath from spills and scratches. In fact, because area rugs can be sent away to be professionally cleaned, it even makes sense to use an area rug if you have carpeting in your living room. Plus, area rugs can help prevent echoes and stifle some of the sound that tends to accompany children’s play.
If you do decide to decorate with an area rug, make sure to use a rug pad. In addition to providing extra padding that could help protect your kids when they inevitably slip and fall, a non slip rug pad can also prevent the rug from sliding and bunching up at the corners, which can be a huge hazard to kids and adults who walk (or run!) through the room.
Pay Attention to Upholstery
Let’s face it, kids make messes. From spilled drinks and sticky hands to roughhousing and accidents, there’s no escaping the destructive powers of young kids. That’s why one of our best kid-friendly living room furniture ideas involves choosing the right upholstery for your sectionals, sofas, loveseats, accent chairs, and recliners.
Synthetic upholsteries tend to be the best option for kid-friendly, pet-friendly upholstery. Ultrasuede, while a bit pricey, has a tight weave that won’t tear easily, is odor-resistant, and is easy to clean. Microfiber offers many of the same perks at a lower price point, making it a favorite for parents and pet owners. Leather, while natural, is also a great option for families with kids and/or pets, as it’s stylish, durable, and easy to clean. Plus, distressed leather can easily hide scratches and marks that would likely show up on other types of upholstery.
Choose Dark Colors
When it comes to kid-friendly living room furniture, dark colors are key. While the type of upholstery can determine how durable and easy-to-clean your furniture will be, the color of the upholstery can also make a big difference. In general, you’ll want to choose dark-colored or patterned upholstery when possible. The same goes for rugs and other fabric accessories. Because dark colors and patterns hide stains especially well, choosing a dark or patterned couch or rug means less stress when your children are eating, drinking, or crafting in the living room.
Cover Up with a Slipcover
If you already have a light sofa that isn’t particularly kid-friendly, that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a stained, ripped sofa for the duration of your kid’s childhood. Slipcovers offer an easy, convenient, and oftentimes affordable solution. Sofa slipcovers come in a wide range of styles and sizes. As their name implies, they slip over the upholstery on your sofa, protecting it from spills, dirt, and tears. When it gets dirty or stained, you can spot-clean with a water-based solution or have it cleaned by a professional upholstery cleaning service before putting it right back where it was. While slipcovers can be somewhat expensive, they’re more affordable than having to replace an entire sofa, and they can ease stress for parents who are constantly having to police their children around the furniture. Plus, if you don’t like the style of the slipcover, it can quickly and easily be removed when company comes over or can be replaced every few years for a fresh, new look.
Skip the Sharp Corners
When it comes to kid-friendly furniture ideas, avoiding sharp corners is key, especially if you have siblings who like to roughhouse with each other. Round coffee tables and end tables can serve the same functional and stylistic purposes without the sharp corners that can quickly lead to a trip to the emergency room for stitches. You can even find square and rectangular tables that have rounded corners, which can be less harmful to kids who bump into or fall into the corner of the table. Because children tend to climb, you’ll also want to make sure any decorative tables are sturdy and durable.
Replace the Coffee Table with an Ottoman
Even a round table could have a hard or glass surface that can be dangerous for small children, which is why replacing your coffee table with an ottoman or two is one of the best kid-friendly living room furniture ideas on our list. Not only can a storage ottoman serve many of the same functions as a coffee table, but they come with a naturally soft shell to cushion kids’ falls and built-in storage for the toys that seem to overtake the floor once you have kids. Plus, you can always purchase a stylish tray to set on the table when you’re eating or drinking and need something a bit more stable.
Spring for the Sofa Table
Sofa tables are long, narrow tables that are placed along the back of a sofa. Whether you decide to ditch the coffee table to make more play space for the kids or you simply don’t trust your little ones not to knock over a drink from the coffee table, a sofa table gives you some additional options. Not only will your drink be safer out of their play zone, but sofa tables can also offer extra storage space for the toys, extra seating space for homework, and can help create a visual divider in open floor plans.
Go for Low Profile
Kids are small, and low furniture can make your living room more welcoming to your smallest family members. Whether you’re looking at a low-profile sofa or a short coffee table, keeping your furniture low to the ground can make it easier for kids to reach and safer if they fall, thus helping them learn to be more independent. Plus, low-profile furniture looks great in a modern living room, so you won’t have to sacrifice on style.
Make Use of Storage Furniture
It’s no secret that kids can be messy. In fact, young kids tend to come with their own personal barrage of “stuff,” including toys, puzzles, books, diapers, tablets, etc. That’s why one of our favorite kid-friendly living room furniture ideas involves taking advantage of storage furniture. While some storage furniture, like storage bins, cubes, and bookshelves, tend to have one use, other items like storage ottomans, storage benches, and storage coffee tables serve multiple purposes. Because they have multiple uses, these multipurpose storage items can help you save space without sacrificing organization. That’s why using some combination of these two types of storage furniture in your house can help maintain some of the chaos and clutter that naturally accompanies children.
Not sure how to get your kids to keep things organized? The first step is having a clear and precise place for everything. Before deciding which items will go where, it’s important for you as a parent to think things through and let kids know where it makes the most sense to store their items, otherwise, it’s hard for them to even determine how to start cleaning up.
Sprinkle in Extra Seating
One of the best kid-friendly living room furniture ideas involves adding some patterned poufs and colorful floor pillows to your living room décor. Not only will they give your kids comfortable, low-to-the-ground spots to use their imagination, play, read, or watch a movie, but the splash of color and pattern can take your living room to the next level. Plus, having these kid-friendly seating options might even open up additional room on the couch for the taller residents of your home and protect your more expensive furniture from the wear, tears, and spills that accompany small kids.
Child-Proof Your Bookshelves
Young kids tend to climb when they can’t reach what they want. That’s why it’s so important to anchor your bookshelves to the wall. Otherwise, an attempt to reach a book on a high shelf could lead the whole bookcase to fall onto your child. In addition to anchoring your bookshelves to the wall, you’ll also want to thoughtfully arrange what’s stored there. Any breakables or non-kid-friendly items should be placed on the higher shelves, while anything you want the kids to be able to access should be on the lower shelves. This will help discourage climbing, as they’ll be able to reach the things they want and need. You can also use lower shelves for storage and higher shelves for display purposes, effectively organizing and decorating your home all in one.
Invest in a Rocker
Expecting a child? Investing in a rocker or glider recliner for your living room can mean an easier time getting your child to sleep at naptime and bedtime. It can even help calm them down when they’re fussy. Plus, many power recliners now come with charging capabilities and/or heating and massage capabilities, which come in handy when you’re facing those early nights of sleeplessness because of the baby’s sleep and feeding schedule.
Embrace Minimalism
From toys and puzzles to books and homework, kids tend to have a lot of stuff. That’s why decorating your living room in the minimalist style can help things feel less cluttered and chaotic, even when the kids have their toys out. To get that minimalist look, be on the lookout for multi-purpose storage furniture that serves several roles without taking up a ton of space.
Decorate with Kids Books & Art
Because picture books have such beautiful covers, displaying them on your shelves is a great way to add color and visual interest to your living room while also making the room more welcoming and exciting to your kids. You can also buy some nice frames for some of their best artwork, which you can hang thoughtfully on the walls. Not only will it make your kids feel special to see their artwork hanging in a frame, but it will add color and character to your living room. You can also easily switch out new artwork as they get older, which will give them some inspiration to get creative. Looking for more of the best kid-friendly living room furniture ideas? Visit a Star Furniture store near you to browse our huge selection of living room furniture. You can also take advantage of our free interior design services to help answer any of your décor questions. In the meantime, check out our home design blog where we cover everything from family room ideas to help you spend more time together to how to choose a mattress for a child.