Transform Your Garage Into The Perfect Children's Play Shed

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If you’ve got a garage that you’re not using for much other than to store junk, and kids that just love to make a mess, why not consider transforming your garage into the perfect children’s play shed? There are a few things you’ll need to do before it’s suitable to play in, and some considerations you’ll need to make along the way. Read on if this sounds like something you and your children would like!

Choosing A Theme 

If you want to transform your garage into a playroom, first consider the sort of theme that you want to create. This will depend largely on your kids, what they are into, and how long you think they’ll be using the space. Turning it into a room based on their favorite kids' TV show is all well and good, but you need to remember that kids change their minds and grow out of things quickly. It might simply be better to go with a theme or decor idea that will last much longer, so you don’t have to redecorate every year. 

If your children are old enough, you could even get them involved by asking them what colors to use. That is if you’re not having the playroom as a surprise! 

Making The Garage Suitable For Children

The garage isn’t often the most suitable place for children to play. This means you’ll need to make some changes before you can let them go in and play out their wildest dreams! Consider the temperature of the garage to start. If it’s freezing, there are ways you can insulate it to make it a more suitable temperature for kids to play. Of course, there are also personal heaters you can use. 

Making sure the garage is clean and tidy is important, so set about having a huge clean and clear out. Ensure there are no pests lurking that could pose a danger to your kids. You may need to get professional squirrel removal or find a similar service. Having the room assessed by a pro could be a good idea, as you may miss some of the signs of an infestation.

The flooring in the garage is crucial. Concrete is fine for parking your car on, but for your kids to play on? Nope! You can look at replacing the floor you have with laminate or carpet. Carpet is the best option if you want something soft and warm that your kids will avoid hurting themselves on. It’s also a great noise muffler, so you’re not going to hear excited cries from your children as they play, and neither will your neighbors. Bear in mind a dark color is usually best, as you won’t always be able to oversee their playtime and make sure they’re not spilling things! If you’d rather not install a carpet permanently, you could purchase a large rug or something to soften and warm up the floor instead. This way, once your kids have grown up, it won’t be too much trouble to remove them and continue using the garage for your car. 

Thinking about installing windows is also a good idea. After all, wouldn’t you like your kids to play somewhere light and airy? Natural light is important for health and development! Installing windows won’t be cheap, but it’ll make all the difference to the play shed. 

Installing a secure TV is another good option. If you also provide comfortable seating, then your kids will able to enjoy their programs and films here, without disturbing you as you watch yours. The TV must be secure, as kids can get a little rowdy at times and you’d hate to find it smashed to smithereens one day. Attaching it to the wall could be a good idea for this reason. 

Lastly, it may be a good idea to get down to your kids level and assess what needs to be changed from there. Are there ways you can childproof the shed further? What will they likely see/bump into when they enter? 

Hiring A Decorator Vs. DIY

Consider how much time you have to dedicate to this project, as well as the budget you’ll allow. This will help you to decide whether hiring a decorator or doing it yourself is a good idea. While hiring a decorator is more expensive, you’ll likely have the play shed up and running much sooner, not to mention completely to a higher standard. Make sure you spend as much as you can afford - don’t automatically go for the cheapest decorator. 

This play shed will be somewhere your kids make memories to last a lifetime, so you want it to look suitable. 

Getting As Organized As Possible

Finally, getting organized is a must. Your kids have plenty of toys, books, arts, crafts, and other items that you’ll want to store. Being as organized as possible is the only way to ensure that the room stays tidy, even when you’re not there to supervise. Stacking boxes are the perfect solution for this, depending on how much stuff you have to store. Make sure you label absolutely everything so that your kids have no excuse for making a mess when looking for certain things or putting things back in the wrong place. 

Ensuring Your Children’s Safety

While childproofing, as mentioned before, can keep the play shed safe, you’ll also want to take other safety precautions to ensure that your kids are as safe as can be while playing. Make sure there are no cords or anything that they can get tangled up in, and install alarms so that you are alerted should anything happen. 

The perfect children’s play shed will be comfortable, warm, look great, and be as safe as possible. You don’t want to have to worry about your kids when they’re supposed to be having fun! Take some of the tips here and you’ll end up with a room that both you and your kids fall in love with. 

Leave your own thoughts and ideas below!

Fine-Tuning Your Home For A Toddler

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Getting yourself a new home is fantastic, it's a new start, and it's a great opportunity to make this home a much safer one, especially if you have a young family. A lot of modern parents have to rent properties a lot of the time, meaning they can only make superficial changes to the house. So if your last home was a bit cramped with lots of items piling up everywhere, what can you do to make it safe, and more importantly, livable for you and your toddlers? Toddlers are very keen to get themselves into dangerous situations of course, so here are a few little nuggets of information to take on board.

Removing Trip Hazards 

There are wires everywhere now, from your television to your iPad, to your laptop, to everything. The one main thing to take away from this is not just to tuck the cables behind things because you know that your toddler can get into so many small spaces, but they will be grabbing those wires and chewing them before you can say Paw Patrol! Instead, cable ties are the way forward, they are cheap, and they will keep everything together. The other trip hazard is usually the toys that your children take out of the toy box and leave everywhere, so a solid solution to this is to create a playpen area where your children can make as much mess as possible. If you can try and limit it to their room, that would be great. The other main thing to be aware of is putting the expensive items out of reach. So this means making the most of the shelves, and putting up shelving where you can, during the first few years of any kids life, danger hazards are everywhere!

The Electrics 

Children love to stick their fingers in sockets so you can purchase some socket covers that go over your plugs easily, which will give you peace of mind. It's also important to check the voltage, and usually, the sockets are low voltage nowadays, but if you have moved into an old house, there is no point in running the risk. Make sure you get the lowdown on the best electricians in your area, for them to do a check on the electrics in your home. The other thing to think about is making sure that large bulky electrical items are stable and secure, such as the television, especially as these high-definition televisions now are very thin and can be easily pushed over. It's important to develop boundaries with your child in this respect (if they will listen to you)!

Baby Gates 

A lot of baby gates aren't built to last, so make sure you get strong ones. If you've got a strong toddler, they will be opening them soon enough. So if you can get good quality ones at the outset, this will give you a bit more peace of mind before they develop that superhuman strength! It is also important to be aware of them climbing over things when they are tall enough, so make sure the baby gates are at the bottom of the steps, not at the top.

The Bathroom 

There are plenty of slippery surfaces in the bathroom, and this applies to every room when you clean your home, and if you've got laminate flooring or material that takes a long time to dry. In the bathroom, the slippery-ness of these surfaces will be a big factor in accidents, so make sure you put down rugs as well as bath mats in the bath.

The safety of your children is always something that will cross your mind, but do you have enough things in place to make sure that they are safe? Try a few of these if you don't have them already.

Freshen Up With These Small Bathroom Changes

Your bathroom is one of the rooms you spend a lot of time in. You're in and out of it all the time, so it should be a room you enjoy being inside. While a big renovation of your bathroom can improve it, you don't always have to take on a big project to make it look and feel better. Some small changes can make all the difference and give you a better bathroom experience. If you think your bathroom could do with being elevated by a new look or just some additional accessories, try some of these easy ideas to give everything a refresh.

Wallpaper Patterns

In the past, wallpaper in the bathroom wouldn't have been a great idea. It would quickly have disintegrated, making the whole exercise of putting it up pointless. But now there are waterproof wallpapers available, which are perfect for use in the bathroom. Feel free to get steamy in the shower when you don't have to worry about soggy wallpaper. You can even use temporary wallpaper, which you can peel off when you no longer want it. Wallpaper will allow you to add fun patterns to your bathroom without any hassle.

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A Stylish Mirror

A bathroom mirror is an essential item for a number of reasons. Whether you're styling your hair or checking your teeth, it helps you with your daily tasks. A lot of people might just have a plain mirror mounted on the wall or perhaps one on the front of their medicine cabinet. But if you want to improve the look of your bathroom, you can make a big difference with a new mirror. One thing it can do is make your bathroom look bigger, which is great if it's a small room. It can also add extra style, improving the overall look and feel.

It's Time To Get Neighbourly

When you move into a new area, you tend to spend time on the home you’ve just purchased making improvements and changes to suit your taste and style. You may tag on an extension or add a few interesting features into the garden – all with planning permission, of course. One of the biggest adjustments to moving into a new area is integrating with the neighborhood and the community that already exists there. The last thing you want to do is be the odd one out for your new neighbors and the best thing you can do to avoid that is to get to know people and immerse yourself into the community in a way that gives you a place.

Being the newbie of the neighborhood means that people are going to be curious about you. In neighborhoods where children play together often, they’ll always eyeball new people and wonder their background and whether you would be a good neighbor. You want to be the type of neighbor that really gets involved in the spirit of group activities such as neighborhood watch, bake sales and community outreach groups that may be present in the area. Making a point of smiling, saying hello and introducing yourself can help to reassure the people you are moving next to that you’re not likely to be someone who won’t take in packages and be someone instead who can be relied on in a crisis.

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There are many fantastic ways you can and should make yourself a part of the neighborhood that goes beyond adding curb appeal to the outside of the home. A good neighbor always has a tidy exterior, as it brings down the value of a neighborhood as a whole if the outside of a home is unkempt. It also shows you have a little bit of pride in the appearance of your house. So, how can you bring something new and exciting into a new neighborhood? How could you stand out as a great neighbor?

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Community Outreach

If you are aware of the community and whether it needs some improvement, you could get stuck in from the moment you move in. Set up a local recycling group so that as a neighborhood, you take it in turns to take the recycling of the community over to the centers that provide recycling services. Contract a civil engineer and as a group, get the local authority’s permission to build something new in the area, whether that’s a park or a new community center. Being involved in the community can include anything from running clubs to litter picking rotas to get everyone involved in keeping the area tidy. When you all chip in together to run things in the street you’ve moved into, you get to know your new support system outside your family, help to make improvements and be a pillar of the community that people can rely on.

Neighborhood Watch

Almost every neighborhood has some sort of look-out service for each other, and it’s one that is revered among many people. Local enforcement like the police force in the city is a wonderful asset, but having people on your doorstep looking out for each other every single day and taking the time out of their lives to volunteer to keep an eye on the neighborhood is a comfort. If you join the local neighborhood watch team, you can reassure your new friends that you are a good neighbor and that you care about their welfare. Taking an interest in a neighborhood watch alliance can really show people you are unlikely to be that house that parties until 3am with the music up as loud as possible. You want to be perceived as a good source of reliability, so join your local watch group and volunteer for shifts.

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Controlling The Kids

If you have children and you’re headed to a new, suburban home, you’re going to be acutely aware of how your neighbors will judge you based on their behavior. It may not seem very fair to be judged on the behavior of the kids, but they are your reflection. If you have children playing out until very late at night and screaming outside at the crack of dawn, you’re going to come up against neighbors. Keeping an eye on your children is imperative anyway, but in a close-knit community, it’s important to teach them about noise levels and what times they are allowed to be out until. If you find out your children are being too boisterous; pulling up flowers and knocking down mailboxes etc, nip it in the bud as soon as possible and make a point of apologizing to the neighbors affected. Children are always going to be out and having fun and making noise – everyone knows this. However, that doesn’t mean being disrespectful by allowing them out at 6am or after 7pm. Make people aware they can come to you with any concerns or issues and you will be respected in your neighborhood.

Controlling The Pets

Dog mess is a huge issue for a lot of neighborhoods, especially those where dogs are the pet of choice. Cats are a little trickier, as you cannot control where they mess, but you can check out this advice as to how to keep an eye on the cats better. Sometimes, you may find your neighbors are not keen on animals and as you get to know them you’ll learn who you should and shouldn’t bring your pet around. Don’t let your animal bark, howl and cry for hours on end, either. Being a nuisance neighbor is not how you want to be known so attend to animals and their mess and you can keep nice in the neighborhood.

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Park Right

Neighbours who want to know about you will notice if you are a troublesome driver. They’ll notice straight away if you park on their drive, over their drive or generally drive in a manner that is unsafe. If you block their access to their garage or home, you could find yourself in hot water about it. The bad feeling that this creates can lead to parking disputes and it’s just not something you want to be involved in! If you have a driveway or garage of your own, park on that and keep yourself out of the line of fire for dispute. Perhaps your neighborhood project could be a parking lot if there’s enough land? Either way, you could come together as a community to discuss any niggles or issues that may be brewing. Doing this prevents a huge argument in the street and gets everyone on a respectful page with the same point of view.

Look Good!

Okay, so this doesn’t refer to you, but to your home. We talked earlier about curb appeal and the importance of it. You’ll have noticed when you looked around the neighborhood to buy your home whether you are moving into a place that has little to no care for their front yard, or whether they have perfectly manicured lawns. If the latter, you need to confirm. This means no rubbish-strewn front yard. No dog or cat mess in the front of the home or the back if you can avoid it and it also means a new lick of paint if the front door is peeling. You want your home to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood, as it doesn’t just affect the value you have, but theirs, too.

Noise Issues

When you want to have a celebration and you know it’s going to go on for quite late, speak to the neighbors about it. You could even invite them along! Summer BBQs tend to go down a lot better if they can be involved and included, and if they cannot come you still get kudos for asking them along and notifying them of the festivities you’re about to have. If you want to avoid getting too noisy or upsetting anyone, perhaps offer to organize group evenings for the big celebrations in the year for fireworks and general merriment. This way, everyone has a chance to integrate and be together in a community way that is very social.

Your neighbors can be the key to safety in some instances and by immersing yourself into the community, you can create lifelong friendships, links to improving the environment around you and a way to really put down some roots. Relying on your neighbors can mean extending your family in ways you didn’t think possible. Being neighborly can be far more than bringing a hot pie to a potluck dinner. It could be your lifeline in times of trouble or crisis. Make yourself a part of the community and get comfortable getting to know new people, and everyone will appreciate your presence for what it is.

Why You Can't Nod Off Even When The Kids Are Sleeping Through

If you’re a mom, you may be used to sleepless nights. In the early stages, parents tend to run on adrenaline, and it can take a long time to get back into the swing of getting enough rest. As children go through stages of development, there are different causes of disturbed nights, and for some parents, it can take years to regain those precious moments of peace. As a parent, you’re probably geared up for restless nights, but what happens when the kids are sleeping through, and you still can’t sleep? If teething, nightmares or feeding are no longer a valid excuse, here are some of the reasons you may be struggling to nod off. 

Your routine

If you have kids, you’ve probably devoted a lot of time and effort into getting them into a routine. The trouble is that many parents neglect their own regime. Your body has an internal clock, and if you’re going to bed at a different time every night, you’re taking naps during the day or your alarm is set for a different time each morning, you’re going to struggle to establish patterns. Once the kids are in bed, take a bit of time to chill out and unwind. Put some soothing music on, run a bath or read a book. Go to bed at a similar time each night and keep your alarm set for the same hour each morning. You should find that your body gets used to the new pattern and you find it easier to doze off and get up the next day. 

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Anxiety

Do you find it hard to sleep because you can’t switch off? Do you lie in bed with thoughts whizzing around in your head? Do you feel anxious about leaving your children, do you worry about things at work or do you simply feel like you can relax? Anxiety is a natural human response to certain scenarios, but if you feel uneasy all the time, this could be a sign that you have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety is a common mental health disorder, which can be treated using medication, talking therapies and in severe cases, rehabilitation and support programs. It’s wise to talk to your doctor if you can’t switch off. You may also find it beneficial to research facilities online and read pages with articles with titles like learn about our partial hospitalization program or find out more about what we do. Often, there’s no need for intensive treatment, and anxiety is part and parcel of becoming a parent. However, it’s important to differentiate between feeling anxious and suffering from anxiety. 

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Your lifestyle

Your lifestyle can have a significant influence on your ability to sleep. Try and exercise on a regular basis and avoid eating or drinking alcohol or caffeinated drinks late at night. Leave work at the office, and try and refrain from checking emails or looking at your social media timelines when you get into bed. If you’re feeling stressed, do something that enables you to have fun, release tension or burn off excess energy. Go to a yoga class, do a fitness session at home, call a friend for a chat or put your favorite funny movie on. 

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Are you struggling to sleep, even though the kids are sleeping through? If you’re running on empty, hopefully, these tips will help you get some rest.