Essential Tips for Renovating with Kids
It is hard enough to renovate a room in the house, but if you are the proud parents of a couple of kids, it can quickly escalate to nightmare proportions, depending, of course, on their ages. The fact that the little darlings are present means you are unable to fully focus on what you are doing, and with things like wallpaper paste and paint rollers lying around, it could be a recipe for a disaster of epic proportions, and with that in mind, here are some innovative ideas to ensure the renovations are completed without incident.
Segregate the Waste – Once you have all the old wallpaper and other debris away from the work area, there is less chance of a mishap with the children. Hiring a skip (dumpster) is the ideal solution for this scenario, and an online search will land you on the website of a local skip provider, and you can make the booking online. They have a range of sizes to suit, and once it is full, simply call them and it will be removed.
A Surprise Outing – This would involve the help of your parents or good friends, and involves a day at a fun park or somewhere exciting. Once the children are safely off on a day trip, you can relax and get on with the renovating, just make sure you are prepared for their homecoming!
Age Related Assistance – If your kids are old enough to be able to carry out basic tasks, then set them some simple things to do that will help you. If they are teenagers, then they can ferry out the rubbish to the skip and clean up when things have been finished. Getting the kids involved instils a level of responsibility, we just have to ensure that the tasks are suitable for their abilities.
Stage the Work – By doing the work over several weekends, you can focus on one thing at a time, and there will be less disturbance, and with some cartoon DVDs and a delivered pizza, the kids will be suitably entertained for the afternoon. You might want to flip a coin with your partner and the winner whisks the kids off to watch a movie in town, while the loser gets the decorating done.
Preparation – Assuming you are planning for a weekend of renovating, make sure you have all the cleaning materials and essential supplies, and anything else you think you might require. If the children are at home, make sure they have something suitable to keep them busy, which could include helping out.
Home renovation is not an easy task, and with children running around, a much higher level of planning is needed. The best solution is to have them shipped off to the grandparents, but if that isn’t an option, find another avenue to ensure they are well looked after and entertained. With the skip in place and all the materials in the hallway, you are ready to attack that decorating and make the home a nicer place to be.
Author Jodie Leather works for All Metro Bins - a skip hire and waste disposal company based in Perth, Western Australia.
