Need some decorating ideas with no cost? If you have piles of old magazines that you no longer need, you can use the paper to create some unique decor for your home. All you need is a little effort and some imagination. This is also a fun project for your children to help with. First, browse through your piles of old magazines to find the pages with nice, bright colors. Basically you can do this with any color pages from any magazines, but the magazines with glossy and thick pages with color on both sides are especially good. Pull off … Continue reading →

Recently my 5-year-old son has become very interested in helping with the dishwashing. Of course I tried to respond very positively to his interest. I offer him a chance to do it whenever possible, especially when we are in no hurry and have few things to wash. His involvement in this daily chore has made me realize one thing. We can organize the physical features in our home in such a way to enable our children to join such activities without much hassle – for them and for us. I was able to give my son a chance straight away … Continue reading →

Not only once had I heard my friends complaining that their kids keep practicing their artistic skills on those nicely painted walls. This is not very surprising though. Imagine if you are a 2-year-old who just mastered the skills of holding pens and crayons. A white blank wall definitely becomes an amazing canvas to pour your imagination and creativity. But there are some ideas on how to keep your walls spotless without putting off the children’s interest in painting and drawing. You may set aside a certain part of the wall as an area where the kids can practice their … Continue reading →

Once the children begin to walk, there are no places in the house that can be free from their enthusiasm in ‘exploring the world’. As parents we should encourage their exploration, yet we also need to do as much as we can to prevent any harm that may come up along their exploration. Understand their point of view The most important thing to do is to understand your child’s point of view in interpreting the spaces in your house. Get down to your child’s eye level, and try to figure out what may attract them to see, touch, push, pull, … Continue reading →

Home is the place where our kids spend most of their time everyday. This is particularly true for families with very young children. Many parents may send their children to childcare outside their houses. But still, the large proportion of their time is spent at home. So we really need to think of how to make our home a nice place for our kids to play. Of course this does not mean turning your home into playing field or theme park. What we need to think is how to give them enough opportunities to play in the spaces that we … Continue reading →

So you feel that the rooms in your house are very small and cramped? It is actually possible to make a room look more spacious without physically expanding it. There are some tricks that you can do with the rooms in your house. Color Light colors can make a room look spacious, while darker colors can give the opposite impression. Choose the paint of your wall carefully to achieve the impression that you desire. You can also choose furniture with matching tone and avoid too much contrast. Furniture Having too much stuff will definitely make your room cramped. Only choose … Continue reading →

There is always a question to ask when we try to find a house to move in: How big should the house be? The house that you live in now may feel too small, with not enough space to put your stuffs and to do things, so you may wish to move to a larger house. Or you may find your house too big, demanding extra efforts for cleaning and maintenance. There are no exact formulas for the ideal size of a house for a family. But some of the following points might be useful: Family size Family with only … Continue reading →

Welcome to Home and Garden Blog. I am hosting this blog together with Sherry. We hope to bring lots of ideas, inspiration and information about family home that you may find interesting and useful. My name is Paramita Atmodiwirjo. I am a busy wife and mother of a 5-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl. I teach architecture and do some research, with my particular research interests on environments for children and families. It is such a pleasure for me to write for Home and Garden Blog. It gives me some time to break from academic routine and interact with people … Continue reading →