Families with teens

When it comes to family homes, it’s definitely not a case of one size fits all. Homes for families with children well into their teens and beyond usually have very different design priorities to those planned with young children in mind.

That’s not to say you can’t design a home that covers both stages – young kids and older kids. You most definitely can. It just means that if you’re diving into the new-home design process with older kids at home, you might want to take some specific considerations into account.

Things to consider include:

  • A separate living area where they can easily entertain friends away from prying eyes and ears.
  • Bigger bedrooms to easily fit a double bed and study desk. You could even take it up a notch to add a small sofa so that a simple bedroom becomes more of a mini suite.   
  • Ample storage to house all the paraphernalia that accumulates through sports, hobbies and outdoor pursuits.
  • A third bathroom between two bedrooms so that both young adults can have ensuite access.
  • Dedicated zones to give everyone the space they need – a two-storey design that gives parents their own wing upstairs, or a single-storey design with the master suite at one end of the house and the minor bedrooms at the other.