Innovative Home Renovation Ideas For A Growing Family – with Danielle Lloyd

The very lovely Danielle Lloyd has been working with us as part of her home renovation as she gets her Birmingham family home ready to welcome a new baby!

Danielle and her partner Michael are set to soon become parents to 5, and Danielle reached out to us to help design new bedrooms for 3 of her sons. We worked on creating some mood boards and then helped her kit out the rooms everything the boys need to have their own independent spaces as her family is set to grow with the new addition. We have been so excited to be part of this new chapter for her! We settled on new beds, bedside tables, sofas, desks and rugs for the boys’ new rooms.

 Our founders, Monty and Dan, even turned up with the deliveries to give her a hand by building all the furniture.

But we thought it would be really helpful to get some thoughts and ideas together on how you might go about home renovation if you find your family growing. So we sat down with Danielle and got our thinking caps on. 

Home Renovation By Extending Outwards or Upwards

Build on what you’ve got. There’s a number of options for extensions. You could add a room or convert something that’s already there. Think garage/carport conversions, basement ‘tanking’ (when you waterproof and damp-proof your basement so it’s suitable for everyday living) or loft conversions.

Danielle says:”We converted our loft space into 2 new rooms with en-suites for our oldest two. It’s giving them their own space to do their thing, and having the extra bathrooms is a godsend, ‘cause trying to get us all through the family bathroom in the mornings would be a nightmare otherwise!” 

Make sure you consult with experts to figure out what’s possible and safe.  

 Make Use of the Space You’ve Got

Not all of us are in a position to be able to build the dream house or even extend, so what can we do instead? You can re-organise and re-prioritise your space and use your furniture wisely to achieve your home renovation dreams. 

Home Renovation Through Expanding Outdoor Living Space

Making your garden somewhere to socialise, eat and entertain can massively increase the sense of living space within your home. Consider some outdoor furniture that can easily be moved around to accommodate changing needs or even changing social occasions.  

Danielle says: “We love having room to sit and have fun outdoors. It’s like the indoors outside. Fresh air and family time are the best.”

Home Renovation Through Shuffling Rooms Around

A study or home office may well be the perfect new bedroom for a child. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up your ability to work from home. You could use your dining table as a workspace during the day. Console tables also make a great space-saving desk if you only need somewhere to put your laptop. We’ve also had customers who’ve doubled up their home desk as their vanity dressing table, so they can work in their bedrooms.

Home Renovation Through Open Plan Living

Open plan living can create a lovely open and bright space and can help avoid a home feeling too cluttered or cramped. If you can, you can remove walls (or have half-walls) to create a more dynamic space. Again, make sure you consult the experts before you go knocking into an important structural wall with that sledgehammer! 

Danielle says: “Our open plan kitchen has some living space in there, too. It maximises the space, keeps it open, and I can see the boys while I’m cooking or working from the table.”  

Home Renovation Through Flexible Seating

Danielle says: “We have two of the gorgeous Furniturebox UK Cambridge bench seats at our table. This is a great solution as you can more bums on them round the table. We’ve also got a lovely chaise lounge sofa in our cinema room which gives me somewhere to put my feet up, or extra seating space if we all want to snuggle up.”

(We sell some gorgeous chaise sofa's like Danielle's!)

Home Renovation By Maximising Storage and Space Saving Furniture 

A growing family comes with growing “stuff”! If you’re anything like us, trying to find creative places to stash everything and keep it all looking neat and tidy is an ongoing battle. Here are some of our storage picks:  

Other Home Renovation ideas to keep your home feeling spacious  

Reflective surfaces like wall mirrors and mirrored console tables work wonders to bounce the light and keep a space bright.  

Danielle says: “We’ve got a mirror on the wall above a mirrored console table in the hall. Definitely keeps it sunny and feeling roomy.”

Light colours in general can achieve this same effect. We sell mirrors like Danielle's, and console tables like hers, too.

Our glass and chrome dining sets, as well as our white high gloss sets are all bright, hardwearing and durable family-friendly tables. Shop our dining sets range here!

Home Renovation When Kids Get Their Own Space 

So you’ve re-arranged and remodelled, you’ve upped your storage game and you’re now working from the kitchen table or the hallway… but how are you making those new rooms for your kids work? Well, in Danielle’s case, she really wanted them to have their own independent spaces to make their own; to sleep, hang out and work in. So we kitted them out with 1 double bed for Harry's room, bedside tables, a sofa and a desk each, with some lighting.

Danielle says: “I really liked the option of buying the piece I loved in different colours. It means they can both have the same but in different colours they like, without any squabbling over who gets what. This way is fair!” 

At the end of the day, it’s about getting the most from your space with the budget that works, and here at Furniturebox UK, we’ve got your backs. All our products are quality tested, certified safe, easy to put together with simple-to-follow instructions, and everything comes with a 1-year warranty.