Have a 5 & 3 year old putting a patina on our new build... Beware of riding toys- they will put dents in everything (walls, fridge, cabinets). Put the stuff you want your kids to have in the low cabinets so they won't be dragging a step stool across your floors. And get stoppers for all the doors - sometimes it needs two since kids do not stop pushing a door open until it hits the wall. Lever door handles will be easy for them to use, round knobs take a little longer, and we use a keypad lock on a closet so we have easy access but the kids cannot have access at all. Good luck and enjoy your new home!

Neon -. Good reminder about riding toys - our nephews have destroyed my in laws house with those, I forgot what they do to walls! Mental note to keep those in the basement! Keypad lock I had never thought of, thanks for sharing!

Following. I will have four kids under 8 - 2 girls and 2 boys - and I'm worried about the exact same thing. They already climb inside the cupboards when we go up to check out the build! Oy!

Food and kids are far more likely to permanently stain a rug than a hardwood floor. Nearly 20 years with hardwood floors, and I've never had food stain it. The floor will scratch more easily though.

Sweetsarahbeth - I spent 15 min today at the build standing inside every closet of the house with my toddler and mother. He absolutely insisted we all three stand in the dark in each closet. He's silly. :)

aside from what I mentioned above, I've chosen stained island instead of paint to prevent scuff marks from feet, taking off shoes in mudroom, lots of rugs on wood floor and at doors to keep out dirt, electric outlet for my Dyson absolute in the adjoining mudroom closet for easy kitchen/dining clean up more frequently (in theory!), furniture has felt pads on feet to prevent scratching. I'm going to use tablecloths more often and thinking of getting placemats for the island where we will eat casual meals to help protect marble. Will have low drawer with kids snacks so he can get himself to avoid climbing on cabinets.

I'm sure there are lots of other clever things people do I have missed though...!

Rrah - I know, I'm not sure which way to go. Food on carpet grosses me out, but it would save the floor maybe. I have a large washable flat type rug I'm thinking of using, I've had it for years in various places in our houses and it just goes in the wash. Our last home I did have some kind of baby food stain the floor, but they were old floors and no longer sealed well so maybe that's why and I'm just paranoid now.

This might just be my adventurous, curious girl, but I'm rethinking our drawer hardware in the kitchen. Our rental has pulls that are bars, which she can climb like a ladder to get on the counter. So I'm looking in to cup pulls and knobs for our new build.

Ecochran the knobs can work the same way. Think fun climbing wall.

I wouldn't worry about food staining a sealed hard wood. If you are feeding something with a lot of dye in it then just wipe up immediately. I think I'd avoid anything with a lot of dye in it instead as it can't be good for anybody to eat anyways. I've spilled red wine with no issues as well as beets. I think they would have ruined a rug.

Lyfia I think the culprit at our old house was sweet potatoes, it was orange and we also avoid food dyes. Weird but only thing I could think of.

The best thing if you want to LIVE in your house and have kids and dogs is to design surfaces and decor that gets better with patina rather than worse. Surfaces that will look good distressed, etc. Textured surfaces, etc.

Anything that is tall (armoire), or heavy up high (TV up on a stand), should be secured as a tip hazard. Ditto anything that can be climbed (bookcase, upright dresser with drawers). Doors to stairs going down, and to the exterior, are safer with hydraulic closers so they can't be accidentally open with small people around. Things with small parts such as door stoppers with rubber tips can pose as choke hazards if the tip is removed and stuck into a little mouth. Drapery rods could be pulled down if not secure. Blind cords are potential choking/hanging hazards. Anything pokey at little person eye-level. Any sort of access to a window such that a small person climber cannot accidentally fall out a window, especially upstairs ones. Any sort of drawer that would lock in a door with a small person locked in (we have a hall bathroom with the vanity next to the door and if you are inside the bathroom and pull out a drawer, it blocks the door from opening into the room - a small person could get locked in there with an adult unable to get into the room.) Double bifold and French doors are easy to crush little hands if they get between closing doors. If your stairs are not carpeted, they are slippery for stocking and jammie feet.

Poly-sealed wood floors will *dent*, but not stain. (Think 'character'.)

You mention plugging in a vacuum -- no central vac? (One of the best things in my house.)

Good point about saving drywall with door stops -- you can fasten bumpers on the wall where the handle hits it if you are worried about choking bits. (I wasn't.)

I locked myself into our powder room at age three. Can the door open OUT? (Any small toilet area should open out as a safety measure, lest ANYone faint and block the door.)

I am smiling, picturing you three standing in the closets! When he was two or three, our DGS was in love with our MBA and once insisted that his mom and dad and my DH and I all sit in a row with him on the step beneath our jet tub. It just made him happy -- to 'command' us, and to do it. His sister did the exact same thing. (She's six years younger.) Both of them loved spending time inside my DH's and my closets with one of us, with the doors closed, playing flashlight tag. Maybe it is a way of conquering fear of enclosures or the dark?

My DS was not a climber, but I've known true 'monkeys'; all you can do is watch and keep saying no and put up whatever barriers it takes.

DS#1 had a little friend who climbed up the buffet using the skinny trim on the drawers! DS#2 was my climber, but it was the bigger one who fell against the uncarpeted stair tread, the window sill, and the stone wall.

The best way to protect everyone is with gentle discipline and modeling desired behavior, by which I mean, food stays at the table, riding toys are for outside or the basement (preferably unfinished...my brothers and I played hockey and wild ping pong in ours; once it was paneled and carpeted, it wasn't nearly as much fun!), markers for paper on the kitchen or art table, and why are kids throwing food? When they spill, they sweep or wipe it up. Even toddlers can do this (maybe you have to do a better job after them, but it's how they learn). We also had a rule: we put a piece of tape on the floor. Once you were beyond that tape, you were committed to go up or down the stairs. It kept all of us from hanging around or playing too close to the stairs. That sounds a bit draconian, but really, it had its purpose.

Friends had a white living room; the only soda pop they allowed was Diet Sprite. I have a patterned upholstery on my DR chairs that is hiding the evidence of cleaned-up spills; I have no rug beneath because I see how many crumbs tumble (usually by adults, BTW). When I replace the carpet on the stairs, I'm going to get a patterned runner!

These might be a given for most families, but it was important for us to establish the "rules" from the beginning. We don't allow our kids to wear shoes in the house. Except for special situations, food/drink and art supplies have to be kept at the table (water bottles can travel.)

Speaktodeek - good reminders, my kid is a climber so we have always anchored everything but I think this is something a lot of people overlook

chisue - no one I know has a central vac, they aren't popular here for some reason. We have lots of family who have built but no one has one. I read about them but wasn't willing to put in without using first. You are so right- they love to be the "boss" at this age and explore the scary things with the safety of mommy. Glad I'm not the only one ha!

bpathome - yes unfinished basement!! :)). Kids don't throw food, I have a very independent toddler that has resisted a high chair or booster since he was very small. (Wants to eat like mommy and daddy - the modeling you mention!). But he is a toddler and messy so food is everywhere. A price I'm willing to pay to foster his independence but trying to have the best of both worlds - I guess clean and independent toddler may not go together! Ha! Luckily he is very good about cleaning up after himself, although I still need to follow behind. I LOVE your tape on stairs rule, I knew someone would have a few genius ideas. I know the stairs will be an issue for us, something like that will help a lot.

benje - you are right, we will have some new house rules from the start. Going to be little hard to get used to but I'm hoping new place makes it easier.

We just put down our last dog, and I have only now discovered how many crumbs we leave under our table. (He obviously ATE them!) Now I'm looking for a stick vac to use in the breakfast room. Don't want to pull out the central vacuum hose just for that. (We built before there were Hide-A-Hose central vacuums.) If you are still framing, consider a central system. Mine is 14 years old and has never had a single repair; huge suction power.

If you're worried about climbing then wait until they've outgrown that phase to add knobs and pulls. Then put child latches on the drawers so they can't pull them out to use as steps. Not that this will deter the most determined child. I was quite alarmed to see a friend's 18 month old pull himself onto our kitchen counter using just arm strength. Recently my 4 1/2 year dragged a kitchen chair into the pantry so he could try to climb the shelves and reach the Halloween candy on the top shelf. He succeeded. All you can really do is strap tippy stuff to the wall, put dangerous things like knives and chemicals under lock and key,make it easy for them to get to the stuff they want such as their toys so they have less of an incentive to go "exploring," set up an enticing backyard so they want to go out there and wear themselves out, and choose furnishings and finishes that look better with a "patina."

I have two boys and try as I might they still act like bulls in a china shop at times.

Chi sue - I'm so sorry for your loss! We had to put down our sweet girl boxer from cancer just before we moved, they leave a huge loss in the family when they are gone! I didn't give our girl enough credit for fulfilling her house work duty of cleaning the floors, I didn't realize until she was gone how messy my kid eats! Perhaps why I'm preoccupied about the best approach for under my table now. I just got a Dyson absolute stick vac on great Black Friday sale at bed bath beyond with their coupon. It was still expensive but works like a dream for what we need.

tcufrog and mrspete - no worries, we are ok with kids being kids and as mentioned earlier we live freely in our home. But I figured with lots of other parents of young kiddos building someone would have tips and tricks I hadn't thought of. The tape by stairs is one I'll put to use for sure!

I have two kids (now teens) and a 65 lb dog. But the thing that wrecked my hardwood floors was a woman's high heels, apparently with the nail heads poking out from the heels. I noticed this after a party we had 3 weeks after our big reno- my kitchen and DR floors look like the surface of a golf ball! 3 weeks. That's how long my nice floors lasted. So I have given in to the "loved and lived in" look.

House flow is one way to control wear to the home. Can kids, pets, adults coming in from yardwork, etc. get in the back door and access a bathroom without going too far, and are they on tile or another easy to clean floor? What's your path from garage to kitchen with groceries? How about from kitchen to grill and back? (I tend to drip marinade on occasion, so it's good that my path is all tile and hardwood.) I see many plans where the only back yard access is through a family room, and that would not work for me, my kids, my dog, or my marinade. :)

Chicagoans - yikes I wouldn't have thought of heels but that makes sense!

We have access through family room and mudroom/garage to grill and yard. They are equal distance but we will use mudroom entry for exact reason you mention! There is some hardwood but I'm thinking runner rug in main kitchen walkway to help that path.