Swings, slides and a reading corner – how one family created a home perfect for play

I bet all kids would LOVE to grow up in this fun home!

Children love to play – and I often think that most family homes don't really reflect that enough. Sure, most kids have their own room, and you might have even gone as far as making it really lovely and age-appropriate with fun wallpaper, a cute rug, some themed posters or other decor bits – but how about the rest of the house? My mum always reminds me, most often when I complain about Barbie houses and race tracks and stacks of Pokemon cards or Beyblades or play dough marks, that nothing makes a house seem more like a home than the visible signs of children living there. And she is right, of course. Children, and their things and their sounds and their energy will fill up your home – and your heart too. I recently came across some images of an incredible family home in Taiwan, where architect firm HAO Design had been given the task by a young couple to make their home more child-friendly. And the results are pretty amazing, I think. To allow the children to spend more time with and near their parents, the architects configured the space to suit a family of four who wanted to be closer together. One of the changes they did was to install a play area in the kitchen. "People today have such busy lifestyles that time spent together with other family members has become more precious than ever," said the architects to architecture website, Dezeen. Note the chalkboard wall – perfect for the kids to get creative with while mum and dad cook dinner nearby. "Our client's biggest concern when arranging the interior decoration of their new home was to have a natural, open feel that would provide inspiration for their children's creative activities," the architects continued. A slide was designed especially for the family's little girl, and is accessed via a set of stairs that double up as a bookcase. The bookshelf, of course, also provides tons of clever storage – which we all know you can never have enough of when you have children in your house. @ As well as the slide, a swing hangs between the play area and family piano, and is surrounded by potted plants that reflect the parents' keen interest in gardening. What do YOU think, parents? Could you see yourself making your home child-friendly to this extent? All images credit: HAO Design and  Dezeen