When you are updating or designing your home, its appearance may be the first element on your mind. However, it is much more important to focus on making your home safe for everyone that lives in it. Then, here are some top tips to ensure that you can make your home safe without compromising on your design vision.
· Buy Pet-Friendly Houseplants
Many people fill their homes with houseplants, as this can help them to feel close to the natural world and can brighten up every space. Houseplants can also improve your mood and mental health by making you feel more relaxed and can even ensure that the air in your house remains purified. However, when you are choosing these houseplants, if you have pets or children, you should make sure that they are suitable, as many houseplants are toxic when eaten and can even irritate the skin if touched. So, you should try to look for pet-friendly indoor plants that your pet can play with and live with side-by-side without needing a trip to the vet.
· Install a Smoke Alarm
One of the greatest fears of every homeowner is that a fire will start in their home, with around 37,000 house fires occurring in the UK a year. Then, to ensure that only a minimal amount of damage occurs in your home if a fire starts, and to make sure that your entire family has the time to get to safety in an emergency, you should install a couple of smoke alarms in central locations around your house and check them regularly for faults. You should also consider installing a fire blanket and other fire-related equipment in your home that can allow you to stop small fires before they spread around your home. It is also important to have a carbon monoxide alarm in your home.
· Look at Security Tools
It can be easy to start to feel unsafe in your home if you do not take extra precautions to protect your family against intruders, such as burglars. Therefore, you should look at the different security tools that you can choose for your home, such as video cameras and home alarms. These can then alert you to any unexpected intrusions and can ensure that any criminals are dissuaded from attempting to break into your home. You should also consider installing outdoor lighting and ensure that your fencing is strong at all times.
· Check for Hazards
You should also regularly check your home for hazards, especially if you have small children or pets as well as elderly relatives. For instance, you might want to put protectors on sharp corners and remove any loose wiring or carpeting so that your loved ones do not trip on them. You might also consider putting chemicals and cleaning products out of reach, ensuring that your blind cords are child-friendly and putting child locks on all of your cupboard doors to prevent your child from accessing them without supervision from you.