But even though accidents do happen at school and at the nearby park, the fact of the matter is that there are more deaths to children occurring in backyards than on public grounds. With back-to-school on the minds of most parents, it seems a good time to address the issue of safety at home - in the back yard.

From 1990 to 2000 there were 150 deaths of children under 15 from unsafe equipment, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The staggering statistic is that 90 of those deaths happened at home. And about 3/4 of those occurred because of hangings from ropes, homemade swings, cords and things of that nature.  That's just the statistic for deaths.

Injuries are a whole other ballgame. More than 200,000 injuries were reported in playgrounds. Nearly 47,000 of those were at home for kids under 15. 

This is why it is important to install and maintain protective surfacing on your backyard equipment. You want to remove unsafe ropes, hooks and sharp edges on slides and swings.

Don't place playground equipment on dirt or grass because it doesn't protect children from serious head injuries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1/3 of all playground-related injuries are severe - fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations, and amputations.

Here are some tips they recommend to help protect your children:

• Bring in and lay down about 9 inches of mulch, wood chips or shredded rubber around equipment that is up to 7 feet high. For a covering of sand or pea gravel, install about 9 inches of surface for equipment up to 5 feet high. There are also mats made of safety-tested rubber that you can put down.
• At least 6 feet in all directions from your equipment, put down protective surfacing. If you have swings the surface should be even larger, both in back and in front, and it should be twice the height of the suspending bar.
• Never attach anything to the playground equipment that could cause strangulation, such as ropes, jump ropes, clotheslines, or pet leashes.
• Buff out any sharp edges or corners.
• Don't use S-hooks at all. But if you do, at least cover them over.
• Check the equipment for spaces that could trap a small child. All spaces should be at least 3-1/2 inches wide or larger than 9 inches.
• Allow plenty of spacing between swings. Here are some guidelines: 8 inches between suspended swings and between a swing and the support frame; at least 16 inches from the swing support frame to a pendulum seesaw.
• Make sure there are at least 8 inches between the ground and the underside of the swing seat.
• Securely anchor all swing seats.
• Always assemble your equipment using the instructions. Cap all screws and bolts.
• Always be there to supervise children when using the equipment.
• Do not allow children to use a metal slide when the weather is extremely hot. You want to prevent them from getting burned.
• Finally, don't let kids twist the swings, swing empty seats or walk in front of moving swings.

I would look to arrange the room so that the parent still had good visuals of the play area from the kitchen.
I would look to arrange rooms so that the traffic lanes were a little wider to accommodate toddlers.
I would take out area rugs that would migrate or bunch or that were slippery.
I placed breakables up high or removed them altogether.
I would recommend gates at the top AND bottom of any stairs.
I recommended latches on the inside of all cupboards and drawers, especially in the kitchen, bath and garage.
Eliminate all weapons. That's a given.
Put built-ins in the child's bedroom, if possible.
Baby rooms should always have a working one-way sound intercom so that you can tell immediately when your baby or small child awakes from other parts of the house. This is especially important if you have a two-story home.
I recommended high door knobs, latches and bolts for added protection that are out of reach of small hands. I once found a toddler out in the middle of the street in my neighborhood, completely unattended. I was mortified. Since I did not know which home she belonged to, I took her home and called the police.  Someone did not do a good job of ensuring that the child was safely LOCKED in the home.  My children were NEVER allowed to play in the front yard and I walked them to school and picked them up afterwards, even though the school was only 2 blocks away.
If I'm going to err, it's going to be on the side of too much safety and not on the flip side.
As for sheer decor, I geared my kid's rooms to the kinds of activities and hobbies they had at the time. Both of mine were athletes, so their rooms included trophies, ribbons, photos, posters and such that were associated with their sports, their heros and/or musical taste.  Both of mine were also artists, so I took pains to make sure their art was matted and framed and displayed appropriately. (Fortunately for me they were pretty good.)  Try to get away with leaving all this kind of stuff OFF your refrigerator.
Colors chosen for their rooms did not HAVE to go with the rest of the home, but I tried to find tints and shades that achieved their goals and hopefully did not offend the eye compared to the rest of the home. Unity and flow are important concepts in decor, but not always that harmonious with all members of the family.
Bedspreads, window treatments, wallcoverings were chosen with their age in mind (plus a few years).
All crayons and art materials were closely monitored and controlled.

I think it's always good to remember that the home is for the ENTIRE family.  It should reflect as much as possible the family personality, not just the parents.
Having said that, I only consulted my children regarding their bedrooms.  But I had a strong understanding of what we all seemed to like in common, and I let that be my guide.
Our home is a "global" home with furniture and accessories from all over the globe, which also reflects our bi-ethnic family. It is the color blend that pulls it altogether. It is very eclectic which I believe is far more interesting than a definite "style".
Males tend to care less about decor than females. So they're not too likely to care no matter what you do.

Consider changing your furniture around periodically. Everyone enjoys the feeling of having something new. It's amazing how a total rearrangement of a room can make all of the furniture "feel" new and the space feel like a "new home".  Most rooms can be arranged 2-3 different ways, all equally nice.
Watch out for thread bare carpeting, dead plants, broken glass in frames, mold and mildew, heavy dust, urine or animal feces.  These types of things can be harmful and cause unpleasant odors and really ruin an otherwise attractive space.
In the end, work to achieve something that is both functional for the family and attractive to the eye.
Put toddlers on a "leash" when shopping for your decor, lest you get distracted by all those lovely products.

QUESTION FROM READER

Dear Barbara,

I have really been enjoying your book as I attempt to decorate walls that have stood blank for 2 years!!

Here's my question:
My house has a hallway coming in from the garage that measures 16 1/2 ft. on the right and 13 ft. on the left where a bedroom doorway is. I want to hang a grouping of family pictures on the long wall ( there is no other place to hang these pictures) so I placed all the pictures in identical 8x10 or 5x7 black frames. The actual measurement of the frames are 12 1/2x10 1/2 and 9x7. Some of the pictures are matted and some are not. Some will hang horizontally and some vertically. There are about 16 of each size frame. I have no clue how to hang this many pictures together - or deal with such long hall walls. Can you help me, please?

Sincerely,
Donna Smith

ANSWER

Oh my gosh, Donna, that's a lot of pictures.

So if I understand you correctly, you have 32 all together?

That's way too many to put in one single grouping. It just will feel oppressive.

Here are my suggestions:

1) Divide the 16 foot wall into 4 equal sections (two halves).
2) Divide the opposite wall into 2 sections.

Divide the images into 2-3 groups.

If you go with 3 groups, which do not have to be equal in size or layout, put the largest grouping on the shorter wall. The largest grouping, if possible, should cover somewhere between 1/2-2/3rds of the wall for the best proportion. Then put the two smaller groupings on the 16' wall into two focal points. However, if it works best to keep all of the items on the 16" wall, then arrange them into 2 distinctly different groupings with plenty of wall space between them so that you really see there are two groupings. 

Use the middle of 1/2 of the larger wall as the center of one of the two groupings. Use the middle of 1/2 of the rest of the larger wall on the other side for the center of the other grouping. In other words, the two groupings should be placed about 1/3rd or slightly more in from the outer edges of the wall, but this is going to vary, depending on how many in each group and how much space they take compared to the width of the wall.

I suggest you take the two sizes and make paper templates. Make 16 of each. Lay each of the framed items on the floor and arrange them into 2-3 groups that are pleasing to your eye. 

When you have the groupings designed, try to tape or tack your paper templates in the same arrangements as you have on the floor onto the wall where they will go.

Stand back and check each grouping for balance, scale and proportion.

Design the groupings so that, as much as possible, the space between each element is the same. Don't allow any big gaps of wall to show in the middle of any of the groupings.

Ideally, if you were to measure from the outside left of the left grouping to the outside right of the right grouping, the measurement should be 2/3rds the width of the wall itself. This way the wall will appear full without being overdone or underdone. This is called proportion.

By using paper templates, you can easily check your arrangements for spacing, size, balance, scale and proportion. Make adjustments where needed. This will also help you immensely when you go to actually hanging the photos.

I hope this helps.
Barbara

Please send me before and after pics.


QUESTION

Hi Barbara,

Thank you so very much! I'm going to do the 3 groupings using both walls. I have one other question, please. When you have a hallway and you can't put anything on the floor, what are the highest and lowest distances from the ceiling and floor I should hang any pictures? (Can you tell I'm a true novice?) I do understand the concept of the center point of the grouping with the horizontal and vertical lines crossing, but I want to make sure I do the best I can with this project.

Thank you again,
Donna

ANSWER

Unless you and hubby are giants, the average eye level is 5' 6". So if you put the upper HALF of the grouping above 5'6" and the lower half, of course, below that measurement, you should be good to go.

How high the wall is only becomes important if it is less than 8 feet. If the wall is not 8 feet or higher, then you have to be careful that the grouping does not "feel" as if it is crowding the ceiling.

If the wall is higher than 8 feet, you're going to ignore the height altogether. Many people take the height of the wall and split it in half. Don't do that. Another group of people tend to hang something too high, Make it "feel" a comfortable height to you. Here again is another value of the paper templates.

Best wishes,
Barb

TIP FROM READER

The texture of your furnishings can brighten or darken a room. Glossy surfaces like satin, glass and tile reflect light and add brightness to a room. Surfaces like brick, carpet and burlap absorb light and make a room seem less bright. - From Sandy Finch

CARPET BUYING TIPS

• Always get at least two estimates for how much carpet you need. 
  
• Insist that a flooring diagram be provided to you that includes all room measurements and carpet seam locations. 
  
• Consider hiring a carpet installer to measure your home for you. If you end up hiring him to install your carpet he should credit you back the measuring charge. 
  
• Unless you have experience measuring for carpet, never use your own measurements when ordering carpet. Properly measuring for carpet is not as simple as it seems. Trust me on this one, pay a pro to do it right and save yourself a giant headache later. 
  

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