A costly mistake new homeowners make is buying furniture that only works for the present and not for their needs in 5 and 10 years when they may have pets, kids, or parents moving in. Budget and style matter, but if furniture cannot adapt to changing needs, it becomes a short-term choice and a large future expense that could have been avoided.
Planning ahead with modular pieces that you can add and takeaway from, and practical pieces with storage and style saves money by preventing early replacements. Instead of a loveseat where you save a couple hundred now, or a stand alone sofa, pick a sofa from a sectional couch that expands as your family grows. This way you can add pieces that are senior friendly if your parents need to move in and kid friendly as your family grows.
Adding and removing pieces that match the base of the sectional can save you thousands of dollars compared to having to throw out or sell the loveseat and buy an entirely new set.
By investing in versatile, child-safe, and pet-friendly furniture, you create a home that evolves with your life while still looking stylish. Here’s some of the ways you can do this by the type of room or furniture, but first, here’s the dos and don’ts when it comes to buying furniture for growing households.
Dos and Don’ts of Family-Safe Furniture
Finding furniture for growing households doesn’t have to come at the cost of quality or aesthetics, especially if you invest in high-quality materials and design patterns. Here are some of the Do’s and Don’ts we recommend to select high-quality and long-lasting furniture that is pet, senior, and/or child-friendly.
Do:
- Choose round and oval dining and coffee tables and ottomans to reduce the risk of bumps and bruises from corners and sharp edges.
- Go with performance fabrics like microfiber or high-quality polyester blends that resist spills, stains, and scratches.
- Use low-pile or indoor/outdoor rugs that are easy to vacuum and less likely to trap fur or allergens as sources like Lung.org claim high-pile like shag traps more. But note that all carpets can trap allergens, dust, and micro-organisms.
- Select heavier, tip-resistant TV stands or mount your TV and transforming furniture like murphy beds to the wall for added security.
- Look for multifunctional storage furniture, such as ottomans or coffee tables with hidden storage compartments, to control clutter from toys, books, and games.
Don’t:
- Pick delicate fabrics like linen, suede, or silk that are easily stained or ruined by spills.
- Go with glass tables with curved or sharp edges—they’re both a safety risk for kids and grandparents, and are prone to scratches.
- Choose looped upholstery fabrics like tweed if you plan on having pets, as claws can snag and unravel them.
- Ignore locking mechanisms, especially for storage pieces, which can quickly turn into “play zones” for toddlers without secure lids and be hard for arthritic hands to maneuver.
Family-Safe Furniture that Expands with Your Family
As families grow, space and functionality become as important as safety. Furniture should adapt for lounging, dining, studying, and entertaining while keeping every room practical. Here are some pieces of furniture that work for households that will be expanding in the future.
Sectional Couches
Love seats, armchairs, and traditional sofas limit seating between 1 and 3 people on average. If you plan to have more than one kid, host holidays at your house, or even have guests over a game night, you’re going to need larger seating options.
Larger couches take up lots of space and may not be practical if you're currently in an apartment but plan on moving into a single family home. Instead, go for a sectional sofa where you can add sleeper sections, lounges, sides with a sturdy armrest so seniors can use it to rise, and ottomans with storage so it can be configured based on your growing needs.
When it's just you or you and your significant other, it's easy to start with a two seat section and a chaise lounge. As you have your first child, adopt a first pet, and slowly expand, you can mix and match more sectional pieces as demands grow.
Bonus tip: Go with a neutral color so you can mix, match, and modify the color palette to match your room aesthetic as it changes.
Expandable Dining Room Sets
Younger couples just starting out in their first home or apartment are often short on space, so a longer wooden dining room table with a leaf is not always practical. Thanks to modern engineering, extending tables are available that start as two and four person seaters, and extend to 12 or more.
Our Junior Giant which you may have seen on Instagram and TikTok starts as a decorative and stylish console and extends to seat 12 people. You can find all of our console to dining tables here.
By investing in an extending table now that has durable extending mechanisms, tracks, and panels, you’ll have a futureproof table that seats intimate dinners now and family gatherings in the future. Your dining set can go with you from a couples apartment in the city to a single family home in the suburbs saving you money and space.
Bonus tip: Folding chairs pair nicely with these tables from an aesthetic standpoint, and they also offer easy storage when they fold almost flat or hang like our Nano style saving you storage space.
Murphy Bed
Guest rooms and bedrooms with traditional pull-out couches and mattresses can be a hazard for children, whether it’s playing with the bed and couch conversions or hurting themselves on the harsh metal frames. They’re also difficult for seniors to handle if they’re visiting for the night, helping prepare the room for guests, or it is their sleeping arrangements.
A Murphy wall bed can be a more child-friendly option than pull-out couches, resting flush against the wall when not in use. Some can be mounted to the wall to help prevent tipping if your children are climbers and you find them going up bookcases, and you can always add locks to the cabinets if you don’t want them playing with the bed.
Bonus tip: If you think your kids will have sleepovers, or you’re limited on space, there are murphy bunk beds and bunk bed couches like our popular Dormire V2 that save space while providing more individual sleeping surfaces.
Lift Top Coffee Tables
As your children grow older, or seniors move in, you will inevitably run out of storage space for toys, snacks, books, glasses, and trinkets. Coffee tables with storage and multiple lifting surfaces like our Occam and Trove styles allow you to stow everyday items out of site in the living or family room in a convenient location.
Lift and storage coffee tables help reduce clutter so your house looks and feels tidy, and more important, everyone can can access the items they want as needed.
Seniors can easily retrieve their items without having to walk to another room and risk a fall, and kids can find their toys and put them away when they’re done. The lifting portions make it easy for seniors to sit drinks, glasses, and the remote control without having to reach and risk falling, and the lower portion is perfect for kids who want to sit on the floor while they play or study.
Bonus tip: Buy soft or foam bumpers for edges to reduce younger kids’ risks of being injured on sharp corners, and to protect the edges from scrapes and dents.
Modular furniture may seem more expensive for quality pieces now, but it is cheaper than having to constantly replace as your family grows. When you have younger kids you’ll need to get rid of dangerous pieces with sharp edges, and larger pieces to seat more as they get older. If your parents may move in, you’ll need rising surfaces so they don’t have to reach, and arms on seats to help them stand and sit safely. By preparing now with modular pieces, you can save money in the long run.
