Business & Finance

A family home is built around the idea that rooms and furnishings should be practical. But that doesn’t mean you have to ignore style. Children can get as big a kick as parents do out of that whimsical love seat or those brightly colored walls or funky (yet sturdy) lamps.

It means not letting style trump day-to-day usefulness. A museum-exhibit living room that puts no one at ease doesn’t make a lot of sense in a family home. A formal dining table that does little but collect dust for weeks on end might be replaced by a desk and a smaller table that works well for family game night.

Family room: Most often the casual living room that is set apart from the living room by its use, this room is less formal and thus children’s toys may be kept out and most often this is the spot for any multimedia entertainment equipment. It is designed to support the need for relaxation and ease of the owner as compared to the following room.

Above all, a family home focuses on informal, comfortable gathering places. A simple idea, but not always easy to accept. “People fear not looking sophisticated,” says Jane Gitlin, an architect and co-author of Taunton’s “Family Home Idea Book.” “You have to get over that.”