Feb. 26, 2007
The Home Depot will bring a traveling version of its West Bend store’s kids workshop to the West Bend Area Chamber of Commerce home improvement show. Associates will guide parents and kids through cobbling a hammer-and-nail project together.
“Kids enjoy coming to our store because they know when they come to our workshops they get to wear an apron, and they build these little projects their parents help them with,” said Home Depot’s Kim Ward. “It’s just a good way to build relationships with the community.”
Getting kids enthusiastic about home improvement can help them adjust to the upheaval and chaos that the projects sometimes bring to daily routines, Ward said.
Marma McIntee, a family living educator at the University of Wisconsin-Washington County Extension said talking to a child before a project was a good way to get their cooperation. Kids should understand the adjustments are temporary, and their responsibility as a family member.
“It may be a time when things are in disarray,” McIntee said as an example. “So we have to be responsible and we have pick up our clothes and our books and toys. Even though the home is in disarray for a time we still have to be responsible for keeping a tidy home.”
Children might have an easier time sleeping in the living room while their bedroom is being repainted, or having spartan lunches during a six-month kitchen remodeling, if they understand their parents’ motivation for the change and if they’re excited about the results of the project.
“I have two kids and I don’t think they necessarily wanted to do it,” said a town of West Bend mom who moved her family to an apartment while her lake house was remodeled. “I don’t think they understood at first what it all entailed because for kids they’re like, ‘Well, this is good enough.’”
She said the temporary relocation was a jolt for her kids, but now they enjoy the improvements.
“This summer was really fun because we never had a very big kitchen,” she said. “So it was just swarming with kids. I can’t tell you how many times I had five girls visiting on the island all making ice cream sundaes.”
Kitchen islands are becoming the most important part of kitchens, Ward said. Home Depot designers typically devote more time to designing an island for a kitchen remodeling than all other aspects combined.
“It’s no longer a place to eat,” Ward said. “It’s really an entertainment space.”
Maximizing that space is becoming the biggest trend in kitchen improvements, and Ward said it can be done while minimizing the impact on a family and their pocketbook. Along with the kid’s workshop, Ward is organizing a quick tutorial on kitchen layout, and the Home Depot will also host a tile workshop for do-it-yourselfers.
“Even with a very small cabinet remodel, it is so much easier than what people think. Remodeling a kitchen doesn’t need to be stressful and it doesn’t need to be a $40,000 project,” Ward said. Renovation can be a unique time for the family to come together in unusual circumstances.
“The kids enjoy it, and it builds self-esteem, enjoyment and it’s family bonding time. That’s a memory you cherish.”