My Dream Child-Free Oasis!

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Having Joshua around the house has changed everything! The whole place is a lot more chaotic and lively and messy and fun – toys in every corner of every room within a few minutes of him waking up and everything looking progressively more like a disaster area as the day progresses. Until 7pm when most things return to where they belong for a few hours until it starts all over again!

Sometimes I think about what I would do with a ‘child-free oasis’ in the house / garden – what it would look like and what would be in there, aside from the padlock and 10 foot fence to keep Joshua from breaking in of course! So here goes…

I’ve always liked outdoor buildings – not teeny tiny sheds, but proper big old summer houses, reminiscent of the log cabins you get on holidays. We’ve had a summerhouse in each of our last two houses, but this time around I’d go for something a bit bigger and a bit more permanent, with insulated walls, electrics, plumbing and proper flooring.

Inside I would want to put everything in there that is easier to enjoy without a six year-old crashing around the place – so for me that would include a projector and screen, a home office space and a bar! A reclining sofa would be a must, with drinks holders – no point in having a sofa unless you can both lay out on it in my opinion. Maybe install a small popcorn machine in the corner just to really create the cinema experience!

The cabin would be divided into 3 areas, with the desk and chair at one end, the screen down the opposite end, with a bar alongside it, and the sofa in the middle to help divide up the space.

The bar would have a few optics on it and a 3 bar stools – nothing too flashy of course, but nice enough so anyone we invited over would be happy enough to spend the evening in there drinking bizarrely potent and curiously coloured cocktails and watching a film or two!

There would be power in there of course, with a few pendant lights down the middle with those lovely large bulbs hanging down. All furniture would all be in light oak – nice and light and airy – with a real solid wooden flooring.

The office area wouldn’t need to be too large – anything would be a massive improvement on working from home on my laptop whilst sprawled awkwardly across the sofa! Maybe a funky Z-shaped desk with a little bit of storage would be ideal.

All that’s left then is the decoration, all in pastel shades to make it feel spacious and calming. Purples and greens are our go-to colours, so those would be the schemes for the curtains and cushions and the large furry rug in front of the sofa. No dream oasis would be complete without a large furry rug!

And there you have it.

Pretty. Much. Perfect! Doesn’t hurt to dream, right?!

Now we just need to find the £5,000 to get it all done – and a slightly larger garden – maybe next year after that lottery win…

What would you include in your own child-free oasis?