This is very exciting, the very first post on the brand new Dynamic Family Home site!
Oh, just another web-site, you might think, but you should think again! The Dynamic Family Home site will be a breeding ground of ideas for anyone interested in home improvement, the targeted audience being the Dynamic Family; the kind where he has a child and she has a child, they get married and have more children (or some variation thereof).
The idea about this site came to me last November during a quite chaotic period of my life dominated by a lot of work and little play. I felt like I was drowning in practical tasks and a heavy workload both at home and at work. It was time to turn things around and start focusing on the opportunities instead of the obstacles in my life! So I started working on the idea of making a website about homes and families like my own; and also including into the mix; my profession. Being an architect I constantly use my professional eye on our home; always looking to improve and adjust. All this energy focused on our housing challenges I now intend to share with the world, in the hope that it is of interest to people with the same type of family situation as me. I’ve been an architect since 1993 and a parent since 1996, and during this time I have accumulated a lot of experience in both arenas. I got married and established my (then vaguely) Dynamic Family in 2000, with my new husband, myself, his and my child, and since then we’ve had three more kids together. The oldest boy stays with us on weekends and holidays; the oldest girl stays some of the time at her other home; and the rest of us stay put.
Being my own architect has its perks as I take care of all the paperwork and draw out the solutions just as I want them. In our previous home we utilized every inch of the house and ended up with the master bedroom in what used to be a storage room in the basement (thanks to our blossoming family). When our third (fourth, fifth – according to how you count) came along, we realized that we needed a bigger house, and I’ve been really excited about the opportunity to adjust our new home to suit our needs on almost every level. And whatever still doesn’t fit – I’m working on it! That is what this site is all about and if you stick with me you’ll be constantly updated on every housing hurdle we overcome.
The possibility for variation in the Dynamic Family is virtually limitless. These types of families are rapidly increasing in numbers as a lot of marriages (with or without kids) end in divorce, and we find new life partners (with or without kids). We are living with kids who are not our biological children, and our families are getting quite large. In a society which revolves around the nuclear family structure; the kind with mom, dad and two kids; this can be quite a challenge! There is nothing wrong with the nuclear family, but the fact is that many families today don’t fit into this frame.
The frame of the Dynamic Families tends to be a little different, which is why we also need Homes that are a little different. Each Dynamic Family has its own unique pulse with its combination of children, step children, parents and step parents. Each family has specific requirements, but there is some common ground among them. The families tend to need homes with flexible solutions and well thought out systems for organizing all the stuff the kids bring back and forth, among other things.
This website will focus on the common ground of the generic Dynamic Family Home; sprinkled with a lot of specific examples. Please feel free to browse around the site to check out anything of interest to you. In time there should be plenty of content here to quench your thirst for knowledge or inspiration, so be sure to return often and/or subscribe to our newsletter. If you can’t find the answer to any general question you are welcome to ask at the Ask the Architect, or if you need a more specific kind of advice you might Get a Consultation, and I will do my best to answer questions and solve your housing problems. Hope to see you around!
