Decorating to Prevent Home Accidents
Having a nice, fashionable house is a common goal, but it’s also important to decorate in a way that will help prevent home accidents. What we mean by that is any injuries or harm that come your way involving something in your house.
In Spain, for example, burns, falls, and accidental poisoning are the main causes of home accidents, according to a new report. Even in that small country, about 1.7 million people had an accident in their home or during recreational activities in a single year.
We’re not trying to instill panic, we just want to show you how to make your house safe and keep these things from happening.
Decorating to prevent home accidents
Anchoring your furniture to the wall
If you have heavy furniture and shelves, you should anchor them to the wall. That will involve a drill, hooks, and anything else you have to do to keep it from falling. Large mirrors on the floor look gorgeous, but they’re not safe. So, if you have one like this, anchor it to the wall too. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Be careful with the floor if you want to prevent home accidents
Think carefully about what kind of floors you’re going to put in. Always use an anti-slip coating if you can. If you’ve mopped recently, you should also make sure they’re completely dry before stepping on them. Be extra careful if you used wax.
If you have rugs in the home, check to see if they have an adhesive tape on the bottom, or anchor them to the floor to avoid tripping.
Electrical appliances
Never leave an electrical appliance near your sink. Even a small slip-up could make it fall and cause electrocution.
Don’t climb onto your furniture
We know you can’t reach above all your furniture on your own, but a lot of home accidents happen when people climb onto an unstable chair to dust lamps and high shelves.
Be careful about heat sources
Starting a fire is easier than you might think. So, don’t use space heaters or radiators as driers. Don’t put a rag on top of a lamp to make it a little less bright. Doing any of these things could cause the fabric to burn and catch on fire.
Oh, and another thing, we love decorating with candles and aren’t going to tell you not to. But make sure you blow them out before you leave the house or go to bed if you want to prevent home accidents.
If you have a pet, you definitely need to try to prevent home accidents
For you and your family’s safety, make sure your pet doesn’t chew on any cords. Besides harming your pet, it could also cause a short circuit.
Do you have a glass door or big windows?
If you answer yes, then don’t hesitate. Put some kind of sticker on the window to make sure you see it. We know, it’s your house and you’re familiar with it, but there are plenty of homeowners, or guests, who have run into their windows. Besides hurting your head, you could break the glass and be badly injured.
Drawers
Don’t fill your drawers with so much stuff that the dresser falls over onto you. You should also put stops on the drawers so they don’t open all the way. Lastly, be especially careful about how you store sharp objects like knives. You could cut yourself when you try to take them out. Always have the blade facing inwards.
Pay extra attention if you have kids
If you have kids, you need to be extra careful. For our last point, we’re going to give you some info on the most common home accidents involving children. Along with everything above, watch out for these things:
- Cover your outlets so they don’t put their fingers in them.
- Keep toxic products like medicine or cleaning products out of their reach.
- Be careful with the heat sources in your kitchen. Put a protector on your stove and always keep the pots and pans as far back as possible.
- Watch out for choking. Make sure to keep any food they could choke on out of their reach.
- Put a protector on any drawers you don’t want them to be able to open. Do the same with doors to make sure they don’t get their fingers caught in them.
- Cover sharp corners with a soft material to avoid injuries.
- If you have low windows, put in a railing or some other kind of safety measure.
Keep all these things in mind. As obvious as they may seem, lots of us take too much for granted, and that’s how accidents tend to happen.