Finishes That Survive Three Children

Eighteen months after the previous fit-out, the flat looked closer to five years old. High-gloss doors held every fingerprint, the light grout had gone grey in the traffic routes, and a wall of flat emulsion at exactly the height a six-year-old runs a hand along had been repainted twice already.

Nothing here is child-proof, which is a promise nobody can keep. It is repairable and forgiving instead: matte polyurethane that does not showcase fingerprints, grout dark enough to age honestly, washable paint to a metre and a half, radiused edges on anything at head height, and seat covers that come off and go in a machine. The family has stopped treating their own living room as something to protect.