Every few months we are bombarded with divorce statistics and reports of how family life is changing. This probably sounds a bizarre topic for an interior design article, but the changing face of family life can throw up some real design challenges.

Let me outline a recent project I worked on for a family in Brighton and I’m sure it will either be relevant to you or you will know a family just like this.

My clients have two young children and live in a four-bedroom house. Both the parents also have children from a previous marriage, one of which (in their late teens) lives with the family and two of which regularly stay for weekends. Therefore, on some weekends, there are seven people in a four-bedroom house.

The challenge the family set me was to review the space available to them and to try and create a personal space for everyone. Not easy when two of the children only visit every other weekend, but critical that when they do, they feel at home and integrated into the family.

Here are some of the top tips I learned from that project which I’ve since passed onto other clients and hope they are of use to you too.

1. A tip which applies in every situation, but which is particularly important when space is really at a premium is de-clutter as much as possible. A good rule is for every new item you buy, remove an old one.

2. Rooms fulfil many purposes today, for example, lots of families who have a separate dining room, may also decide to use this room to house a communal computer and study area. Don’t allocate too many uses for any one room. In my view, a room can only have two purposes effectively, decide at the outset and stick to it.

3. If you have a wide hall way, or landing, consider placing the family computer and desk in this space. This can be a really effective use of space, particularly if your budget extends to buying some really smart shelving to keep clutter to a minimum. It also has the advantage of keeping computers out of children’s bedrooms, which is the preference of some parents.

4. Bunk beds are always a good solution if you have siblings sharing, but can also be really useful if you have step-children regularly visiting. Whilst sounding a small point, allowing children to choose their own bedding to match the overall colour design of the room can help to transform even that small area into personal space. Good quality bunk beds can be divided into separate single beds, so offering a versatility that may prove useful as children grow older and older ones leave for university.

5. Choose storage solutions carefully. If visiting step-children do not have their own room, it is really important that they have some space to store their belongings so that they do not constantly feel as though they are living out of a suitcase. On my project, I found the classic Cilek bookcase design invaluable as it is thin, but tall with a mix of cupboard and shelf based storage.

6. On my project, I could not believe the number of duvets and pillows my clients had, with summer and winter versions, storing them took up a surprising amount of space. I’m a real fan of the vacuum based storage bags that are now widely available and slide easily into existing childrens furniture. In my view you should only reduce duvets/pillows by 50% of their size if you want them to "bounce back", but even this can make a real storage difference.