So the title of this article is family rules canvases, but rules denotes a sense of conformity rather than a community of collaboration. To more accurately describe this post, I would like to say that the family rules, suggested below, are more like family ideals. With ideals, there is a broader sense on how to evaluate a situation rather than automatically obeying a given rule. A custom canvas can be a decorative reminder that all family members can refer to when judging for themselves what is the positive action to take when interacting with the family unit.
Brainstorming a Family Rules Canvas
When brain storming family rules, the list can get super long with a lot of don’t dos and do lists. It is good to verbally discuss these ideas, but the list may be really long for wall decor. You want the list to be simple so that it doesn’t take 5 minutes to read the whole thing. After brainstorming all the family rules, you can generalize them into family ideals. Here are some to help get you started.
My happiness is your happiness
Laughter is the best cure
Thoughtfulness comes from the heart
Be Thankful
Respect is shared between all no matter now big or small
Designing a Custom Family Rules Canvas
Since there may be a lot of words on the canvas, it is best to choose a simple background of one color, a color fade, or wash. Our design tool provides these types of backgrounds or you can upload an image of your own. To make the canvas more interesting, you can do each ideal with a different font. By varying the font size and type, the look will be more eye catching. Also, make sure that the font color and the background color has enough contrast to really make the letters pop.
A Positive Spin: Family Rules vs. Family Ideals
When presenting ideals such as “Treat others out of love,” or “See each day with grateful eyes,” there is a positive value that actions can be based off of. Ideals help frame a way of behavior that is a productive rather than reinforcing behavior around a negative action. Rules such as “Clean up after your self,” or “Don’t whine” are more like commands that give attention to a bad behavior which needs to be corrected. When the ideal is presented, those little negative actions will correct themselves without having to be laid out strictly as the “don’t do this” style of family rules. Give your family rules a positive spin and seeing it every day on your wall will create a good vibe for the whole family! 🙂
Good luck and happy designing!