Good Design with Kids in Mind: Hosted by 6th Street

  

A 6th Street Design School Segment

1. Is there a way to have kids and nice things coexist in your home?  What are some of your tips to keeping your nice things “safe” from kids.

Yes.  They include:

A Costco sized box of Magic Erasers, A great Dry Cleaner, and LOTS of patience :)

hahaha.

I kid, I kid.

Okay, really... In MY opinion, and experience the BEST way to allow your nice, pretty house decor, and things... coexist in your home, are these few ways:

Stay CLUTTER free and SIMPLE - ANY small child is going to go straight for mini figurines or a table full of apothecary jars, so keep your kiddos in mind when decorating.  Try to keep "in reach" breakable, antique, or expensive items, up and out of little children's reach.

Be SLY and TEACH them - Everyones children are different.  But MY kids do BEST when I "sneak" new home decor into the mix.  Usually when I get something new, I try not to make a HUGE deal out of it.  I just place it where I want it, and then watch the next few hours to see if my kids notice.

When they finally DO, they will want to explore and TOUCH it.  That's OKAY!  That's part of being a kid, right?

SO when they DO head for your nice new "thing"... don't freak out.  I usually just walk over and say... "What do you think?  Do you like it?"... "I think it makes our house look so pretty!  And it makes me really happy..."

Then I will sometimes let them touch or hold, or tinker with, whatever it is, for a minute... (jar, candle, plate) 

THEN... this is VERY IMPORTANT

I say...

"I REALLY like this "______new thing______" and Mommy would be SO sad if it got ruined, or broken."

I try to make my world, part of THEIR world"... Mind you, I have all GIRLS, so this might be easier. LOL.

But in this way... when I actually have a kinda grown-up conversation with them, they are REALIZING:

WHY this thing is so important,

and HOW I would feel if something were to happen to it.

This works REALLY well for our family.  And recently I just overheard one of our older girls say to their 3 year old, younger sister... "This is my NEW toothbrush, and if you play with it, and lose it, then that would make me really sad, so don't touch it okay?"

HAHAHA.

2. How do you keep your toys from taking over the house?

Well, if you read along on my blog, you'll notice that I don't STORE toys in my kids's rooms.

The rooms are just WAY too little.

  

My husband and I are VERY FIRM believers in the fact that rooms are for relaxing.

A sanctuary away from toys, noise, and the craziness of the day.

Isn't that what you use YOUR room for?  Isn't that why we try to choose paint in bedrooms that calm and make us feel happy?

I don't think it's any different for our kids.

We DO store books in our girls's rooms, under their beds in a basket, or in their drawers... so they are easily accessible.

So where DO we keep the toys???

Well...in our house, we actually have a designated ROOM in our basement for toys.

It's NOTHING special.  Just a plain ol' room with some simple bins and things for my girls's "stuff".

    

I have never been huge on the whole "Completely Pimped Out Play Room" craze... only because I feel like small children grow out of it SO FAST.

Before you know it, you're having to turn it into a "cool" study / friend hangout. (which is a phase that I think lasts a LOT longer)

So in only a year or so, we'll probably start working on a great space for the girls to have... to be able to sit, relax, and have a few of their favorite friends and things around them, to enjoy and play with.

Kinda like this:

  

Um.... ya RIGHT... in my Pottery Barn, DREAMS!

LOL LOL...

but you get the idea, right?

I like the idea of how these rooms have storage for... whatever!  Toys, books, cd's magazines...

They are really "transitional"  and not filled with too many "age appropriate" themes... making the rooms easy to live in, at ANY age.

3. What do you do when your kids “tacky” stuff doesn’t go with the room but they still want to display it?

***keep in mind... my children are young... so this answer will work well for mothers of small children, just starting school***

We haven't really gotten into TOO much of that yet, with  my kids being so young...meaning... no SUPER scary artwork, or funny looking pottery, LOL... but ONE good way that we have decided to keep our "creations" in check, is to put them in a place where the kids can reference and look at them frequently.

We have a book like this:

Really... as you can see, NOTHING special...(in the looks department, anyways) lol.  It's just a plain ol' 3 inch binder, with all of my kids's artwork and creations in there.

I DO try to write a little note at the bottom of each piece that I keep, to remember WHO did it, and WHEN it was done.

As far as "school" work that comes home... at the risk of sounding like an awful mother, to some... I keep about 1 piece of artwork a week, and ditch the rest.

Usually, I'll keep the weeks work, just in the kitchen, on top of the fridge, or something, and then on Friday... I just pick the ones the girls loved the most, and ditch the rest!

You can't keep EVERYTHING... so keep the stuff that speaks the loudest about your child, and store it somewhere safe, like in some protective sleeves, so that your kids can enjoy them :)

They won't even remember the silly other little things that you got rid of.  Promise :)

4. Do you have spaces that are off limits to kids?

Yes.

Only one.

And it's... kind of a secret. LOL.

wanna know?

UGH... I've NEVER shown this to anyone before...

It's the room in the VERY back of our home, in the basement.

(AKA: my beautiful guest bedroom, someday) ha!

But for the moment... it's the home to hidden Christmas presents... and  ALL of my home decor... that has YET to be repurposed, reused, sold, or donated.

Cason (my hubby) is pushing for a big home decor garage sale, for the things that I don't want anymore...  I say "Bring it on"... now just give me the energy to actually STICKER and PRICE it all.... *siiigh*.

Can't people just come over and barter for these goods, in my basement...instead?

5. How do you find time to blog or run a business with kids?

Ooohh...  THE Number ONE question emailed to me.

My REALLY short answer...

My amazing, awesome, sexy hubby... does the laundry.

hahahahahah... yup.  It's true.

And no, you can't have him :)

Okay, even though that's a HUGE chunk of time saved... that's not ALL of it...

The REALLY BIG one, is...

I - LOVE - WHAT - I - DO.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't look around and say... 

"What the HECK am I thinking!" LOL

But there also isn't a day that goes by that I don't stop, at some point during the day and wonder "How lucky am I !? "

:)

Life is short.  It goes by too quickly, and no matter what... my Family always comes first.

Blogging, decorating, and my vinyl business are ways for me to help out my family, not only to make a little money for us, but also... because they make this Momma HAPPY! :)

And you know what they say... "If Momma ain't happy........"  lol.

I've found something that is MINE... that I have a passion for and that also keeps me feeling GOOD!

And no.  I'm not talking about the times in my week when I break down crying because my house is mess and I have 200 new emails in my inbox, or when my three year old sneaks under my desk and flips that lovely RED SWITCH, to OFF, on my computer, and I lose EVERYTHING...

(yes, this has happened twice.  And I literally had to LOCK MYSELF in my bathroom for about 20 minutes, so as not to BEAT my child into her next life)

........just keepin' it real.

I'm talking about the times when ...

* I find myself literally laughing out loud, crying or nodding along while reading peoples comments left on our blog.

* I get the opportunity to connect with extremely talented women, that inspire me EVERYDAY, all over the world!

* I experience peace and therapy from writing my thoughts down...the good, the bad, AND the funny :)

* I Create something new, that I am proud of, and get to share it!

or

* Finding out that you and a few thousand other ladies can relate to and feel the SAME way about things... that YOU DO!

So I guess that my answer to this question REALLY is...

It's hard.  Anyone who tells you different... is a liar. LOL.

There will NEVER be enough hours in the day. 

Kids, church callings, a house, a husband, school, business, blog.....  It's all just part of who I am, now... It's what makes me tick...

Nobody can be the BEST at everything. 

I'm still working on this one, but I think I'm coming to terms with that. LOL.

- Someones house will ALWAYS look better

- Your neighbor/friend/co-worker will always make more money than you...

- And you can NEVER give ENOUGH time, attention or LOVE to your kids.... because even if you try your HARDEST, you'll almost ALWAYS feel like you could have done more.

SO... just DO YOUR BEST!... and if YOU feel good about what YOU'VE accomplished at the end of the day... then that's ALL that matters :)

If I've learned one thing in my adult life so far... it's this...

Time is like Money... You'll never agree on how other people decide to spend it ~Shelley Smith haha

hmmm... I think that needs to be in vinyl somewhere . . .

LOL