Friday, September 08, 2006

Decorating with Little Rascals

Decorating with little rascals:

Brought to you by: Irvina-lalina & Furniture From Home

We were not impressed when we heard an interior decorators opinion on decorating a home with children. My sister and I looked at each other coyly as she explained, “You will want to go with cheap upholstery and washable drapes. Just replace it all when they get older.” Basically kids are heathens and you have to suffer the consequences. Heck no! Raised in a family of five kids my mom did more than her share of keeping things beautiful and safe. These are my favorite kid friendly decorating tips:

  • Kin-spiration! Add a rocking horse or miniature rocking chair to the living room. The cute part is when it’s made of the same type of wood used in your living room. Guests will admire your hospitality to even the smallest visitors. Check e-bay for great deals.

  • Bear hugs and rugs: Our mom had this amazing animal skin rug as an accent piece in our living room. It was my favorite place to nap. Intelligently it was a dark animal skin. Try using dark area rugs to camouflage any cookie crumbs that might tag along from the kitchen.

  • Mommy, does this match? Some things just aren’t right together. One is swim trunks and a wool sweater. The other is a glass table and a toddler. Save yourself a trip to the ER. Try going for round wood coffee tables. If you really want glass, go for a table with an embedded glass top. Look for an assortment of beautiful coffee tables at FurnitureFromHome.com

  • Book buddies: Little ones learn by example. If you have a bookshelf full of your favorites so should the kids. Combine the family library into one entire den room bookshelf. Except reserve the bottom three shelves strictly for the kids. This way the kids will feel their super smart readers just like you. It will also distract little hands from your collector’s edition of Moby Dick.

  • Precious, Precious: Playful hearts were made to play. Spare the Waterford and Lladro pieces and you spare the distraught tears of folly. Move the fine collectables to the study or the master bedroom until the kids are about eleven. Display them in Beautiful bedroom sets pieces. Available online.

  • Face-tastic! Your child is your most priceless commodity. So decorate immensely with their pictures. If a frame gets bumped by a flying airplane, oh well. Replace the glass. It’s inexpensive and always buys you some hostess time while visitors admire your growing family.

  • Out dated and over rated: I’m talking about T.V. Now hear me out here. Kids can still be entertained without giant foam characters and sarcastic humor. Add some wooden chess boards, a backgammon board, Chinese checkers or scrabble to the family room. The kids will play with each other more and speak less sarcasm at the dinner table.


Well those are my tips for today. If you would like more furniture tips check out my blog at www.bloglines.com/blog/Irvina Happy decorating and child raising.





No comments: