Stylish & Child Friendly Spaces

A happy home is a stylish home!  The reverse is not always true.

Have you ever been to a friend’s home and wondered where all the “stuff” was? Why was there nothing on the coffee table? The answer was that things had been put away until the kids could learn not to touch them! Doesn’t this seem a little backwards (not to mention boring)? Children must learn to live around our pretty things, learn to appreciate them, and thereby learn to respect and keep items in a nice condition. Children want to learn the stories behind our treasures. At the same time, there’s no way around the fact that we must learn to live with their treasures as well.

A stylish, child-friendly space begins with a mindset. First and foremost you must give up the notion that you will have a pristine, museum-like home. Then you must let go of the little things like scuff marks on baseboards, fingerprints on windows, marks on walls. Start to view those as precious memories. Allow them to be the hallmarks of a time we parents can never get back.

This certainly doesn’t mean our homes can’t look stylish and beautiful, while at the same time feeling lived-in and functional! By setting up your home to give children the artistic freedom they need (and also some athletic freedom), you’re also giving them a home in which they can feel comfortable and loved. Make your child feel as though he or she is front and center in your home, as though no room is off-limits (the off-limits rooms are the very ones they will gravitate to first). Your home will be much happier for it.  And remember: a happy home is a stylish home!

Here are a few ways you can combine adult and child spaces into one stylish, cohesive look.

1.  When in Rome…

   My daughter kept drawing on her door…over and over! Frustrating, yes. End of the world, no. I painted over her door with chalkboard paint. Now she happily doodles and leaves sweet notes.  Instead of wanting to shriek every time I pass by, I can smile.

  

2.  Pick Materials that can Withstand a Tornado (aka your children)

What do reclaimed wood floors, distressed tables, and vintage leather sofas have in common? Each can withstand an active child over and over again and look all the better for it.  When you have these types of materials, you won’t notice scratches and spills nearly as much.  Perhaps the white linen bedspread of your dreams could wait a few years in favor of an equally stylish, washable coverlet.

3.  “A Bouquet of Sharpened Pencils”

           

Kathleen Kelly in the movie “You’ve Got Mail” wanted a bouquet of sharpened pencils.  I couldn’t agree more.  You’re going to have pencils, Sharpies, & construction paper anyway.  You might as well make them look pretty.  Any item looks best when it’s grouped with like items. Stuff 25 yellow pencils in a cup or mason jar for instant appeal. Stack colored paper in a tray for eye candy.

4.  Display their inner Picasso

It’s no secret that kids love to see their artwork hanging around the house. Make them feel proud while at the same time creating a colorful gallery that will work beautifully on any wall in your home. View their artwork with a different eye and you just might discover an abstract work that will pop on your walls. Choose simply lined frames and cover a wall with various sizes. Artwork can also be hung with clothespins or binder clips from a wire for frequent changing.  Children will feel so special when they see that you value the pieces they brought home.

5.  Contain it Beautifully

Unusual containers for toys can disguise the fact that your kitchen is housing approximately two hundred Happy Meal toys and fifteen yo-yos.  Hang a metal flower box painted in a zippy pattern on your kitchen wall to catch little toys, chalk and crayons.  Mesh trash cans filled with Legos actually look pretty cool.  A round vase filled with Pez dispensers would be a fun conversation starter!

Having a stylish space alongside children is all about blending the two categories seamlessly and at the same time making kids feel a part of the home. Rather than hiding evidence of the kids, display their things proudly and creatively. Your stylish home will be happier for it.


Blog by Martha McGlothlin of Martha Jane Style. For more of her ideas, check out her Instagram @martha.jane.style. Her new blog, Martha + Jane will be up very soon. In the meantime, check out The Confetti Chronicles.

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Setting a Simple & Easy Thanksgiving Table

As the end of the year quickly approaches, it brings no greater joy than the opportunity to give thanks and celebrate good cheer! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it brings the whole family together to laugh, enjoy each other’s company, and to be thankful for all of life’s true blessings.

I recently had the opportunity to assist a very special client with prepping and decorating her family’s brand new home to host Thanksgiving.  The Thanksgiving table is arguably the most important focal point of any Thanksgiving dinner or party; it’s where the whole family gathers and where everyone feels “at home”. The result was a beautifully decorated dinner table with just the right touches to bring in the charming elements of fall!

I chose to go with an easy and affordable styling option, as this client wanted an informal setting for her guests.  I started with a simple and easy DIY center piece. I found a great little wooden box from Michaels and layered in foliage, greenery, and pine cones to add in an element of fall.

I knew that I wanted to use a gold and white theme to accent the dark wood of the table and give it a nice contrast. I found the gold-rimmed plates and gold chargers at Dollar Tree Direct, and by the way, if you've never checked out this site you have no idea what you're missing out on! I added crisp white dinner napkins and tied them with gold ribbon, added pine cone accents and these sweet hang tags from Evermine which can be customized to your liking. 

I spruced up the look by flanking two glass vases on both sides of the table. I added long floral stems to each of the vases and filled them with pine cones to stabilize it, and voila! Now you have a really simple, easy, and super affordable tablescape for Thanksgiving! If you're looking to create a more formal setting you can add flatware and wine glasses to each place setting.

*blog post courtesy of Chári at ChicHomeStyle. For more of her home decor inspiration checkout her website and follow her on Instagram @chichomestyle

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Don't Skip Over Thanksgiving

It seems to be a trend lately to skip over the turkeys and the pilgrims and head right into decking the halls for Christmas. I love the holidays; all of them. Including Thanksgiving. I still love and enjoy my pumpkins and I don't like to rush to put them away. I always add turkeys to my décor the first of November. As much as I love Christmas and my house lit up with merriment at Christmastime, I try to enjoy every last minute of fall and embrace the meaning of Thanksgiving and all that entails.

 Don’t skip over Thanksgiving! After all, in Texas, it is just now fall, so we have to embrace it!




In my family, we call those who are guilty of this bad deed, a “Christmas Turkey”! Don’t be a Christmas Turkey! Celebrate family and be thankful; hold off on the stockings and mistletoe until the day after Thanksgiving.


Make Thanksgiving something everyone looks forward to. It is the less-stressful version of Christmas so enjoy it. Start traditions so that your family looks forward to Thanksgiving, rather than looking beyond this special holiday.




I look at Thanksgiving as the front door, if you will, of the holidays. (Actually my daughter’s birthday, a few days before Thanksgiving, begins the holidays for us!)




We have several Thanksgiving traditions, in my family, which we have celebrated for many years.

The day before, we bake; altogether, if possible. The night before Thanksgiving, our family goes to dinner together and then we go see a funny movie (that may or may not be Christmas-y.).

The morning of Thanksgiving, we all have a light breakfast, in our pj’s, with plenty of mimosas, of course, and then return home to get prepared for the big day.


And can we talk about the side dishes, I mean carbs! We all prepare our favorites and we end up with about ten different cheesy, buttery, carb-infested yumminess varieties that once resembled a vegetable; then everyone is miserable while watching the Dallas Cowboys. Tradition. Every year and I wouldn’t change a thing. Another coined term in my house ~“thanksgiving full”. Definition, well, you are fuller than you have ever been.


Thanksgiving night, after you have stuffed yourself and enjoyed your family, and were thankful all day, it is all-in-with-bells-on…we watch Christmas Vacation and start decking those halls.


Tradition is defined as the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation. It is never too late to begin a tradition.



Some other traditions I like…

*Start a Thanksgiving journal. Every Thanksgiving, right down where you are celebrating, who is celebrating with you and have everyone sign the page or write a message. (Don’t forget to write what you are thankful for!) This will be very fun to read year after year.




*Help your children dress up like a pilgrim or a Native American. You can use paper sacks, large t-shirts, construction paper, etc. Pinterest is full of ideas.


*Let your children decorate. They can help you pick flowers or decorate the “children’s table” with traditional items for Thanksgiving.





*Pick an easier dish and let your children prepare it on their own, with supervision, of course.

*Tell stories about your childhood Thanksgivings, your grandparents that have passed away, or perhaps are out of town and can’t join the family dinner. Have your grandparents and parents explain their story of how they met.



*Take advantage of technology and call or Facetime with members of the family that are out of town.

*Have everyone around the table tell what they are most thankful for, either in general or for the past year. This is very important because you learn a lot about each other and sometimes this leads to happy tears.

Don’t be a Christmas Turkey-slow down and enjoy each holiday as it was meant to be! Be creative. Be together. Be thankful. Enjoy the day and the meaning behind the holiday. And then…deck those halls!


love and blessings~dd


*Blog post courtesy of Dedra. Visit her blog for more of her random prose at dedradaviswrites.

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