5 Ideas for Living Stylishly with Kids

Living with babies and young children no longer means giving up on having a stylish home. Safety and style can go hand in hand when design choices are made with kids in mind. These are just a few ideas to help you get started.

Choose Fabrics Wisely

Nowadays, there is a wide range of furniture and accessory fabrics designed with families in mind. Select a leather couch that is easy to wipe clean and sure to age gracefully. Or, if leather isn’t your jam, try a microfiber couch, which repels water and resists fading. For rugs (especially ones that will be in areas that get a lot of traffic, like your living room or entryway), opt for a wool or woven vinyl rug. A wool rug in a darker, woven pattern will repel moisture, clean easily, and hide little sneaker stains. Woven vinyl rugs are mildew and mold resistant and can even be hosed down outside and scrubbed with dish soap for tough stains.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ditch the Dining Room

We know it’s tradition to have a big table for family to gather round, but realistically, that only happens a couple of times a year (at best). For the 362 other days, our dining rooms sit abandoned, accumulating all of the other stuff we don’t have room for in the house. Instead, turn your dining room into a functional room that you and your family really need. Whether it’s a playroom, library, creative project room, multi-purpose office, or exercise and meditation room, determine how your family could get the most use out of the space and go for it.

Hang Lighting Whenever Possible

Tabletop lights and floor lamps are practically begging to be knocked over. Instead, hang them or wall-mount them when you can to get them off of vulnerable surfaces. And don’t forget to properly cover outlets where any cords plug in.

Babyproofing in Disguise

Safety should always come first, but style does not have to be a distant second. To protect your baby from sharp edges, choose a circular coffee table, upholstered ottoman, or fabric storage bench in high traffic rooms or utilize discreet corner protectors like these. Keep children out of cabinets and drawers with latches designed to be installed on the inside and keep kids off the stairs with a stylish safety gate that attaches to banisters without jerry-rigging.

Maintain Toy and Kid Decor Guidelines

It doesn’t take long for a house with kids to accumulate trinkets, movie posters, and a scattering of toys on every surface. To reduce visual noise, try coming up with some guidelines for toys and kids’ items in your home. For some people, this means only allowing certain aesthetically pleasing toys to live in the family room (such as artful children’s books, a classic Domino set, or plain wooden blocks). Or, make an agreement not to decorate kids’ bedrooms and playrooms with movie posters and characters, which little ones outgrow quickly. Instead, opt for more timeless themes loosely based off of the characters your child is currently obsessed with. If it’s Frozen, go for an elegant, whimsical, fairy tale design in cool shades. If they’re really digging Finding Nemo, try for an underwater treasure and sea exploration vibe.

What about you? How do you maintain a home with a style that you love while little ones run around?