Toddler Decor for the Rest of Us

Michelle, from Peas Out Mama, is back, sharing some ideas for accessorizing with her son's books and toys to keep her valuables safe from her toddler. Take a read, I love her ideas as much as I enjoy her amusing style of expression.  As always, we'd love to hear your ideas, too!

In my last guest post, "Living With a Toddler in Your Living Room," I bemoaned my bare tables. Those poor, sad tables, accesssory-less, longing for some love and affection. After seeing a stack of my son's books hanging out on our living room end table, I became inspired and set out on a mission to find ways to intentionally incorporate his stuff into my home decor. After some careful book selection, I came up with this. Granted, it doesn't look anything like this as I type these words, but the idea is still there!

Board books kinda rock. No, seriously, who would've thought that Goodnight Moon made such a fabulous, functional coaster for a Super Bowl pina colada? Not that I'd know.

I then moved on to blocks. I love blocks. A lot. Like more than my kid. I grabbed a not-so-much used wooden salad bowl and voila!

Then on to Legos, also loved more by me. I took this beautiful basket (received as a wedding gift) out of the cabinet. I don't think this piece was intended to house Legos, but hey, things don't always end up as planned.

Just for kicks, I tried accessorizing my mantel with toys. I really like the results (stacking rings, Thomas the train, a sensory ball, and a glass vase filled with colored blocks), but they were oh so temporary. My son spotted it all and immediately started in with his demands: Want it! Want it! Also, the colors don't really work for my living room, so I was happy to oblige. Still, I think it's pretty cute.

In a quest to find some other ideas, I stumbled upon this. I have a thing for building toys (if you haven't noticed) and think this would look uber cool on a coffee table!

New City

Or how about this next one? These look like vintage trucks probably not for playing with at this point, but could you imagine the fun factor with your kids' own trucks?

via Flickr

And here's another block display I love. Probably not something you'd let your shorty get her mitts on, but on a mantel or dining room table, it'd look adorable. I'm digging the muted colors, too.

Not feeling confident that displaying your tea set in reach of your kids or grandkids? My mom learned this lesson the hard way when my nieces and nephews had their way with her silver service. Yikes. Well, how about this little cutie?

 

Therapie New York 

Personally, I prefer something a bit more subdued. Like this:

Todd Holland Tea Merchants

Hmmm...I really like that set. Boy's second birthday is coming up and he would love this. What? It's not my fault he blurts out Mama get coffee every time we pull into the Dunkin's parking lot. This set would be a hit. Coffee, tea, whatever. It's all good.

In the spirit of fun, I had to share this next table with you. In addition to loving blocks, I also love xylophones. I may or may not have scored a xylophone one Christmas after sharing my love on facebook. Oh sure, technically my son's aunt and uncle got it for him. This table is awesome!

Modernhood

So do you think any of these ideas could work for you? Love 'em? Hate 'em? Have some cool ideas for accessorizing with toys? I'd love to hear them!

Living with a Toddler in your Living Room

Michelle, from Peas Out Mama, shares her journey into toddler-dom and the unfortunate results on her home decor. But she's on a mission to find a way to bring life back into her living room. I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with! Thank you, Michelle!  

It wasn't going to happen to me. I wouldn't let it. Once a child entered my life, my space, I would retain it. My living room would be mine. Toys R Us would not explode in there and have its way with my furniture and accessories. Mostly that's been true. My son's toys are pretty much confined to his room, which is not to say they never make an appearance elsewhere throughout the house, but to his room they return at the end of good days. And at nearly two years old, he knows it.

Parents have different philosophies about designing their kids' rooms, where the toys should go, and how to use living room space. I say whatever works for you works. For me, I like my living room to be ours as a family, yes, but mostly it's a place for me and my husband to unwind -- a place where our son hangs out and plays sometimes too. But it's not his playroom. He doesn't have one of those.

As a child, I played in my room. That's where my toys were. And somehow, magically, they all fit in there. The same goes for my three older brothers. I suppose that upbringing translated in my philosophy, if you'd call it that. We don't have anything uber-fancy in the living room, so if an accident were to happen, I wouldn't bawl my eyes out. Much.

I love the series Kirsten Krasen featured on 6th Street Design School. Dubbed "Good Design Kids in Mind," the series featured kid-related design questions answered by none other than a team of talented designers. With posts like "Incorporating Kid's 'Tacky' Stuff in Your Home" and "Can Kids and Nice Things Coexist?", the series offers real-life, honest advice. I'm fortunate that I don't yet have to incorporate tacky, but the question of my toddler's coexisting with nice things looms large. And for now, my answer is Sort of, but not totally.

This little creature called toddler is actually quite good with furniture -- not a climber (yet) -- so I consider myself lucky there. But you know those beautiful things (um, accessories, I think they're called by the outside world) that usually go on coffee tables, end tables and whatnot? Yeah, those had to go. They'd all be toast at the hands of a toddler. 

See this stack here? That'd never fly around these parts. Or maybe I should say they would fly -- onto the floor in a chaotic mess. Kudos to this fam with two toddlers who don't wreck that stack! The stuffed animals on the chair, though? Very cute and seems to fit this room's style perfectly.

eclectic kids design by media and blogs Aesthetic Outburst via Houzz

I also really like the toys on the floor in this pic. Very sweet and playful. Still, those books scare me a little.

eclectic kids design by media and blogs Aesthetic Outburst via Houzz

Back to my accessorizing dilemma. I recently put the question out to my blog "likers" on facebook, asking whether they have coffee tables or end tables in their living rooms, and if so, what's on them. Seems we're all in the same boat more or less. Some of my favorite responses:

from KS: "I do! With bumpers on the edges. lol It's quite the decorating statement.  Um, crumbs from lunch and a Little People truck on top. A preschool laptop and Magnadoodle underneath. Do those things count? ;-)"

from JF: "Just put mine back in. I had one of those upholstered microsuede large ottomans that functioned as a coffee table too. [On it]: At the moment, a truck, a sippy cup, and a 2 year old. Usually, nothing. Pre kids, I liked to think I was stylin with accessories. Now? Not so much. They'd just be used as weapons or something to bang on the table."

from HB: "I also have the leather ottoman coffee table, and it currently houses two sippy cups, one pair of shoes, a snowsuit, and a rather grumpy dog."

from KK: "Yes...however it doesn't hold cups/plates..it hold cars trucks and cute little tushies!!"

from EL: "Yes we have a coffee table in both our living room and family room. Our living room is gated off from the toddler, family room is not. Neither coffee table has any decor on it. Toddler uses family room coffee table as a diving board for jumping onto the couches."

I think it's pretty obvious we moms are rockin' the design world!

So...(sigh)...my tables are bare. And sad. And boring. Which makes me sad. And which got me thinking... What if I could figure out a way to use my son's stuff as accessories? Yup, accessorize with toys. On purpose. For real. You know, so if he touched stuff, it'd be cool. The idea came to me one day after noticing a stack of my son's books on our end table. They looked pretty cute. And now I'm on a mission to accessorize. Wanna see what I come up with? Check out my next guest post!
   

Interior Inspirations from My Web Favs: Freshome

The favorite design blog series is back featuring Freshome, a site I love because it provides exactly as its name infers: fresh ideas for your home. Obviously I'm not alone; the site boasts 2 million visitors a month. The site has so much to offer, from room-specific interior solutions, architecture, gadgets and innovations, to case goods and furniture. The possibilities for redesigning your home are endless.

Photo Source: Sagan Piechota Architecture

Here's what i think makes Freshome so great:

• Navigation. Looking for specific inspiration for your bedroom, or maybe your kitchen? At the top of the site, there are links that allow you to search for inspiration from apartments, architecture, bathrooms, bedrooms, furniture, kitchens, or living rooms.

Photo Source: Freshome

• Another great feature is the "Best Of" tab that has all their most successful and useful articles like "30 Beautiful and Relaxing Bathroom Design Ideas." Home spa? Yes, please! 

                                 Tab = "Best Of"

 Photo Source: Freshome, 10 Home Staging Tricks to Sell Your Home Quicker

• Informative. Not only is their written information on point, just the scan of the images can provide you with what you need. It's inevitable that you'll leave with great idea after perusing the site. You're bound to find one or two... or twenty ideas, that really inspire you to freshen up your own home.

• Ratings. Want to know what other viewers have found to be the most interesting articles today? How about in the past week or in the past month? Check out the "Most-Viewed" section along the mid-right margin which shows which articles have been most popular today, this week or this month.  It may just be the stop you need to take a break from your hectic day for a few minutes. Something like "23 Amazing Bedrooms with a Panoramic View of the Ocean" might help you escape? Now who wouldn't like that?

Photo Source: Freshome

Stop on over to Freshome and let me know what you think. If you are really intrigued you can learn more about Freshome - and provide feedback as to what you would like to see more of, see improved, etc. - on Tuesday, Jan. 11 at 6pm EDT. Micle Mihai Cristian, the founder of Freshome is going to be the Guest Host on the weekly Twitter Interior Designer Chat, all the way from Romania!

If you are unable to make the chat, Micle would still love to hear from you.  He sent me a message on Twitter requesting not only positive feedback but also suggestions for what readers "don't like or what they could do better".   So if you have some constructive feedback to offer Micle, please feel free to offer it up. He's all ears!

Interior Inspirations from My Web Favs: Material Girls

Need to add a little punch to the spaces in your house? Whatever your style, whatever you're looking for to add that something extra to your home, Material Girls has it covered.

They've received much acclaim and working together, they continue to keep readers coming back for more.  Some of the things that have me listing their blog as one of my top picks include the following:

Cross-Country Coverage. How nice is it to have 5 super-savvy designers out there hunting down the fabulous for us?  Click on a specific metro - Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, or New York - and you will be delighted with what each area has to offer.   

From Dallas:

Source: Made Goods

From Houston:  Lauren really got my attention with this pick!

Photo Source: Southern Accents

                      
From Los Angeles: Jill highlights some of the stunning finds from Calypso Home

Source: Calypso Home

From New York: a tour of the Rustic-chic restaurants of our favorite city! .... the slipcovered stools have great vintage charm

Photo Source: L'artusi Restaurant

From Chicago: Julia shares her new home (work-home that is)... wouldn't you love reporting to work here?

Latest & Greatest. This blog is recognized for introducing readers to up and coming designers, whether it be showcasing their work in a post or talking about the new designers they have met at events. We all enjoy being in-the-know and able to watch the rise of our future design stars! Well, this one below is not so new.... it's a design from the much adored Nate Berkus... but, they were hot on his trail right from the beginning! Keep checking out their blog and you are sure to stay on top of new designers and/or products that are on their way to reaching the same kind of recognition.

 

Furniture Friday. I love this feature! If you already know what type of furniture piece you want to see images of, click on the Furniture Friday tab to get a list of all different pieces. Once you've decided if you're looking for an ottoman, coffee table, wing chair, or any of the other possibilities, browse through the images to find furniture that speaks to you and inspires you.

Photo Source: Mecox

Filters:  If searching by metro is not enough of a filter, jump on over to categories and filter to your hearts content.  No doubt about it, Material Girls has great ideas for styling your home. Here are some things that caught our eye while browsing the site via their simple search feature (upper left) and category search features.

Simple search = "bedrooms"

Photo Source: www.decorpad.com

Category Search = "Furniture Friday", Dining Tables

Photo Source: Summer Design Studio

Category Search = Dallas, Bed & Bath

Photo Source: Jonathan Adler

So what do you think of Material Girls?  Have I introduced you to a great new source of design inspiration or were you already a fan?   As you can tell, I think they are doing a pretty great job.  Of course, I would like to see some Boston coverage too... ahem... hint, hint..... but even with out Beantown beauty as a regular feature, the gals are always keeping us in-the-know with great design and finds!

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Interior Inspirations from My Web Favs: Apartment Therapy

Here it is, post number two in my inspirations from the web blog series. Looking to redesign a specific room or an entire house, or do you just want a few item ideas to spice up your space? Apartment Therapy focuses more on, as the name suggests, cures for the design dilemmas presented with a small space. In 2004, I found only a simple one-page site:

Photo: Internet Archive: Wayback Machine

The site has grown tremendously over the last 6 years!  So aside from good looks
-(does anyone else see the resemblance to Bradley Cooper? )- Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, interior designer and founder of Apartment Therapy, is doing more than one thing right!  

Ahhh ....an entirely different kind of therapy!.  Back to the real subject of this post....

These days he is reporting over 4 million visitors per month!  In just 6 short years, those are some pretty amazing stats!

In 2007 or 8, AT broke off to include 5 blogs:  apartment therapy, the Kitchn, ohdeedoh, unplggd, and re-nest - each covering a major area of the home. So, although they stay true to the "small space" design vision, there are tips and product features that any homeowner can use.

But don't just take my word for it, visit Apartment Therapy to see what its awesomeness is all about!

Photo Source: Apartment Therapy

 To help break down your visit, let me point out what I think makes Apartment Therapy so amazing:

• Frequent Posts. There are so many personal opinions about how often one should post to a blog.  I'm not judging though.. 4 million visitors.. hello, I think the proof is right there.  People are loving the fact that the AT blogging team pushes out content almost as fast as you can get fries at McDonalds. Ok, maybe not that fast, but A LOT...multiple posts per day, sun-up to sun-down! Keep that in mind when you subscribe, you may want to be sure you are not having the updates sent to your email box.  Go RSS!

• Tours. Want to see how other people are designing their houses, both inside and out? Click on the house tours tab and look for unique design ideas you just might fall in love with! 

• Filters. Refine your search to a place a little closer to home with their metro filters - New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, DC and Boston. 

• Sister Sites (Blogs):  As mentioned above, AT defined the focus and navigation more clearly with Kitchn, ohdeedoh, unplggd, and re-nest.  Check it out ~ click on the tabs to see the latest from technology to designs for children that span nursery to teen.  Particularly interesting to me, is the always intriguing green, covering eco technologies, outdoor spaces, landscaping and gardening. 

•  Marketplace.  They say you can't be "all things to all people" and clearly AT knows it but they still manage to keep us on top of what's current with the Marketplace, their newest addition to the ever-growing empire I call AT! 

Apartment Therapy is a perfect site to get lost in when you need to unwind or if you're looking for inspiration.  

Here are a few things I stumbled upon while navigating the site:

Tab = "Boston"

Photo Source: Apartment Therapy

Tab = "House Tours"

Photo Source: Matthew Mau (graphic designer)

Tab = "Children" "Kids' Room Tours"

Photo Source: Ohdeedoh

Take a click on over and check it out for yourself.  I would love to hear your thoughts and what your favorite feature of their site is.

And finally, because having 4 million visitors is not enough, one must publish a book:  Check out Maxwells' Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces.   

 Photo: Apartment Therapy

The premise: " size constraints can actually unlock your design creativity and allow you to focus on what’s essential."  

I agree!  Growing up with 12 siblings, you could say we were tight on space.  I have first-hand knowledge of the necessity to fit all that is required into the space at hand!! 

But go ahead, don't just take my word for it, pick up the book for yourself and see what you think of the creative small-space wonders Maxwell has featured!

Apartment Therapy.... it's where its AT!

Interior Inspirations from My Web Favs, Part 1: Houzz

This is the first in a series of posts to introduce you (if you aren't already familiar) with some of my favorite stops for design inspiration on the web.  No idea what style, mood or atmosphere you want to create?  I have the perfect site to direct you to: Houzz is where its at!

 

Photo: Jane Maxwell

I must warn you: A visit to houzz.com may be hazardous to your productivity...! You may want to set a timer because you can lose complete track and before you realize it , you will have whiled away hours searching, admiring and even creating your own albums.  Regardless, I definitely think the possible time-sink is a risk worth taking!

   Photo Source: Wm. F. Holland/ Architect

Why do I love Houzz?  Let me count the ways!

• User-friendly.  Its so organized you don't have to be a computer-whiz.  Its pretty easy to search and find what you are looking for! 
• Filters. You can search by style, space, or even metros - from the most basic to unique approaches to design.  If you wish, you can narrow in on a location or any combination of the three options.
• Ideabooks. In case you don't want to get that specific, you might just want to make your trip over to Houzz a quick stop to simply browse and swoon over the ideabooks - yup, how nice is that...other people have done all the searching for you!   It can be a great afternoon pick-me-up when you need a break from work and just want to look at something pretty.
• Buzz. Love this!  Users can upload their own images and get feedback from other readers or use this area to "buzz" about a detail or design you found and admired.  I love to see the work of my colleagues in the design field and I have to tell you, it is fun to see the creativity of some of the  DIY crowd too. Creativity is never-ending!

Check it out and please, let me know how much you love it!  And if you spent too much time.. woops, sorry, but you can't say I didn't warn you!

Just look at what caught my eye while searching by categories:


Search = "Architects":

Photo Source: Sullivan Conrad Architects

Filter by Style = "Eclectic":

Photo Source: Tracery Interiors

Search Photos = "Funky":

 

Photo Source:  Apartment Therapy

Search Ideabooks = "Storibook":

Photo Source: Austin Patterson Disston Architects

So tell me, how much do you love it and what has caught your eye?

Make Your Entryway Inviting

When you enter a home, the entryway sets the tone for your impression of the entire house.  By enlisting Feng Shui principles, you can make sure your home is a welcoming and positive place to enter for both you and your guests. 

An entryway that is spacious and open is ideal as it creates a space for energy to flow and welcome visitors into your home.  In most new homes, an open entryway is already existing, however, in many older homes the entryway is smaller and closed to the rest of the house.  This does not have to prevent you from creating an entryway that meshes with Feng Shui principles.  Use light colors and mirrors to create the illusion of light and energy bouncing throughout the space.

Photo: House Beautiful

Photo: Olga Adler Interiors

As you walk through the door, make sure there is something interesting to look at it.  Draw the eye into the home.  Avoid walking straight into a wall.  Place a table with an interesting centerpiece in the middle of a large entryway or try an eye-catching light fixture.  If a wall does happen to reside opposite the doorway, try placing a mirror or unique piece of artwork so that visitors are greeted with something to look at, a reason to come inside.

Photo: House Beautiful

Avoid clutter in your entryway at all costs.  This can make residents and visitors feel psychologically blocked the minute they walk into the home.  It prevents the flow of energy into the home and is an unhappy impression both coming and going.  To clear up inavoidable clutter such as coats, hats, and umbrellas, place a coat rack near the door.  This not only avoids these items from being strewn about the rest of the house, but creates a welcoming attitude for guests the minute they walk through the door.  It conveys a message of "come in and stay a while."

Most importantly, make sure your entryway is an expression of items that make you feel good.  Use bright, light colors that you love.  Incorporate favorite pieces of artwork or sculpture.  Make it a place that is all your own and shows your visitors your personality upon first stepping foot in your home.

Photo: Coastal Living