Juggling Act - Thoughts from a Designing Mommy

As I was sitting down to get some work done earlier, this is the comical scene that unfolded...

Not exactly the kind of assistant I was looking for...

All this hard work is making me sleepy.

Which got me to thinking about some of the ways that being a mommy has shaped me as a designer.  I couldn't help but laugh at myself as I thought about the ways my "design views" have changed for clients with young children.  In the spirit of humor and humility, I'm here to share a few things I have come to learn along the way...

WHITE FURNITURE IS A BAD IDEA IF YOU HAVE TODDLERS

Yes, I do own an iron!

Three years ago I would have sworn to you otherwise.... explaining that bleach and the occasional professional cleaning will keep things looking good.  I was WRONG!  Unless this pristine fabric is far from the messy fingers of your children, don't even think about it.  The white slipcovered chairs in my kitchen are now a certain muted shade of mac-n-cheese, spaghetti sauce and chocolate milk.  And while an oxiclean wash is helpful, I failed to consider that I would need to iron them every time - and let's be honest, with 2 itty bittys, I'm just not going to do that!

MIRRORED FURNITURE.... SERIOUSLY???

The morning cereal bowl ring, and toddler "paw prints".

This is a sad one for me, because I truly love a good mirrored piece.  But toddlers hands are perpetually grimy and I promise you cannot keep up with the cleaning unless you have a live-in maid!  It's not that this didn't cross my mind when I bought our awesome new mirrored coffee table... I was just naive and thought that I would be able to set up boundaries and rules to keep it looking good.  I even rationalized that since the mirror had an antiqued finish that messes wouldn't be that noticable.  WRONG AGAIN (have you ever heard a woman say these words so much?)!  I am approximately one "lunch-in-the-living-room-please-mommy" away from stashing this thing in the attic until he is 18!

IF YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO SEE SOMETHING BREAK THEN PUT IT OUT OF REACH

Sometimes it's just worth the risk

I have a great collection of oversize ginger jars ominously adorning my fireplace, along with a great glass lamp that I love!  All of these are in the direct line of fire of my energetic 3 year old and I have just had to be honest with myself that there is a good chance one (or all of them) will become a casualty.  I've decided I'm willing to risk it anyways, because I love them and think they add a lot to the room.  These things are precious, but not as precious as my kids... so please remind me of this on the day that I'm tearfully picking up pieces of porcelain off of my living room floor!