Blair - Design mom : how to live with kids : a room-by-room guide

Gabrielle Stanley Blair

New York

To Mike and Donna, my own Design Parents.

Thank you, Dad, for introducing teenage me to Macintosh computers and desktop publishing. Thank you, Mom, for allowing me to make design decisions at an early age, and for showing me that it doesnt take deep pockets to create a beautiful place where your family can thrive.

Create a command center to keep the day running smoothly.

For adults. For kids. For quiet. For conversation.

Where food and chores are an opportunity for family bonding.

The place to focus on sleep and dress.

Everyone in the family should feel like this space was created just for them.

Rooms meant for cleaning and brightening should be clean and bright.

A space where creativity can grow and paperwork can do its job.

If you asked me to describe myself in a few words, Id tell you that Im a designer and a mother of six. If you gave me a few more, I might tell you that Ive been a blogger called Design Mom since my fifth child was bornalmost nine years ago!writing daily about all those areas where motherhood and design intersect. Theres also Alt Summit, a business conference I cofounded for pioneering and rookie bloggers and creatives of all kinds, as well as Olive Us, a video series created by my husband, Ben Blair, and me, that features our kidsRalph, Maude, Olive, Oscar, Betty, and Flora Junehaving adventures and learning new things and being good to each other. But my favorite words to use to describe myself are the ones I wrote first.

I love the topic of this book: how to live with kids. And not just how to live, but how to live well. How to create a home that appeals to you as a grown-up, and suits your kids at all their ages and stages. This topic is on my mind dailyno exaggeration. I think about the kids bathroom, and how if I would simply stock the drawer with a couple of extra hairbrushes, wails of I cant find the hairbrush and Im going to be late! during the morning rush might be avoided. Its a little thing, but it could prevent the day from going downhill first thing in the morning. I remember the art in my childhood home (oh, the prints in that oversize Norman Rockwell book!), and then consider the art in my current home and wonder what sort of impact its having on my kids and if I should change it up to create a new or different sort of impact.

Since our first son, Ralph, was born seventeen years ago, one of the biggest things Ive learned is that design doesnt have to disappear when kids appear. You can definitely, absolutely have a beautiful home that works for both kids and adults (and babies too!). Its totally possible to take the space you live in right now and figure out how it can best serve your familys needs. Im 100 percent confident that you can create a place where every member of the family feels right at home.

To my mind, a thoughtfully designed home is one of the greatest gifts you can give to your family. The items youve chosen to surround you, both the practical and the decorative, tell your familys story. They foster important conversations. They influence the likes and dislikes of your family members. They have the ability to prevent or cause frustration. They form the backdrop to your childs childhood.

I also know that the practice of living a well-designed life with kidsone or six or however many happen to be running through your houseis a continual effort. The system that works for your family today might not work tomorrow, when the piano-lesson schedule changes, or when summer vacation starts. I find that incredibly comforting. It means there is no due date for my house (or your house) to be done. There is no to-do list of tasks I have to accomplish right away to make sure my home is wonderful. I can implement one idea today, solve a recurring problem tomorrow, and over time create an inviting haven that makes for the best sort of family memories.

Design isnt some froufrou gloss or shiny veneer on life, its insisting on a solution (preferably an elegant one) and working carefully to make sure that solution works within whatever constraints you havearchitectural, financial, or the fact that children live in your home. I know for a fact that you can use design to solve problems in your home. Ive had a million (well, technically, a lot less than a million) conversations with readers and other parents about how to make their nitty-gritty, day-to-day duties more intentional, more stylish, and, dare I suggest, way easier. And every week on DesignMom.com I feature a peek into a home somewhere in the world to showcase how others are living well-designed lives with their children. Every week, Im shocked at the fresh inspiration. It never ends!

So if you asked me to describe this book in just a few words, Id tell you that Im a designer and a mother of six and that my husband and I love to imagine and work hard at designing our home environment, that this is how we strive to live well together. If you gave me a few more, I might tell you that I wrote this book to inspire you and give you some stylish, simple solutions for your own home. But the truest description of this book is the one I wrote first. Im a mom and Im a designer, and some of my best family memories are made when those roles collide. Im so glad to be able to share with you the secrets Ive learned along the way.

P.S. If you glanced at the contents, you may have noticed that theres no chapter on the master bedroom. Thats intentional. You dont need my advice here. The master bedroom is not a kid zone, its your zone, and you can make it as fabulous as you please. But it wouldnt hurt to keep a favorite storybook or two in your nightstand, and perhaps an extra blanket and a floor pad under the bed for middle-of-the-night visitors who had a bad dream.

If youve got a foyer and a mudroom, youre one lucky bird. Weve lived in eight different houses since we married, and six of those had front doors that opened directly onto the living room. But something Ive discovered over the years of growing our family is that no matter the layout of the house, setting up a functional entry is key to gracefully managing a home with kids.

Our current home doesnt have a mudroom or a closet in the foyer. But with a little creative thinking, a well-thought-out piece of furniture, clean colors, and smart hooks, we were able to turn a long, narrow hallway just off the entry into a space that works as hard as one twice its size. Bonus points that it keeps all those mudroom items neatly out of sight of arriving guests, while still making them easily accessible for running-out-the-door schoolkids.

Is it possible to create a functional entryway and still make a winning first impression in what is probably the smallest space in your entire home? I say yes. Your home begins and ends with the entry. Go ahead and make it great.

Think back to the first wintry day you walked through the door of your current home. You probably removed your parka and scarf right away, then slipped off your boots. Was there a convenient place to hoard your heap? If you have a front closet, naturally, that might make the most sense. But what if your things are wet, and the thought of storing them in a tiny enclosed area gives you mildew-y shivers?