I’ve noticed that many friends tell me the reason why their homes aren’t “pretty” or “what they want” is because they have kids. I honestly believe this should never be a reason why your home isn’t what you’ve always wanted in to be. Over the years learning from my own design experience with kids I’ve found some of my must have pieces for a kid friendly design. 

I’ll be sharing some tips and pieces of furniture I think work great for keeping the toys at bay and things to think about when purchasing pieces for your home.

The Power of Baskets

Never underestimate a good basket, but do remember that basket size counts! Baskets are a great way to keep toys together. We like to group toys by age in our home so that our 10mo old son isn’t playing with any toys that could possibly be a choking hazard that belong to my 3 year old.

Adding baskets under a coffee table, under a console table, or heyyyo behind the couch (yes, we store toys behind this couch!). These types of baskets make them easily accessible and easy to clean up and put away! I always like to opt for the ones that you aren’t able to see through, that way it’s not blatantly obvious.

Plethora of Console Storage

The best way to corral all the toys is to give them a designated home! Say you don’t have a playroom or don’t like the toys in the bedrooms and the designated area is the living room? Welp you kind of have to make room for them! 

We transformed my best friends living room from an explosion of toys to giving them all a place to call home with these pushing two console organizers together to make a “built-in” look. You’d never know there were tons of toys and loads of diapers all stored in here! Using sideboards and media consoles are the perfect piece of furniture to help corral all the toys! Using unconventional pieces in different ways to help benefit you and your family where it’s at!

Built-in Storage

We made some built-in storage bench to hold all of the toys and the way I like to look at it if it doesn’t fit it’s got to go! It’s like the opposite of if it fits it ships lol. This built-in window bench has great storage for all of our kids toys and they don’t have to be all out and about!

I love this beautiful cabinet built-in Chris Loves Julia has in their home! This is not a dedicated room, but a little cut out with some cabinet storage and it’s perfect for all her girls toys to fit in.

If you’re not a builder like I am you can always take some Ikea cabinets or closet system and trim them out to feel like real built-ins! 

Say Yes to Pillow Covers

I love me some pillows and well my kids and dogs not so much! Before Cody and I got married we had tons of pillows and after we got Stella and Lou they all went to Goodwill. Washing pillows by hand or by machine is one of those task that literally NOBODY has time for!

Having removable pillow covers makes them easier to clean and easier to swap out for just about anything! 

Easy to Clean Rugs

I’ve found out the hard way there are rugs that are extremely compatible with kids and others that can be thrown out the door! We absolutely love Loloi Rugs and the screen printed style rugs make it so easy to clean them.

Dark rugs are great for kid friendly spaces too! We used a vintage style black rug in Liv’s toddler bedroom and if she just so happens to have an accident or spill something you’d never know!

We just recently stumbled upon the Ruggable Rugs and I love the one we have in our living room. They are completely washable and pet and kid friendly rugs! We haven’t washed ours yet but we may or may not be excitedly ready to wash it at any moment! lol

Let me know if you have any questions about anything building wise or product questions! I’m an open book 🙂

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