Hey all you moms out there! Do you remember when you could decorate your home without a care in the world? When white sofas and rugs and side table decor and coffee table accessories were actually a thing in your home?? (Insert me jumping up and down saying, me, me, waving frantically!) Well if you are anything like me (yes, even as an interior designer!), home decor made a significant change when baby came along. Gone were the light-colored chairs, the perfectly styled coffee table, the beautiful (breakable) vases and fun tchotchkes….ALL THE GOOD STUFF. So I had to pivot and figure out how to style my home with the little in tow. I have learned a few tricks and tips along the way and compiled them for your reading pleasure. Read on for my top designer tips and all my baby essentials for the stylish home.
Before becoming a mom, I was what one might call a maximalist….give me all the decor, give me all the coffee table books, the vases, the jewelry, the make-up, the PLANTS, all of it…I was an over-accessorizer, both in how I dressed and in how I dressed my home. Fast-forward two years later and I am lucky if I put on pants, let alone make-up and jewelry (okay, slight exaggeration on the pants….I do try to get dressed every day, but seriously ya’ll, I put on jeans and earrings last Saturday and I felt ACCOMPLISHED with a capital “A”). When I brought my sweet Addie girl home, I was SO FREAKING ANXIOUS. I moved out all the plants, I stood at the kitchen sink washing my hands and her bottles for HOURS, and I was generally just a crazy person. Buuuuuuut all of that is a story for another day….I was a bit extreme with an extreme case of post-partum OCD, sooooo I was a little more excessive than most. With that said, eventually I got back to my normal self and I was able to start bringing my precious plants back into my home (the fear of poison from a non-toxic plant touching my boob before I breastfed did eventually fade away- haha. Eventually. BTW I can only laugh now, because I am past it. It was NOT funny then. Not one little bit.).
Moving on. So all seemed okay for a few months…I started moving decor back in, buying up allll the plants again, and generally getting our home back in order. AND THEN MY BABY STARTED CRAWLING..AND WALKING…AND CLIMBING…Does anyone out there feel my pain? Not only did I have to move all the tabletop decor out of reach again, but I had to move our kitchen chairs and bar stools out (we have an open concept kitchen-living space) and get rid of our coffee table! I mean, what’s a poor mom to do? My little has a thing for dancing on tables, climbing bar stools, and pretty much grabbing any and everything breakable and dangerous.
I had to regroup. Start thinking of ways that I could decorate and keep some sense of order in my home and still have a safe space for Addie to play and grow. I had to get creative in ways that I could display decor that was out of reach and keep open space for dancing, jumping, and rolling around. This has led to ordering fabric swatches for furniture only to smash up mac-and-cheese all over them to see if they were, indeed, as kid and pet-friendly as advertised. TRUE STORY.
Storage Baskets
One of my GO-TO tricks for keeping my living room neat and tidy and still having a functional space for Addie’s many, many things is baskets! It seems like such a simple idea, but trust me, baskets are life in our home. I have no less than six baskets on the bottom shelves of our built-ins where I can quickly store an amazing amount of baby stuff. The best part is that they still look super stylish on our shelves, which makes this momma very, very happy.
A Stylish Play Mat
Another key essential that I NEVER thought that I would have, but seriously could not have lived without when Addie was learning to walk is a stylish play mat. Again, before I was a mom, I seriously thought that I would not need all the baby things when I had a baby. Move the rug out of my living room to make room for a play mat and pen? Whaatttt? No, not me. I’ll make do without, thank you very much. HA! I look back at my pre-mom self and just shake my head. Bless my little heart! How very little did I know then! But, we all learn as go right moms? Does anyone really know what we are doing? A play mat is seriously a life-saver when your little is teeter-tottering around and falling over every 30 seconds….it’s literally the only way that I was able to keep my sanity and get any work done at all. Thank goodness there are cute play mats on the market these days, amirite?
Hear me out on this one–a Faux Tree
Okay, so this next one might sound silly, but hear me out. When I had to take out so many of my fun, decorative items and accept the fact that my living room is going to be strewn with toys for the foreseeable future, I was feeling kinda down about the bare state of the room that I spend literally 90% of my life in until I realized that I can still have my greenery!! Yay! If you know me, you know that I love plants and I firmly believe that they are so important to have in your home (to read more about the power of plants in your home, check out my post here). I have plenty of live plants in my home, and I also have one very special faux fiddle leaf fig tree in my living room that gives me a bit of joy every time I walk by her. I derive joy from a faux plant, you say? Why, yes, yes I do! She requires no water, no maintenance, and she adds a sculptural pop of green! Bonus: she’s tall and thin and virtually impossible to climb! So if you are feeling a little down and out about the toddler takeover of your home decor, I highly suggest getting a faux tree of your own! It’s been a big win for this momma!
The All-Essential Bassinet
CONFESSION TIME
Sooo….I have a confession to make. I slept on the sofa in the living room for like the first three months after Addie was born. It was brutal. I was exhausted. But, it was the easiest thing for me to do, and in those first few months, easy won out every time. I couldn’t have made it through those first few months without a bassinet for my little bean so that she was always less than a foot away. I know I already mentioned this, but I was a super anxious first-time mom. I barely slept, because I kept checking to make sure my baby was breathing. Even with the Owlet that I kept snugly around her foot every night to monitor her heart rate. Which is why a stylish bassinet is at the top of my list for essential baby items for the stylish home Every. Single. Time.
The One and Only Dockatot
Okay mommas! Raise your hand if you love your Dockatot! Seriously, this little invention was crucial in our house. It provided a safe play for baby girl to lounge, a safe spot for her to nap, and when I finally moved back to our bed, I kept Addie right next to me snug as a bug in her Dockatot. If you haven’t got one of these babies, run, don’t walk, to your nearest store–well, computer right now since all stores are closed in light of COVID-1–and snatch one up!
A Play Kitchen
Over Christmas while we were staying with Milo’s brother and his wife and daughter, I discovered the necessity of a good play kitchen. Our niece Lucy had a kitchen, and Addie was FASCINATED! I sat with my cup of coffee (or cocktail–depending on the time of day!) in hand in awe as I watched her entertain herself for hours. Suffice it to say that I started shopping for play kitchens before we were even on the plane headed back to NC. And let me just tell you–it’s a purchase that has proven to be priceless. I consider it to be an absolute ESSENTIAL for any stylish home with a child under three.
A “Special” Drawer or Cabinet
So this isn’t exactly a “thing” but it is important enough that I am including it on my list of baby essentials for the stylish home. As your little one grows from a sleepy infant to a rambunctious toddler, it is amazing how their curiosity grows! Becoming a mom really showed me the meaning of seeing the world through the eyes of a child. EVERYTHING is interesting to them, and I mean everything. Especially cabinets and drawers that open up and have things behind them and little nooks to hide in. For this, I think it is so important to designate a drawer or a cabinet to be their special cabinet. Addie has a cabinet in the kitchen as well as the lower cabinets in our built-ins in the living room, and she just loves to grab her toys and play in her secret “spots.” For me, that translates to time to work, to cook, and to get things done without worrying about her getting into the cabinets with the kitchen gear and equipment (those have baby locks on them of course!). To take things a step further, consider getting your little one their own set of pots and pans or pretend food so that they can engage in imaginative play and pretend to cook like mommy and daddy!
I have pulled together a few of my favorite items to create a guide for baby essentials for the stylish home, and I truly hope that this helps all my fellow mommas out there. Being a mom is hard work, and I know that I welcome any and all tips and tricks to help me along the way! If you have any of your own essential items, helpful tips, or anything else to share, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! 🙂
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© The Karma Corner
