Sunday Six: An Expert Interview with The Heathered Nest on Designing With Kids

Good morning! Today, marks the first day of the Sunday Six! On select Sundays, I will be interviewing amazing moms who have created homes that are not only beautiful but also kid friendly! Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to The Heathered Nest! If you don’t already follow her, you are missing out because not only is Heather super talented but she is absolutely hilarious! She, her husband, Dave, and her three children live in a gorgeous home in Maryland that they are DIYing. You name it, they’ve DIYed it! 

People think we are crazy…and they are more or less completely correct, but we’ve ALWAYS had a white sofa with kids. Our first white sofa pre-dates our firstborn child. It was a white tufted, very modern, sleek and pretty expensive sofa. The problem with that couch was that it was tufted so the cushion covers nor any of the upholstery on the frame could be washed. It lives in the kids playroom right now. And it’s definitely toast now. That kind of couch is definitely the WRONG type to have with kids.

 

But when we decided to buy a new couch, we still went for white. But this time, we bought a white Ikea Ektorp sectional. It didn’t break the bank, and it has removable, washable slipcovers. That’s the key to having a white couch with kids. Slipcovers. We wash everything when it’s needed, and it’s held up great! And for about $150, in a couple years when the thing looks too embarrassing to have people over, we’ll spring for another slipcover! 

 

I will admit I’m a stickler about a couple things in our home that make having a white couch pretty easy. First, I don’t allow shoes on in the house. Second, snacks/food in our house are confined to the dining room or kitchen. Third, our only pets are guinea pigs, and if they are on the couch, it’s in someone’s lap. 

 

I adore having a light colored couch, so if you have similar baseline rules in your home, I really think they are quite fine to have with kids! Pinky swear. You can see our white couch  in our home  tour here. 

 

Soft or hard ottoman/ coffee-table? Did you keep your old coffee table, buy or make a new one, or do without?

We’ve always had storage ottomans. We prefer those because they’re less likely to hurt a kid when they’re running around the house playing laser tag, plus, we love putting our feet up when we have two seconds to sit down. I don’t think we’ve owned a coffee table since before we were married.  

 home  tour 

Hmmm. My favorite rugs are patterned, or natural fiber rugs like a chunky, nubby jute. We also have a cowhide rug that’s super easy to keep clean and it hides dirt well. It’s lightweight and sits in our foyer right now, so when I need to, I open the front door and give it a shake.

 

outdoor adventure boy’s room

 

Our kids toys are in almost EVERY room in the house, but we are super stealth about hiding them for the most part…with the exception of the playroom, and that’s just a free-for-all. I think you have to have at least one space that you just kind of cave in and let whatever is going to happen happen. We can only fight so many battles, right?

 

My favorite toy storage items are our Ikea Pax wardrobes with plastic bins that slide in and out. And they have doors so you don’t need to look at all the bins and clutter all the time. Those things are MONEY. We also have some fun rolling burlap storage cube ottomans that I got from Etsy. They double as extra seating in our family room and can hold a ton of toys as well. In the kids’ rooms, they all have simple DIY rolling underbed storage for toys, and we store books on back-of-the-door storage racks that just hang over the top of the door frame. They work great and keep stuff out of sight.

 

DON’T GIVE UP and live in a house that doesn’t make you happy just because you have offspring. 

I see friends all the time just kind of throwing their hands up and saying “we aren’t going to even try to make our home look nice until the kids grow up” and it makes me sad because I KNOW it’s possible to have a home you love WHILE having small ones at home. It takes a little bit of intentionality and planning, but that’s really it. There are so many stylish storage options out there! 

 

And I do believe giving kids a designated area to go wild with kid-ness is clutch. For instance, we have an area in the basement with a huge chalkboard wall and a whiteboard as well…so if they can get those urges to color on walls, they can do it! But in a less destructive way 😉 

 

So many wonderful home decor, DIY and organizing bloggers have children, and they constantly share amazing ideas for making their homes beautiful. And most of the time their ideas don’t require a big budget! Soak up some ideas and make it happen for you and your family!

  

What has been your favorite room to decorate with kids?

Oh I ADORE decorating the kids’ bedrooms. They have always been my absolute favorite spaces to design. There are no rules in a kids room. You let your creativity soar and work collaboratively with your littles (if they are old enough to want a say) to make their space something they cherish. They are such fun spaces to create. Using lots of color, pattern, incorporating a theme but not in a cheesy way…that’s my jam. 

 

Here are our kids spaces: