I had a funny conversation with a friend the other day about the number of things in our homes that have been completely ruined in recent years. Combined, there are an alarming amount of them. Of course, this has all happened since we had children – and I get the feeling it’s not going to stop for a while yet.
It’s got me thinking; if I could have my time again, what would I change? Certainly not having kids – they are the light of my life. However, I might have thought twice about paying for the furnishings and home comforts we had in our pre-baby years (definitely don’t have light coloured carpet, or carpet at all)! It’s not that we live an extravagant lifestyle – as anyone who knows us will attest. But the mess! Babies are so small, tiny and beautiful, but goodness me – they can cause havoc.
So, if you are planning on having children soon, here’s my advice; cover your entire home in wipe-clean plastic. However, if that’s too much to contemplate, the rest of my tips might save you a lot of wasted decoration time, and money!
Sofas and Upholstery
Forget about spending thousands of pounds on new furniture. If you’re planning on starting a family soon, you’ll be writing off those ten-year guarantees before you even get close. There is one exception – leather. If it’s tough enough, it might just last the distance. Although if your kids go through a bout of unusually acidic projectile vomiting, it may not!
Carpets
You can also forget about having plush shag pile carpets laid before you start a family. Not only will they receive spills and much, much worse on a regular basis, but they are also hellish to clean. Your time will be cut short when you have children – especially so when you have more than one. And the more time you can save to bring up your little ones properly, the better.
Luxury Bathrooms
Bath times are a lot of fun – just as they should be. But if you are worried about chipping your bath or clearing up toothpaste from every wall, you aren’t going to enjoy it at all. So don’t go for luxury – cheap bathroom suites will do the job, for a few years at least. And don’t forget, it is only a few years. In fact, you can use this idea in almost every area of the house. There isn’t much difference in look from a cheaper bathroom to an expensive one, but the luxury type will last you a lot longer. If you can hold off for just a little while or so, it will more than do the job. And, when the kids get more responsible, you can treat yourself.
Alarm Clock
OK, so an alarm clock probably isn’t the most expensive item on this list – although I have seen some eye-watering prices for them. But they are utterly useless when you are bringing up your own two human versions of alarm clocks. In fact, somewhere deep inside of me, I long for the day when I get to experience the sheer excitement of setting my alarm. Weird, huh?
So – what about you? I’d love to hear from you if your little ones have made you think twice about buying a new piece of furniture or a home comfort. Let me know in the comments section below.
Rebecca x
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Honestly…my sofa got demolished by Sylvia. She ruined it and I decided not to get another nice one until she was much older. She is 7 and I’m thinking of getting a nice sofa next year- maybe I should go leather! #Snotallaboutyou
Angela at http://www.daysinbed.com
Yup! I wish we had waited to get our lush carpet. It doesn’t feel so lush now as I don’t know what the kids have hid in it :’-( cleaning it makes it feel better for a week.
I totally agree. There’s no point having luxury items then worrying about the kids spilling & such on them. I made one silliy purchase of a rug that has cream & brown squares – total disaster to keep clean. Thanks so much for hosting #happyquacks