Keeping a Stylish Home with Kids – Yes, It's Possible!

You're a mom with kids of various ages, in daycare and school, and you're dreaming of a beautifully styled home. But with little ones, it seems like a waste to put in the effort, right?

Does it feel like no matter what you buy for home decor, everything ends up looking chaotic?

Do you spend too much time organizing and tidying up at the end of the day?

The solution might just lie in how your home is set up.

The Daily Chaos

Does this scenario sound familiar? You return home after a workday. On the way, you pick up the little ones from daycare and your older child from school. You're juggling their bags, coats, your bag, art projects from daycare, umbrellas, keys, and a gift for a classmate's birthday.

You reach home. One kid yells they're hungry, and another needs a diaper change.

The first thing you do is drop everything on the nearest clear spot—the dining room table.

By dinner time, the table's piled with stuff, so you end up eating in the living room.

Come evening, the cluttered table looks overwhelming. If you manage, you muster leftover energy to put everything away in rooms. If not, because you've fallen asleep, you wake up to the mess and feel defeated. More things pile up the next day, and the task seems impossible, so you put it off and your home remains messy.

So even if you own a nice table and chic chairs, you don't really get to appreciate their beauty.

As an interior designer, I suggest thinking about your home's layout according to your daily routine.

Don’t rush to buy everything that's pretty and stylish, because if daily life is chaotic, it's truly a waste of money.

And here comes my solution: with smart planning, I would place a cabinet at your home's entrance, one that's aesthetically pleasing and tailored to your needs. This way, the most accessible spot is the cabinet, saving you another tidy-up session in the evening when you're tired. You’ll eat at the table, not in the living room, while keeping your home beautifully styled every day.

Entrance cabinet designed to match the living room and house

Toys in the Living Room

If you have an infant at home, you probably keep their play mat and some toys, teethers, and small playthings in the living room. It's natural; you want to maintain eye contact with your baby, even if you're briefly in the kitchen.

But when the baby goes to sleep, your house might still look like a playpen, not particularly stylish, as the play mat and toys remain in the living room.

What kind of play mat does your baby have? It's bright and cheerful. Even the toy storage basket might be colorful.

To feel like you live in a stylish home with kids, my advice as an interior designer is to invest in a play mat matching your floor or sofa tone. It’s not a design element you need to highlight, and frankly, with both colorful mats and toys, your baby gets too many visual distractions.

Don’t forget the toy basket, which should also match your living room decor. It could even be an ottoman with storage...

This way, in the evening, your eyes won’t tire from item overload, it won't feel messy, and you won’t feel like you're living in a giant playpen.

Toy storage in the living room inside the living room cabinet

Toys in the Bedroom

In many homes, toys are stored in a bedroom cube organizer, thinking the toys will be accessible and encourage play.

In reality, even when the cube organizer is tidy, it looks messy because game boxes aren’t the same size or color.

Honestly, as a mom and interior designer visiting many homes with kids, we all have a tendency to place things on open shelves and cube organizers, creating another spot needing constant tidying.

So how should you store toys in the bedroom? Only in a closed cabinet. Kids will adapt to opening the cabinet to play with toys.

Once toys are in a closed cabinet, you really can invest in the room's decor and enjoy it.

All items of this girl are inside the cabinet

The Kitchen Counter

One spot that often gets cluttered and feels crowded is the kitchen counter.

You want to cook but get overwhelmed by all the stuff: bottle drying racks, toasters, mixers, food processors, dish towels, napkin holders, fruit bowls. With all the counter space, you end up working in annoying tightness.

What's the solution? A different kitchen layout, where the counter stays almost clear.

Think about it; we place many things on the counter, thinking they need to be accessible. But I'll challenge you: we use cups and plates every day, right? Are they out? On the counter? No.

There is room to work on the counter

So, we can get used to retrieving everything else from the cabinets too.

Now, for the practical part. If you're planning a new kitchen, you're in luck. If not, start slow. Every two weeks, place another item from the counter into the cabinets. First the utensils, then the toaster, and so on, until everyone in the house gets used to it.

And for those needing a push to start, Passover is a great opportunity.

I'd love to hear which tips you adopted and if you need help implementing them at home, email me at: [email protected]