Family Friendly Sofas

I know many may find this crazy, but I have a philosophy when it comes to decorating our home. Yes, we have two small children but I haven't let that stop me from painting the walls in light colours and buying white furniture. :)

Our new sofa arrives

I figure that if we wait until they are older to buy the furniture that we want, then that day might never come! I really enjoy working on our home and picking up little bargains here and there. It is my hobby and I love it.

Soil Shield is a good investment with kids

Of course, I am under no illusion as to the mess kids can create and accidents do happen, so there are some things we do to try and minimise the impact on our furnishings, especially our new beige sofas!

First of all, I recommend scotch guarding/soil shielding your sofa, regardless of the colour. Spills and marks come off very easily and it is great for kids. We also have a strict 'no eating on the sofa' rule which we have emphasised since they were little and this has saved many a disaster.

Rosie playing on the throw rug

My best tip though is to invest in a nice throw rug for your sofa and use it at all times! I chose a white waffle blanket and it stays on permanently...until we have guests over. :) Kids will be kids though and we have had several items of furniture drawn on with felt pens and I only have one tip here...Jif is your friend. That stuff is amazing and will get almost anything out of hard surfaces.

I think my best tip of all though, is that you can't be too precious about your furnishings. They are just things at the end of the day and they aren't worth getting upset about. My kids climb all over our sofas with grubby feet and play for many hours with their toys on there too. At the end of the day, we are a family with young children and this is a way we have found a balance between having the furniture we want, and not driving our kids crazy with unreasonable rules and restrictions. :)