Monday, June 15, 2009

Kid Infusium

by Amy Platon

I’m really big on trying to keep my kid friendly home as adult as possible. I once made the joke that at first glance you would never really know that kids lived in our house. That is until you walked into our kitchen and saw the fridge! It’s like a really ornate totem pole strewn with scrapbook guts that stands poignantly in the kitchen as a conversation piece.

But this is not to say that I deny my children space. I just do it in a way that works for us all. For instance downstairs the couches have tons of pillows, which the kids love to jump on and make really awesome forts out of.


The coffee table has sturdy legs because it’s really a bench, therefore makes a great launching pad or extra seating. That coffee table also doubles as a long kids dining table for parties when we push four kid chairs up to it.

Our downstairs closet has been dubbed the “Play Closet” and houses our art activities as well as a display area.

















We do have a children’s table downstairs for all of those activities, and recently I did this to organize it. I am really proud of it because it’s been working so well. I just had to share.



I used wooden spice racks which I got from Ikea and stained them to match our décor.












The lower rack holds washable paints in spice jars and the upper rack holds Playdough.




The Playdough was never really a problem for the kids to get on their own but the paints were, so doing it this way has the kids only having to grab brushes, water, and paper, to get going.


It’s the kind of decorating I like to call “child infused” rather than overrun. That totally works for us!

27 comments:

  1. Wow, you are brave to leave paint and play dough out at kids free reign. I have it locked in a closet. My kids make the biggest messes with it. Maybe if it was out it wouldn't make such a mess. Very good idea though.

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  2. great idea with the spice racks! Think I'll borrow it in my studio

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  3. that spice rack paint/playdoh holder is the best thing I've seen in a long time! Thanks for sharing at Monday's Muse!!

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  4. beautiful idea. i'll have to make a trip to ikea for those spice racks. thanks! (love your decorating style throughout the house too.)

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  5. adorable!!! And may I ask? Where did you get the "bench" to use as a coffee table? I LOVE it!!

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  6. Want to come help decorate? My husband feels the same way about the kid's things in our living spaces. It's hard to keep it from spilling over with as many little nes that we have.

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  7. Wow I agree, wouldn't know kids lived there!

    I love the art supplies on the wall idea there! Kudos!

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  8. Great ideas! I love the idea with spice racks-except I'd be afraid we'd find paint strewn all over the house!

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  9. Gina,
    I have found that the kids really play with stuff most at first then the novelty wears off and they only do it when they really feel inspired to. We had some paint on the table the first few days, but honestly, they keep all the stuff pretty spiffy now. But it's washable, so no worries. Mine are 4 & 6 so they're really good at washing the brushes in between paint colors, and they even cap the paint and replace it into the rack when they are done. The art dries on the fridge (of course) and the muddy water and brushes are all that get left behind for me to do. It's all pretty easy. :) Life is a rainbow, paint it up!

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  10. great ideas, since kids are everywhere in your life you might as well plan for it. I especially like the kids closet

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  11. oh yeah here's my link for my photo story friday photo story happy Friday!

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  12. Wow, you have a beautiful home and I love the spice rack idea! So creative!

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  13. Lovely --- and obviously you are a trusting brave mom to leave things out and about.

    Mine wouldve been creative ALL over when i wasnt looking ;)

    TTFN~~Claudia

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  14. That is a very neat home considering that you have children. Well done!
    Lovely photos.

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  15. Oooh! I love the idea of using the spice racks to organize everything! And I LOVE your couch!

    I also enjoyed your post on home schooling. As the parent of an {almost} pre-schooler it is something I have already started thinking about. Our city has a very large home schooling community. I thought your post was very insightful and made several good points. Thank you.

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  16. I'm totally with you on the 'kids live here but we don't have to drown in a sea of multi-colored plastic' philosophy. Looks like you've done a wonderful job of creating a home that both kids and grown-ups can enjoy.

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  17. I love your blog. I enjoyed reading it today.
    I had some time to do some blog hopping...
    I always enjoy finding new blogs and new friends.
    Hope you will stop by and visit me.
    This month I am posting on our Disney trip plus a June giveaway.....plus a new grandson that will arrive on Tuesday....

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  18. I love the idea of having a kid-infused vibe in your decorating. My kids are a little older, but think we'll always have the "kid" accent in our house!

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  19. Wow! Your house is beautiful! I love your idea with the Play-Doh rack. Very cute!

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  20. I absolutely love the way you've decorated your home to be adult and kid friendly. I think with my oldest child I was closer to this and now I am trying to get back to that. I really need some organizers, shelving and things like that to make it really work.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  21. I linked back to this post today in my Summer Beat the boredom series! Love it!! :)

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  22. I love the spice racks for the kids toys! That is a cool idea!

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  23. So cute! I love the spice rack idea!

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  24. Love your house! Great ideas. Love the tropical aspects of it :o)

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