All moms (and dads) out there who love decorating their home know about "the change." It's what happens to your house when you bring kids into the equation.
I've always been a neat freak and I was determined to stay one when I first learned I was pregnant. I was not going to have a house full of bouncy seats, jumparoos, Boppies and Bumbos. I was not going to be overrun with toddler toys. I was going to keep my tabletops beautifully decorated, my kitchen floors spotless and my carpets stain free. There was even a point when I refused to have plastic cups in my cabinet.
Then, I brought a baby home from the hospital and all of that changed. I must admit that it took me a while to realize it, though. I even changed my little boy anytime he got a drip on his outfit, but I finally realized that if I got upset at the row of bottles sitting out on my kitchen counter or the bouncy seat sitting in the middle of my family room, I would not enjoy motherhood at all. So, here I am with a toddler and a preschooler and I have stained carpets, a sticky kitchen floor, toys in my family room (not to mention a treadmill), and there are plastic sippy cups in my cabinet.
There are days when I look around my house and sigh. (You must remember that I stage all of my pictures carefully to show only what I want to show.) Will it ever be totally clean and fully decorated again? Yes. It will. This is just a season and it will pass. What will I remember when my boys are grown? Will I remember clean counter tops and a great coffee-tablescape? Maybe more importantly, what will they remember about me? That I was a great housekeeper and was always running around picking up after them? Or will they remember me getting on the floor and playing trains with them? Will they remember freshly washed slipcovers or cushion forts?
My kitchen counters are rarely this clean and if they are, it doesn't last long.
(Notice the black piping insulation around the stone hearth? That's been there for three years. It's ugly but it has saved us several trips to the emergency room)
I love decorating. I love having a really clean house. There are days when I am at my wits end and I exclaim, "I'm tired of the mess!" A few hours later, when my three year old exclaims, "I'm tiad of dis mess!", I am humbled and reminded in his sweet voice that a fine home is not what it's all about.
I will confess, I am still learning the balance. There are days when I give up and I don't make my bed, I don't pick up the toys, and I deal with my socks sticking to the kitchen floor. Then I get sick of the mess again and go on a cleaning frenzy and I long to rearrange my accessories and rearrange the furniture so it's not all about practicality, but it's all about being pretty.
Having small children in my home has forced me to pair down, declutter, and be creative. I'm much more patient with my decorating choices and I like a cleaner look. Things aren't quite as important or precious to me as they once were and I have come to appreciate the ease of distressed finishes and washable slipcovers.
I've been through "the change" and my home will never be the same. How have you balanced your love of home decor in a house with small children?
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