If your life at home involves kids and pets, your daily activities might involve cleaning up lots of messes from food, arts and crafts, pet fur shedding – you name it! There may be days you’re saying to yourself, “this is why we can’t have nice things!” But guess what? You CAN! By shifting your home into one that supports both small two-legged and four-legged residents, you don’t have to be chasing them around and worrying about what they might destroy. Here are my top tricks for options that stand up to the wear and tear your family might bring – no matter your design style or budget.
Great Options for Durable Flooring
In a home with pets and kids, you need flooring that is going to stand up to any messes they can create. My personal favorite is Luxury Vinyl Plank (or LVP for short). There are plenty of options for installation and lots of variety when it comes to the look of the plank itself. It’s pretty indestructible and can stand up to most things your kids and pets throw at it.
Fabrics That Withstand Wear, Tear & Stains
There are a couple of things to consider when selecting fabrics for your home furnishings with kids and pets in mind. The first is rub count. This is essentially the number of rubs a piece of fabric can withstand before it finally wears through. The higher the rub count, the more durable a fabric is. Ideally, you want to use a fabric that has at least a 15,000+ rub count. One potential drawback to higher rub counts (75,000+) is that what you gain in added durability you can lose in softness.
The next is the weave of the fabric. Especially with pets, you want a tight weave that their fingernails can’t easily claw at. Velvet and microfiber can be a great options for this reason. A quick tip when looking at fabric samples is holding them up to light. If you can see the light through it, then it’s not tightly woven and may not be the best choice for your four-legged family members. Finally, consider fabrics like Crypton, Olefin, or Sunbrella that are stain resistant.
Other Low-Maintenance Finishes
The heart of most homes is the kitchen. You want surfaces that can withstand juice spills or your kiddos having a serious crafternoon. As much as marble is beautiful to look at, it’s expensive and not that family-friendly. Marble needs to be resealed regularly to prevent staining – sometimes up to 4 times a year. Who has time for that? Not to mention, this cost can add up. Even worse, treating a white marble countertop stained from Sunday spaghetti night’s marinara can be pricy. Quartz can be a great alternative. It’s a nonporous material, making it low maintenance and highly durable.
I hope that after reading this, you feel as though balancing function and beauty is not an impossible task when you’re living with kids and pets. This is my specialty! I have personal experience living with both a pretty messy kid (who’s now a pretty messy teenager) and an equally messy dog. I use my experience and knowledge to help families create the timeless homes of their dreams.
If you’re ready for a home that supports everyday life (even when it gets messy), I would love to help. Set up a FREE Home Design Coffee Chat to get started: https://calendly.com/designmomcierge/designcoffeechat
Until next time,
Angela 🙂
