Kid-friendly Design Updates That Are Also Style Savvy

I’m so excited to share our living room with you today because, it’s been a long time in the works! Anyone with kids knows how tough they are on furniture. Sylvie has wreaked far more havoc our sofa in the last 18 months, than we have in the whole 6 years prior to Sylvie’s debut.

Here’s a close-up look. There are several stains that we can’t get out. Plus, the synthetic cushions are really starting to smoosh and clump, and I’m CONSTANTLY rotating and fluffing them nearly every day. The pics are super low light because I snapped them as fast as I could the second I saw Ken’s little brother pull up to take the sofa.

However, the cherry on this jacked-up-sofa-sundae is the ganging device (the thing that joins the two sofa pieces together) is broken, so the chaise and loveseat slide apart as you’re sitting on it. Suffice it to say we’ve got to do something. We’re a one “hang-out space” household so the living room is the spot for both kids to play and adults to hang out.

 I know it’s easy to get sucked into buying cheap, ugly furniture, because you think your kids will trash it anyways so what’s the point, right? But don’t give up the ship just yet.

I’m teaming up with Joybird to help make our living room more Sylvie-friendly, as well as make sure it stays design-savvy to suit our tastes. Real talk here: I know it’s easy to get sucked into buying cheap, ugly furniture, because you think your kids will trash it anyways so what’s the point, right? But don’t give up the ship just yet. There really are options out there that can stand up to kid madness, and be pretty to look at. You don’t have to sacrifice style for functionality. With Joybird, you can have both.

I reached out to Joybird for this collaboration because I was excited about the Safeguard Fabrics they offer on nearly all their furniture pieces.

Safeguard fabric was designed to help us not have to freak out about spills. It repels stains and is easy to clean with an enzyme-based cleaner, it’s lightfast (so it won’t fade in the sun), and is tightly woven and durable.

Designers out there, you might be more familiar with the brand name Sunbrella. Having a sofa with stain-resistant fabric is huge! It allows us to enjoy time as a family in our living room without tip-toeing around sticky fingers and spills. We have the Premier Fog color Safegaurd Fabric with the Mocha wood stain base.

Ok, I don’t normally let Sylvie loose with an ice cream cone in our living room, but for sake of emphasis, I want to show you how the fabric cleans up. Of course, the one time I actually want her to spill, she ends up being a pretty careful eater. LOL. Nonetheless, check it out!

The frame that sold me on Joybird was the Chelsea Sofa. I mean, hello! The channel-back tufting, the single bench seat cushion, decorative stretcher around the sofa base and the brass-capped feet. Then add performance upholstery fabric, and you have beauty AND brains.

I love the tight channeled back because as I mentioned earlier, the loose back cushions on my old sofa were about to do me in. I’m done fluffing.

In the interest of sharing as much as I can about the sofa, you need to know that Joybird pieces are a firm sit. You’re not going to sink into this baby. The cushions are meant to hold their shape and not break down the second your hooligans bounce around on it.

I also ordered the Lyle Leather Ottoman in Colonnade Sycamore. Once we said ‘sayonara’ to the big old’ chaise sofa, we suddenly had a lot more space to play with and the soft edges of the ottoman make it a great coffee table accompaniment in here.

Let’s make our way around the other kid-friendly updates we made in here, shall we?

• We switched out the black rattan chair in the corner for a leather sling style chair from Eclectic Goods. The rattan chair was pretty to look at but it was time to find a chair that didn’t leave rattan imprints on your legs when you got up. Though I must say it was a pretty pattern, so bravo Ikea on that front. I love the open Scandi feel of this chair, plus the back is high enough to lean my head back when watching tv. Also, the leather makes it easy to wipe off.
• It pains me to tell you that we need to retire our DIY Blanket Ladder temporarily. #1. It’s a ladder just asking to be climbed. #2. It leans on the wall and we already had a close call with it timbering over when the legs were accidentally moved. As much as it pains me, it’s safety first around here, so we’ve made lemonade out of lemons and created a gallery wall + another toy storage opportunity instead. This is an acrylic console from CB2, and I liked the inverted ‘U’ design because we can park some of her larger toys underneath it.
• Lastly, over to the TV console. I’m guessing you guys are familiar with what we’ve done here, but in an effort to come full circle on this room, here’s a quick run down: We took this sad, bare wall and created a floating media console (one that was mounted to the wall and couldn’t tip over) using stock Ikea cabinets/drawers. We cut down an Ikea wood countertop slab to help make it feel like a piece of furniture. I’m not even going to pretend that the inside of this cabinet is ever organized: so below is a real look at one of Sylvie’s stashes. On the other side of the cabinet we store more games and some ancient artifacts called DVD’s, you may remember them. The middle two drawers are still empty, and I’m okay with that. We have room to grow.

I leave you with this incredibly awkward capture of Sylvie and me sliding down the side of her Nugget fort. LOL. Hope you enjoyed this look around our living room and perhaps picked up a morsel or two on how you can make your own space more kid friendly without sacrificing your personal style.

This post was sponsored by Joybird. All thoughts and opinions are my own.