How To Have A Kid Friendly Home That’s Well Decorated

Updated May 23, 2020

I have followed Emily’s decorating blog for years. If you’d love a kid friendly home that’s well decorated, stylish, uncluttered, and organized, these tips will help you get your home where you want it.

I’ve asked Emily a few questions and her answers are below.

Q: Tell us something very interesting (or very uninteresting) about your family!

Our twins were a complete surprise. We had three kids and had just moved into a slightly smaller house when I found out I was pregnant again. There are no twins anywhere in either of our families, so to say we were shocked is an understatement. But, what a blessing they have been!

Q: What’s the most surprising thing about becoming a mother?

That I would ever have the ability to eat breakfast while changing a dirty diaper. That I would encourage someone to wipe their snot on my t-shirt. That I would bite someone else’e fingernail when necessary. (Is that TMI?!) The (gross) things you learn to do and think nothing of it are pretty amazing. :)

Q: What’s your philosophy about decorating the home when you have small kids (a.k.a. little destroyers) afoot?

I would say to relax (as much as possible) and to not buy anything that you can’t imagine being broken at some point. Nothing is too precious in our house; most of our furniture is from Craigslist. I think it’s about setting some semi-realistic expectations. I know that this is not the season in my life to buy nice things—if I want to keep them.

Q: What’s your process for decorating kid and common areas? Any specific “rules?”

I don’t think there are rules, but I do think storage is a must—pretty baskets, furniture pieces with lots of drawer storage, etc. Things aren’t perfectly organized in our house, by any means, but there’s plenty of places to hide things away quickly.

Q: Your home looks so beautiful on your blog, is that how it looks behind the scenes too?

Umm, what do you think?! I’m just thankful that toys can be pushed to the side for “coffee table styling” and that sticky floors don’t show up in photographs. While I’m cleaning up one mess, they’re creating a bigger, better one somewhere else. I’m drowning! Ha!

Q: One piece of advice for busy moms of little ones who want their homes to look good, but aren’t sure where to start?

Paint something. Your walls, a piece of furniture. Paint is an instant—and inexpensive—change that you can make, and it won’t get destroyed by the kids.

Here are some cool things to browse on Emily’s blog.

You are NOT lazy, disorganized, or unmotivated. The fact is, if your home feels chaotic,it’s your systems. With easy efficient systems, habits, and routines you can start to have the home (and home atmosphere) you crave without working yourself into a frenzy.

Take this quiz to see how well your home systems work then get free and easy hacks to help make your home more tidy, peaceful, and organized.

Rachel

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I'm Rachel, mother of 5 young kids living in the Florida panhandle with my Australian husband. I write about family culture, family rhythms and routines, and boundaries in motherhood and life. You can see snippets of my daily life here and visit my shop for baby sleep, organizing, and routine help.

“Inside my brain”

Geeezzz, it was like you were inside my brain today! (and most days recently) I needed this badly.

Thank you!!!

Andrea P.

“Nothing was working…”

I just wanted to say thank you for your easy peasy routine for 2 year olds! I day-weaned my 2 year old a month ago and have been trying everything to get him to go down for a nap without the nursing. Nothing was working and I was starting to think he would never have a nap again.

Anyways I started following your routine and we just sat in bed and had what I told him was “quiet time.” We sat and read and made a fort and had warm milk. Then today I told him it was quiet time again and he tried to escape the bed a couple times, but in the end he snuggled up after the warm bottle and fell asleep for 3 hours! I was almost in tears I was so excited! So thank you!

Meghan

“Thanks for your bundle!”

Thanks for for doing this Everyday Mom Super Bundle sale. I’m four months into my parenthood journey with a sweet and spirited boy.

I was feeling overwhelmed and frustrated just yesterday, thinking if only I had the right resources and “trail guides” I could figure this all out. Your sale is serendipitous. I can’t wait to dig into my download materials and start learning from your tips.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Lauren N.

“It’s a breath of fresh air”

I just wanted to let you know that your blog and emails have been a tremendous help to me. Your practical, honest, and humble writing is a breath of fresh air!

With help and encouragement drawn from your writing, I have made some incredible changes in the order (and sanity) of our home, in just the past few weeks. My kids are doing chores daily, and I also have clearer expectations of myself.

My husband is in awe!

Which helps reinforce what you said- the problem wasn’t me; it was my systems. Our home is in much better order, and so is my mind. So, thank you!!!! You have made a difference for me and my family.

Ann S.

“We are slowly getting back to normal…”

I stumbled upon your blog one morning after praying night after night for God to fix my home! I had just had a baby this May 1st and also have a 2 and 4 year old and my home broke out in complete chaos!

Even my marriage seemed like it was on the brink of extinction and this had happened in 2 weeks! I read numerous amounts of your entries and applied them to my home life and I am happy to say we are slowly getting back to normal. Thank you Rachel!

Madison S.

“You’ve been a life saver!”

I’m a first time mom to a 15 day old baby girl. I had no idea what I was doing and couldn’t get her to sleep in her crib until I found your blog.

You’ve been a life saver!

Candace R.

“Within a week or two our little girl changed!”

I tumbled into post partum depression/anxiety and didn’t know what to do anymore. I was a mess, baby girl was a mess and I don’t even know how my husband was dealing with it all…

I googled everything I could think about but there was never really something that felt right, that felt genuine instead of just telling do’s and don’ts.

And then I found your website and read your pieces about sleeping and eating. I carefully read through your schedules and decided to try it.

IT WORKED!!

And within a week or two our little girl changed from a frustrated baby into this happy dappy smiling ray of sunshine, that is able to settle herself down by sucking on her fists, even in the middle of the night. At 12 weeks baby girl slept through the night and now at 20 weeks old she sleeps a good 10 to 12 hours every night.

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience online. The way you wrote your experiences made it understandable, seeing it from the babys side but also the moms side. Maybe we were lucky that your way fitted our baby, but it worked and I tell it to everyone that wants to know!

Stephanie P.

“Had tremendous success from Day One!”

I just wanted to thank you for your sample routine. I’ve been using it for a week with my 13 month old and had tremendous success from day 2! Wind down time is so important and so is consistency. Thank you so much!!!

Sam M.

“In a few short days…”

I am grateful to have found your blog, as I do a great deal of searching on Pinterest when I am up against a parenting moment that I do not feel qualified to handle.

I will say though that since reading your blog I am really focusing on remembering that every moment is a learning \ experience for my son and I try to take a breath and count to ten. In the few short days that I have been exercising this method I truly have noticed a change for the better in his response to me.

Tami K.