Family-Friendly Design
Got kids? Then get the low-down on putting together rooms that will stand up to family life — and still look fabulous.
(Continued from Page 8) By Leah Hennen
Special to HGTV.com
DO accessorize on high.
Learning to treat delicate and valuable items with care is a worthy life lesson, of course — but don’t temp fate. As Wiener says, accessories "are why God made bookshelves and mantels!" The so-called "Danger Zone" for young children is anything within about 45 inches of the floor, so make sure tchotchkes under that invisible line are safe and relatively sturdy: A piece of driftwood, say, or a grouping of seashells collected at the beach. When Knoxville, Tennessee, mother Leslie Snow ’s three children were little, she decorated in a style she calls "child-friendly primitive": Moss-covered balls in a pewter bowl, chunky wooden candlesticks, iron picture frames with the glass removed, and metal vases. "Everything my kids could reach looked pretty but couldn’t be destroyed," she explains. Safeguard that heirloom vase, on the other hand, by placing it on a floating display ledge mounted high on the wall, atop a cabinet or armoire, or behind doors in a curio cabinet. For her part, White Plains, New York, mom Kitty O’Callaghan stores china and delicate pottery behind chicken wire in a dining-room armoire. "The chicken wire looks cool and keeps things safe," she says, while still allowing the family to appreciate her collection.
