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 4) By Leah Hennen
Special to HGTV.com
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Debbie Wiener-designed dining room (Photograph by Mark Finkenstaedt for Designing Solutions.)
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DON’T be afraid of color, pattern, or texture.
Forget the white silk couch. Instead, opt for vibrant color, a bit of pattern and touchable texture. All help camouflage the inevitable spills, fingerprints, and other mishaps — and not just on furniture, but on walls and floors as well. The day her first-grader overturned a bottle of neon-hued Gatorade on the living room rug, for instance, Susanne Simas of Oakland, California was glad she’d had the foresight to select one with a dark color and rich pattern. "It’s very forgiving — you can’t see stains at all," she says. If bold patterns aren’t your thing, try a softly heathered finish on a couch or rug, say, or a subtle color wash on the walls. When it comes to paint choices, keep in mind that "color appears lighter the larger the surface it’s on, so take the color chip you like and go one shade deeper for walls," Burnett advises. Debbie Wiener’s favorite color trick: Matching paint and wood stains to permanent marker and crayon colors for quick touchups.
![PHOTO](javascript:popup("http://img.hgtv.com/HGTV/2007/04/13/familydesign_debbiediningroom_e.jpg",350,450))
