Family Style: Mom Decorated, Kid Approved

Kid-Friendly Home

There are some houses where furniture — or entire rooms — are off-limits to the kids. But at Michelle and Dave Kohanzo’s Barrington, Ill., home, it’s just the opposite. Maybe because Michelle is one of the minds behind the children’s design company The Land of Nod, where color and fun reign supreme. The kids (clockwise from top left: Everett, 6, Emily, 15, Henry, 8, and Connor, 12) are not only allowed to toss their feet over the side of an armchair, but they also have a say in what comes into the house and what doesn’t.

From: HGTV Magazine

Cozy Red Chair

This old wingback chair got a new look when Michelle reupholstered it with a wool blanket and patched it up with vintage Boy Scouts badges. "We share every bit of space, so I’m happy for the whole family to weigh in," says Michelle. The result is a happy-go-lucky style where grown-up taste and kid-inspired spunk live happily together.

From: HGTV Magazine

Living Room

Inspired by her childhood summers in a woodsy part of Wisconsin, Michelle gave the living room a lodge-like feel with wool-covered armchairs and an antique oak coffee table. To balance the coziness, she had the lampshades and a wall covered with edgy black Orla Kiely wallpaper.

From: HGTV Magazine

Poppy Pillows + Play Zone

A mashup of pillows from Etsy, Anthropologie and Crate & Barrel brighten up the sofa. It's upholstered in black vinyl, so it’s as easy to wipe down as a countertop. The kids often sprawl out with puzzles and blocks in the living room. For speedy cleanup, toys get tossed in the yellow felt bin in the corner.

From: HGTV Magazine

Stripey Chair

Michelle reupholstered this Crate & Barrel chair with a vintage Swiss Army blanket, and a striped pink blanket on the arms.

From: HGTV Magazine

Entryway

An Etsy artist drew the silhouettes from photos. Wrapping paper serves as matting. "You see these silhouettes of us as soon as you walk in the front door, says daughter Emily. "They’re a few years old, so we’ve grown up a lot! "

From: HGTV Magazine

Kitchen

Instead of replacing the original dark wood cabinetry, Michelle painted it Sweet 16 Pink by Benjamin Moore and gave the entire kitchen a Neapolitan color scheme (strawberry, vanilla, chocolate). "It’s kind of silly, but it’s way more fun in here than it used to be," she says.

From: HGTV Magazine

Pink Cabinets + Paper Garland

An ice cream shop inspired the kitchen design. Michelle played it up with a retro pink toaster, pastel metal pails and pink gingham curtains. "The kids are crazy about garlands, so we put them up in a bunch of places," says Michelle. This one’s from Etsy.

From: HGTV Magazine

Dinnerware Display

The hutch’s interior is covered with floral wallpaper.

From: HGTV Magazine

Dining Room

The wood table and white seating are mixed in with a few dressier pieces: an antique chandelier and a vintage armoire filled with amber dishes from Michelle’s grandma. The graphic rug is from West Elm.

From: HGTV Magazine

Bright Walls

Michelle paints the dining room a different color every few years, which is a big hit with the kids. This time around: Rosemary Green by Benjamin Moore.

From: HGTV Magazine

Boys’ Bedroom

"I loved the idea of my sons bonding by sharing a room," says Michelle. She turned their upstairs family room into a bedroom for all three boys. "I split apart bunk beds and added a flea market bed in the middle. The boys each needed to be able to claim a space, so I gave them different patterned sheets and pillows with their initials," says Michelle.

From: HGTV Magazine

Map Wall

Maps from old issues of National Geographic are stuck to the walls with wallpaper paste. "I like the vacation pictures on the walls the best, especially the one of me with a fish I caught," says Connor.

From: HGTV Magazine

Make-Believe

The boys have pretend cookouts in the yard. The camper tent and faux campfire are from The Land of Nod.

From: HGTV Magazine

Den

"This is the coziest spot in the house," says Michelle. The design started with a Crate & Barrel sofa upholstered in a green botanical print. An Etsy seamstress made the clover-print Roman shades from fabric Michelle found at spoonflower.com. The antique rug, from eBay, was the right size but wrong color — a dull beige — so she dyed it blue.

From: HGTV Magazine

Kiddie Accents

Monsters and dolls from The Land of Nod and Etsy share sofa space with pillows from Crate & Barrel.

From: HGTV Magazine

Vintage Poster + Letter Sign

Sophisticated but colorful and cartoony: everything the Kohanzo clan wants in a piece of wall art. A metal K for Kohanzo was a flea market find. The kids like it leaning on the floor instead of hanging up high.

From: HGTV Magazine

Master Bedroom

Even though Michelle chose a "dreamy, muted palette" — walls are painted soft blue (Morning Sky Blue by Benjamin Moore) — this room is hardly ever calm. Every evening the family piles into the king-sized Anthropologie bed to chat and watch TV. The wall decal above the bed says "I love you beyond measure" ($40, shannamurray.com).

From: HGTV Magazine

Canopy Bed + Twinkle Lights

The kids love draping blankets over the top of the bed frame to turn it into a fort. "We hung little Christmas lights on the bed years ago, and the kids were so entranced, we’ve kept them up," says Michelle.

From: HGTV Magazine

Photo Collage

A heart-shaped display shows off Hipstamatic photos of the family and sights from Michelle’s work travels.

From: HGTV Magazine

Hot-Pink Table

This vintage carved wood table used to be blue. Michelle spray-painted it her daughter’s favorite color, pink (Gloss Mambo Pink by Krylon).

From: HGTV Magazine

Family Style: Mom Decorated, Kid Approved

Related To:

Kid-Friendly Home

Cozy Red Chair

Living Room

Poppy Pillows + Play Zone

Stripey Chair

Entryway

Kitchen

Pink Cabinets + Paper Garland

Dinnerware Display

Dining Room

Bright Walls

Boys’ Bedroom

Map Wall

Make-Believe

Den

Kiddie Accents

Vintage Poster + Letter Sign

Master Bedroom

Canopy Bed + Twinkle Lights

Photo Collage

Hot-Pink Table

Shop This Look

More from:

Help Around the Home: October

Decorated by Mom With Love 9 Photos

Creative New Decorating Ideas 16 Photos

Decorating Therapy 12 Photos

Get a Fresh Start With a New Decorating Style 12 Photos

Tour a Crafty, DIY-Decorated Home in Arizona 10 Photos

A Classic Spin on Quirky Decorating 11 Photos

Related Pages