After we purchase a home, the overwhelming and crazed compulsion to decorate elaborately surges from every fiber of our being, only to be abruptly tamed by common sense and a hapless lack of funds.
Ok, maybe that statement was mildly melodramatic. The main point is to try and remain practical when choosing furniture and other household items, keeping in mind all the calamities you have in your future as you embark on your home furnishings shopping spree with children and fur babies in tow.
Though we appreciate and love the elegance of waxy wood flooring, the idea of covering our floors with a tarp to keep them lustrous and stain-free from purple juice spills and animal accidents in high traffic areas is counterproductive and, quite frankly, hideous. Fortunately, we live in favorable times with advances in product ingenuity that come to market daily.
Your best option to protect those hard-earned, beautiful floors is an area rug that integrates a waterproof lining with stain-resistant technology cloaked in on-trend chic colors and patterns. Just for you, we've compiled a few styling ideas and cleaning tips that will help you optimize the life of your rug and get that level of desired sophistication.
What are the sections of your home that you consider the most well-traveled by those with tiny feet and furry paws? Our answer? Foyer's or entryways, hallways, by the doggy door and under the coffee table.
It's challenging to keep your children from running in and out of the house all day long, and you really can't charge your seven and nine-year-old a toll to enter the home or put up a mechanical gate arm because that would look unsightly.
A lovely 5x7 rug in fun colorways can at least catch some of the immediate debris that falls off those little darlings who just finished rolling around in a pile of leaves. Snatch up your rug, pop it in the wash, and if it's a nice day, open-air drying your carpet to give it a clean, fresh scent.
Many families these days require that you take your shoes off at the door to help save any flooring type. This action will help somewhat, but what about the barefoot child running up and down the hall from room to room with an ice cream cone or bag of pretzels anxiously followed by a shedding dog.
A 2.5 x7 runner or two in the halls with a non-slip back will A) hold the ice cream spills and crushed pretzels and B) not slide around as your children race through the house. Once again, cleaning is a cinch. Scoop up and throw in the wash. Just remember bleach is not your rug's friend and will destroy the brilliant color and pattern.
When Lulu or Brutus has to go, THEY HAVE TO GO! Placing a rug by the doggy door doing their "business" will help capture tracked in dirt, excess fur, and some odds and ends, if you will, from your furry friends.
We suggest a nice solid color 3 x 5 carpet, which you can spot clean if you don't want to often. Use soap and warm water with a gentle towel or brush, and just let it sit to dry or hang over a railing.
As much as you reprimand the kids or your partner about eating snacks at the kitchen table or in the backyard, they still insist on sitting at the glass or wood coffee table in the family room. Sound familiar? At least they sit at a table, right?
In this scenario, moving the heavy coffee table off the 5 x 7 carpet every other day to wash it means a painful back and sore biceps, so you're trying to avoid this. Understandable. But you have other options, including the spot cleaning as mentioned above, which is super convenient. For dry scraps and rubbish, nothing works better than good old fashion vacuuming.
Covering your floors with sturdy and easy-to-maintain washable area rugs will keep the tiling or wood from cracking and wearing down in the long term. Invest in My Magic Carpet rugs today for significant savings in the future.