apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My advice: Avoid area rugs under the table. I had FLOR tiles under the table and thought I could just swap them out, clean them and then replace. Yeah, well that gets old doing it day after day. Wood, tile or linoleum only.

I put the kid-size dishes (we usually use plastic for lunch and china/glassware for dinner) in a low cabinet so they can get them out themselves. And I put their snacks and milk on the lowest shelf in the fridge for the same reason. They love the independence of getting their own glasses out and pouring their own milk.

Also, I put a small craft table in an open space outside the bathroom so I don't have to always clean markers or "works-in-progress" off the dining table for us to eat.

We put clear plastic vinyl over our cushioned chairs. Just remove the chair seat, cut a piece of vinyl a bit larger than the seat size. Stretch the vinyl over and underneath, then screw the seat back on. No stains!

Things that work for us:
Our dog -- so much less sweeping and clean up.
A wipes dispenser for quick hand/face clean up.
A wind up radio at the table.
Press & seal wrap on the play table

Now that my daughter, 2 1/2, is past the messiest phase of baby/toddler eating our kitchen is starting to look like a kitchen again!

This isn't really a design tip, but it's what works for us. Use cloth placemats rather than plastic. I just throw the cloth ones in with the daily laundry. The plastic ones I started with seemed like a good thing at the time, but they need to be wiped, dried and stored. They were more hassle than help. An added bonus to the cloth ones is that they absorb spills. When you have a toddler, spills will happen!

Style tip? Plastic chairs go a long way with kids; they're easy to clean. Buy cushions for them and swap cushion covers to change the look of your table setup for guests or special events. Buy extra cushion covers. For arts and crafts at the table, just remove the cushions and let your kids go at it.

Buy your own fabric and make matching placemats or napkins you can toss in the laundry.

Our dog -- so much less sweeping and clean up.

Ha! I don't know what we'd do without our dog (whom we've nicknamed Hoover). I don't know how people without dogs even manage.

We bought a stainless steel-topped table from West Elm on sale years ago and it is THE best thing with kids! We also have plastic chairs (Alias Segesta) that are in my opinion the perfect design for kids. The arms kind of trap kids in! I agree about the dog thing. Our Cecil cleans up the mess before it hardly touches the floor! Except for some vegetables...