Wayfair gifted me this rug but all opinions are !00% my own. I wouldn't mention it if I didn't love it!
We have a lot of "accidents" around here. A "mostly potty trained but not always" little girl and a "thinks it's funny to fling food" little boy live here and they keep me pretty busy just running around after them making sure the place is just about clean enough so that they don't catch some hideous disease.
Despite this, I am not willing to give up on having a beautiful home that reflects my taste. I just need to be a bit creative when it comes to the items that take a lot of abuse around here, and I thought you might be interested in hearing about what I found ;)
So in no particular order, here are some of my life (and sanity!) savers:
Ikea couches
Gotta love them! Ikea couches come with removable, washable covers, and you can even just buy a whole set in a new colour if you fancy a change. We have Karlstad sofas in our living room and in the year we've owned them they've taken serious abuse from mud, sticky hands, spilled pineapple juice (the stinkiest of all the juices!) and pee....a LOT of pee. (Don't ask).
They've been washed maybe five times so far and they've come out like new each time. I worried the cushion covers might fade cos they were getting washed and the main part of the couch wasn't, but so far so good! I've never bothered ironing them either, they're such a tight fit that they look fine when they go back on no matter how wrinkly they are, and life's too damn short to iron your couch!
They've been washed maybe five times so far and they've come out like new each time. I worried the cushion covers might fade cos they were getting washed and the main part of the couch wasn't, but so far so good! I've never bothered ironing them either, they're such a tight fit that they look fine when they go back on no matter how wrinkly they are, and life's too damn short to iron your couch!
Indoor/outdoor rugs
This is a new one to me but I must say after receiving one from wayfair.co.uk I am a TOTAL convert!
I got it with the intention of putting it under our dining table. I like to have a rug there but with a three year old and a one year old more food ends up on the floor than in our mouths in this house so it had to be something super easy to clean. A cotton or a chindi wouldn't work as we would have to lift the table off it every time we wanted to wash it, so I settles on an indoor/outdoor as it was bound to be really hardy and up to a lot of scrubbing. Other than that I didn't have much hope for it. I thought it would be rough and plasticy, and I was relying on the table and chairs on top to take attention away from it.
Well, it arrived, and I fell in love with it. So much so that I put it in my living room! It's more of a floor covering than a traditional rug as it isn't "cosy" but my word it's gorgeous! And to test it out (ahem) I spilled a full can of coke on it the first night it was in place and it just sat there on the surface until I wiped it up with a cloth. Instantly clean, instantly dry, bliss!
These are so perfect if you want the look of modern rugs without having to worry about them getting ruined. You can let your kids go to town on these and they will laugh condescendingly at their puny efforts!
I got it with the intention of putting it under our dining table. I like to have a rug there but with a three year old and a one year old more food ends up on the floor than in our mouths in this house so it had to be something super easy to clean. A cotton or a chindi wouldn't work as we would have to lift the table off it every time we wanted to wash it, so I settles on an indoor/outdoor as it was bound to be really hardy and up to a lot of scrubbing. Other than that I didn't have much hope for it. I thought it would be rough and plasticy, and I was relying on the table and chairs on top to take attention away from it.
Well, it arrived, and I fell in love with it. So much so that I put it in my living room! It's more of a floor covering than a traditional rug as it isn't "cosy" but my word it's gorgeous! And to test it out (ahem) I spilled a full can of coke on it the first night it was in place and it just sat there on the surface until I wiped it up with a cloth. Instantly clean, instantly dry, bliss!
These are so perfect if you want the look of modern rugs without having to worry about them getting ruined. You can let your kids go to town on these and they will laugh condescendingly at their puny efforts!
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| Rockin' the "my little pony onesie, sparkly shoes" combo. |
Moulded plastic dining chairs
Sounds obvious, but I know a lot of people with fabric dining chairs, or ones that are a wipeable material, but still have loads of creases and seams where food can hide and make them a nightmare to keep clean. We went for replica Eames chairs in white. They can be scrubbed with cif or even bleach and are really easy to keep hygienically clean.
Admittedly I didn't consider that at the time, I just wanted them cos they were purdy, but it worked out well for me (Thanks past self!). Any other moulded plastic chair will do the same job, and I've seen some really gorgeous transparent plastic ones in Ikea. You can even get them in bright colours, which could make a great statement in an otherwise quite neutral room.
Jute/sisal rugs
Again, a tough rug that can stand up to a lot of scrubbing. The natural colours of the material tends to hide a lot too so it'll be a really long time before it starts to look grubby. We are actually using a smallish one instead of a doormat inside our front door, where everyone wipes their feet, and all we do to clean it is take it outside and whack it with a broom every now and again. Some people find these really rough on the feet but I personally love the rough feeling, it's like a massage!
Throws
It's not realistic to try and keep ALL food and drink out of your living room, and even if you did, little hands are nearly always filthy, no matter what you do, so having a few throws to hand is always a good idea. Not only do they add texture to a room (which is really important) but they're easy to throw in the wash so you can use them to form a barrier between your filthy offspring and the couch!
My little girl is a fairly dedicated nudist, but she's gotten so used to the throws that she demands them now before she even attempts to plant her naked bum there. Win! Just make sure you don't buy wool or anything delicate like that, 100% washable is what you're going for.
Chindi rugs
These are rugs which are woven from strips of cotton fabric, and they come in all different colours. As they are cotton and don't have any backing they can be thrown straight into the washing machine just like any other cotton fabric. I have off-white ones which I've used all over the house and they are so handy. They are also usually really cheap, which I love of course! They often come in smaller sizes than other rugs but you can very easily sew them together with some twine and a paperclip (I may do a tutorial?) so you can create a giant, beautifully coloured rug to fit your space.
Leather couches
An obvious one, but the reason it's obvious is because they're probably the best option cleanliness-wise. However, I personally find them cold, and the cost of a really nice one is way out of my league at the moment! However, something like this could make me change my mind.....
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| West Elm |
Cotton rugs
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| Pick up a camera around here and she appears in a pretty dress, as if by magic. She's definitely got a flair for the dramatic... |
Basically the exact same benefits of chindi rugs, but these tend to be more of a traditional style of rug. They're really great for areas like kitchens (I spend a lot of time standing in front of the cooker, it's nice to have something soft underfoot!) or bathrooms where you will need to be able to clean them regularly. The one pictured above was bought in Aldi for €15 two months ago and it's been washed several times already.
And if all else fails...
There aren't many accidents that these guys can't at least make a whole lot better! I really should start buying them in bulk....
