C'mon Dad, Help Me Out

I'm off this morning for my summer vacation in Olympia, so will be neglecting Suburban Zen for the next few days. While I lounge on the beach, I thought I'd send a question into cyberspace for loyal Suburban Zen readers (that's you, Dad) to ponder and discuss:

How do you store all your games, toys, art supplies so they don't become the primary decor statement in your house, but are still easy for the kids to access and put away by themselves?

Some moms, like my two sisters-in-law, are lucky enough to have a separate playroom. Casa de los Furbers is not quite so spacious, so the struggle to store all that stuff so it's out of site, but easy for the kids to find and put away by themselves is ongoing. Toy chests are not my favorite because they tend to be designed for kids, so don't look so great in the shared family spaces, and I always worry that the lid will slam on some body part while I'm not looking.

I'll be meditating on the same question, and hope to come back to the holy grail of storage solutions. C'mon Dad, don't let me down!

Life in the White House

My friend Sheryl stopped by the other night to pick up her son after a playdate with Jack and we were discussing the new slipcovers I had just bought for my family room sofas. When I told her they were white, she said "WHAT?! White? Why would you do that?"

I realized then that it's time to share a secret with all my fellow moms: white is the most under-used and under-rated color in the interior palette of a family home. Unlike bright colors, or other non-white neutrals, white can be washed in hot water and bleached. I buy everything that gets tons of use in white: I have white sheets and a white duvet on my bed, white bathtowels in my bathrooms, white floursack towels in my kitchen, white slipcovers on my sofas, white table linens in my linen closet.

I don't worry too much about spilling. If I did, I'd be in a straightjacket -- I've watched my son Jack wipe his face on the sofa. Whenever something gets messy, I just give it a warm, sudsy, bleachy bath and it's good as new. When something needs a little extra brightening, I make like my Mother-in-Law and put it out in the sun for an afternoon.

Because my basics spend lots of time in the pool, I've learned to always have a few extra sets of everything, and to pay a little more for quality base fabrics so the items last longer. Here are some rules I live by:

For sheets and towels, I always buy combed cotton when I can, because carded cotton pills.

For slipcovers, I always buy denim or canvas when I can, because those fabrications have more body, and don't get too wrinkly in the dryer.

For kitchen towels, I always buy the classic floursack towels made by Ritz. They're the best, they don't leave lint on your glasses, and they're cheap -- you can get 4 for about $10 from any restaurant supply or kitchen store.

For table linens, I always buy classic hotel linens. The good ones have a really thick, mitered border all around, so they don't shrivel up in the wash, and whatever that fabrication is, it lasts forever. Best of all, the hotel linens don't really need to be ironed. Which works for me because the last time I had an iron out, my daughter Andie said "what's that?" The time before that, my Mother-in-Law took a picture of me with the iron because she wanted to have it on film.

Waiting until the kids are out of the house to indulge in white is for wusses. I've got a Maytag Neptune and a bottle of Clorox. Bring it on!