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!

I Bought My House for the Bathtub

The bathtub is one of the best features of my house. It's big, it has jets, and it's got a pretty window over it. It not only functions to clean my children, but also sometimes as a hot tub, or as a library. Sometimes it functions as a holding pen. I was discussing with my friend Janet yesterday how useful a big bathtub can be when your house is full of kids -- yours or others. Just fill it up with some nice, warm and bubbly water, pull up a chair and a magazine and relax for at least an hour.

To truly make my bathtub a draw for my kids, I have a few tricks:
I keep a natural sea sponge filled with smelly, fruity soap by the bathtub. I especially like the soap from Humaine Made . They have so many great fragrances that kids love, they look pretty, and they last forever. Unlike the soap in the shower, my son Jack actually cleans himself with the soap I keep by the bathtub.

My husband and I collect tiny bottles of shampoo from the various hotels we visit and keep them by the bathtub. The bottles are plastic, so they don't break, and the kids love the novelty of all the different bottles. When we're not travelling much, I buy little bottles from Philosophy. They smell delish, and look great.

We keep big beach towels in the bathroom. They serve multiple purposes: making a sidewalk for our soapy kids from the bathtub to the shower, soaking up sudsy water, and best of all, wrapping up warm and clean kids after the bath. Organic Style has a great organic beach towel that works perfectly.

The best part of making the bathtub an attraction for the kids is that, after a good bath, they're warm, clean and quiet, and all I have to do is sit in the big chair in the bedroom and I'm guaranteed at least one kid on my lap until bedtime. That alone is worth the price of the house.

Just Call Me Charles Darwin

Survival of the fittest is my philosophy when it comes to choosing decorative things for my house. Anything that breaks, chips, hurts when it's dropped on a foot, or doesn't look better when enhanced with crayon or marker is out. Anything that bounces, can be knocked over without breaking or can withstand being stacked as high as it will go just to watch it tip over is in.

In the early years, I wasted a lot of breath on sentences that began with "don't." "Don't throw that in the house," "don't pick that up, it will break," "don't move that, it's fragile." One day my daughter Andie turned to me and said "well, what can I touch?" and I knew it was time for my accessories to evolve and adapt to their environment.

There are certain characteristics that enhance a decorative item's chances of survival in my house. They are:

Items that the kids like and don't want to see harmed. My number coasters fall into that category. I keep a few sets on the coffee table in a big bowl and my little Katie lines them up and counts with them. Even though they're ceramic, they've never broken. She's very careful because she loves them.


Things that you couldn't break if you tried, like the bowl of dried gourds in my family room. They look pretty, and are completely kid proof.


Things that look good when they're messy, like my favorite decorative device, the stack of books. You can't beat a pretty stack of books as a space filler -- they look great on a bench behind a sofa, under a table, stacked on shelves. A nice side benefit to having books everywhere is that it seems to send a subliminal message to my kids and they are big readers.


Things that are too heavy to move, like the vintage steel birdbath that's on my coffee table. When the kids are strong enough to pick that thing up, they'll also be coordinated enough not to drop it on their foot.


Our house has evolved to the point where the San Francisco Giants could play in our family room, and they wouldn't break anything. Now that's progress.

Only the Boring are Bored by Guest Blogger Andie Furber

A kid's bedroom can often seem, well, boring to them after a while. To make it more interesting, add a picture wall! I have one in my room, and whenever I look at it, it cheers me up.

Devote an entire wall to it, preferably facing your bed, so it's the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning.

There is a delicate balance to which pictures to choose from, and they can't all be the same kind of thing. You'll need three different things:

1) Photos: They bring back memories, and they remind you of your family and friends. For these, use plain white frames for them. They'll balance out a color photo, and complete a black and white one.

2) Posters: If they're very colorful, they look really good on your wall. I have two posters from the plays I was in: Seussical Jr., and Stuart Little. The Seussical poster is bright and colorful and pops, and the Stuart Little poster is more neutral. For these, don't even bother with a frame. My mom buys some blue clay-like stuff from the store, and you put it on the back and it sticks.

3) Artwork: Use some artwork from your elementary school days. (You know you still have it.) They remind you of those days, and they look great on a wall! For these, use colorful frames with patterns and cool colors, and try to match the frame with the art.

My Mom always says "only the boring are bored." So if your room is boring, don't let that define your personality. Take control of the situation, and express your creativity with a picture wall.

My Digital Camera Ate My Pictures

I had a party at my house yesterday for my son Jack's 4th grade class and I heard two things consistently from the Moms in attendance:

"Thank goodness school's almost out"
"I have got to frame some pictures. All mine are trapped in my digital camera"

To the first, I say "Amen, sisters." To the second, I have a few words of advice -- as you know from yesterday's post, I am the gal who frames anything and everything, so I have some experience in the area of getting the pictures out of the camera and onto the wall. Here are some simple guidelines for building your own gallery wall from scratch in a day:

Pick a blank wall that you can cover, and that you can stand far enough away from to see the whole thing in one eyeshot.

Pick at least two common elements that you want all your pictures to have so the wall has some consistency to it. Doesn't matter what -- frame color, frame size, frame profile, mat, photo type -- just pick two so your wall has some order.

Figure out a way to add some drama . I use huge blown up photos to anchor my wall, but you can use anything -- use only close-ups of faces, or paint your wall a pretty color. If you want to blow your photos up to be huge, Kinko's is a great resource. The quality of photocopies is so good now, and they can blow something up to the size of a poster if that's what you want.

When you have everything framed and you're ready to hang, this is the one and only place that I'll ever say "do it the hard way." Follow these steps, and you can't go wrong:

Lay your pictures out on the floor so you can get the composition right before you start with the hammer. It's best to put the largest items down first, then let the smaller frames either radiate out from the big ones, or fill in around them.

Now, stand on a ladder and take a picture of your floor of pictures. The camera will see things in the composition that you won't see with your eye until you hang everything up.

Trace the frames onto kraft paper, cut them out, and tape the frames to your wall in the same composition you designed on the floor. Don't forget to mark on your template where the picture hook is on the back of the frame -- that's where the nail will go. Use a level, and use blue painter's tape -- everything will be straight, and the tape won't peel the paint off your wall.

Now stand back and take a picture of your wall of paper. The camera will see the blank spots or any imbalance that you won't see with your eye.

Once you've done all that, you're ready to hang. Just hammer your nail right into the paper, tear the paper off the wall and hang your picture up.

If you want to make sure your husband is available to help you on picture hanging day, do what I do: make a habit of getting out whatever huge honkin' nails you can find and pound them into the wall with your shoe. My husband has seen me rampage through the house pounding nail after nail until I get everything just like I want it. Now, whenever I start making noises about hanging some pictures, my husband clears his calendar and doesn't let me out of his sight.

Art Schmart

It's funny that my last post contained so many references to art. The truth is, I have no art in my house. When my husband and I bought our first house, we thought we'd collect some art when we got more established, but we started collecting kids instead.

Now my house is the best kind of gallery, filled with memories of our family's life. We collect photos, maps, cards, art made by our kids, and proudly frame and hang it all. And I mean all.

Some of our very favorite installations are:
Our entry hall that's completely covered in photos of the kids. The gallery has evolved with time, so it's a fun time capsule showing the kids at all ages and stages. We always frame in black frames, with black or white mats, and convert our photos to black and white so we can add to the gallery whenever have something new.

Four 4' square frames in our living room with our favorite pieces by our house artists Andie, Jack and Katie. When presented in the right way, kids' art can look like beautiful pieces of modern art -- great color, and kids seem to have a natural eye for composition.

A world map my husband gave me for Christmas a few years ago. He marked all the places we've visited, together and apart, with different colored pins before he gave it to me. The map has come in mighty handy in our elementary school phase for geography lessons, and the kids love to hear our travel stories. For now anyway.

A big pinboard at the end of the hall where we pin postcards, letters, leaves collected by Katie on her nature walks, stuff from our various roadtips. We add to and subtract from the pinboard all the time, so it's a rotating chronical of our family adventures. It's very fun to stand in front of the pinboard and meditate on our happy family life.

I've resigned myself to the fact that, unless one of my children grows up to be a professional artist, my art collection will remain only sentimental in value. However, I love the confidence my kids get from seeing their photos and art proudly displayed in our house, and the walk to the bedroom each night past the entry hall, the living room, the world map, and the family pinboard is better than any gallery walk I can imagine.

I'm no Andy Warhol, but...

I've always loved art that draws out the beauty in the commonplace. Numbers by Jasper Johns is one of my favorite paintings, and I love the work of artists of the Pop Art movement.

Because I love the simplicity of everyday objects, and because my kids are always looking for something, I started years ago putting all the stuff we use regularly in plain sight. Instead of investing energy in looking for stuff all the time, I invest energy in thinking of ways to make my Qtips, toilet paper and votive candles look pretty.

Glass jars are the center of my universe when it comes to organizing our stuff:

In a house with three kids, you can't have enough soap and Qtips. My bathroom counter always has two huge jars filled with unwrapped white bars of soap and Qtips. Because those things are all white, they look great. I also keep a huge basket in the bathroom that's always filled with about 50 rolls of toilet paper. Another thing you can't have enough of in a house with three kids.

Our home office is designed for grownups on one side and kids on the other, and someone always seems to need a pen, a pencil, tape, a post-it, a glue stick for something. We have big glass jars in the office, most of them filled with one of those things. I reserved a few for my own stuff -- twig colored pencils I bought in Argentina, currency my husband and I have collected from around the world, matchbooks -- and the jars look like a pretty collection.

My kitchen counter is lined with glass jars that are always filled with good snacks for the kids -- pretzels, crackers, sometimes cookies. I even keep one filled with little squares of chocolate for me. The power of suggestion overtakes my kids and they eat the healthy snacks I put out for them. Between my snack jars, the fruity centerpiece on my counter and my super-organized fridge (see post "I Love My Fridge" 5/29/08), I think I have the healthiest kids in my suburb.

The secret is to buy the biggest jars you can find -- the bigger the better -- and go for it. Here are my favorite secret sources for good glass jars:
Ace Mart Restaurant Supply
Williams Sonoma
Container Store

I like to think of my house as a sort of version of Andy Warhol's The American Supermarket with everyday objects displayed as works of art. Well, maybe I just like to think of my house as a place where I can find a roll of toilet paper when I need one.

Kermit was Wrong by guest blogger Andie Furber

First, I want to say Happy Birthday to my Grandpa Doug. Happy Birthday Grandpa.

My mom has been writing about being green all week, so I thought I would too. Being green is important, and anyone can do it. Even kids. Here are some ways for kids to make their own room green and eco-friendly:

1) Keep a recycling bin in your room. Whenever you're finished with paper, bottles, cans or other recyclables, put them in the bin instead of throwing them away. If possible, try using both sides of the paper.

2) Try organic bedding. It's really comfortable, and comes in all kinds of colors and patterns, and is totally eco-friendly. I like this one from PBTeen


3) Try putting some plants in your room. They clean your air in a Green way. For the best plants to clean your air, see my mom's post entitled, "My Mom was Ahead of Her Time."

4) Try reusing stuff for your room. When your parents decide once again that it's time to purge the house, snag a few things from their pile to add to your room. The best way to be eco-friendly is to reuse things instead of adding new things. My brother is always taking plants, coffee tables, bins, and decorations into his room.

5) When you ask your parents to buy you new things for your room, make sure it's something you will like for a long time and won't want to replace after just a little while. Like I said in number 4, adding new things is not very green.

6) Use CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb) lightbulbs in your lamps, because they use less energy, and always turn off your lights when you leave your room, or during the day when the sun's out.

Being green is important. Saving energy and our resources can help conserve our earth. Anyone can go green, and everyone should. Even kids. So try these tips, and even these small things you do can make a difference in our world.

Get the Hose!

My husband and I have always said our ideal flooring would be cement with a drain in the middle.

However, so far that hasn't really fit with the casual, comfy home we're trying to build for our family. Maybe for the grandkids. So for now, we use rugs like everyone else, and they tend to move through stages just like our kids do:
When my children were tiny, I wanted my flooring to be super soft so they could roll around on it.
When they were a little older, I wanted rugs with pretty patterns so the kids could spill on them and the spills were invisible (for the most part.)
Now that they're even older, I like natural flooring because it's very durable, always looks great and is very easy to clean.

Lately, I've had a new selection criteria: I want my flooring to be free of chemicals and any other artificial stuff so the kids can lounge around on the floor and I don't have to worry. There are lots of good natural rugs on the market now, and they're very easy to find:

Starting with the youngest lifestage, babies crawling on the floor, I've always loved Sheepskin rugs. They're super soft, they're organic, they don't shed, you can wash them, and kids love them. When my daughter Andie was a new baby I always had a sheepskin in front of the big mirror in the bathroom so she could look at herself in the mirror while I showered.

I still have them all over my house -- right now my little Katie is asleep on a sheepskin rug on the floor next to me.


Natural flooring is great for families like mine, and can be easily found in all ranges of quality, from a natural resource like Gaiam to a big retailer like Pottery Barn. Look for the softer sustainable materials like jute and seagrass -- they feel better on your feet than sisal. If your natural fiber rug is backed with latex, this is one place where I'd recommend a synthetic material. Natural latex breaks down over time into a fine white powder, whereas synthetic lasts as long as your rug will, which is a long time.


Gaiam also has this super cool shag rug that's made from unused t-shirt remnants, a by-product of the garment industry.


A new option on the scene is Flor tiles. They have some nice natural fiber options, are made up partly of recycled materials, and don't smell like new carpet because they have the lowest VOC in the industry. FLOR tiles are the next best thing to my hoseable cement floor fantasy.


Another option to consider is a Vintage rug. Vintage rugs can be very expensive, but there are many reasons to love them: they're beautiful and can be handed down through your family, they have intricate patterns and deep colors so they hide all your family's sins, and they already show the signs of a lifetime of use. Very wabi-sabi. Another nice benefit to a vintage rug is the environmental protection aspect -- not producing something new is the best way to limit the impact of consumer goods manufacturing on Mother Nature. It's always good to love your Mother.


Until I get my drain, I'll be settling for natural flooring, sheepskins and will be shopping for a vintage kilim for my living room. But I'll be dreaming of that day when someone makes a mess and I can just shout to my husband "get the hose!"

Old is the New New

I seem to be on a green roll, so I think I'll keep going, as I think building a healthy home and doing what we can to preserve the environment for our children is top of mind for many mothers like me.

One of the tenets of building a green home that I relate to the most is reuse. I love to use items for something other than their intended use -- vases for bars of soap, stepstools as side tables, big troughs for photographs -- so I'm always looking for vintage items in flea markets or antique dealers that I can put to use. I also love reclaimed wood furniture. Pieces made from reclaimed wood have a patina that I like because, from the day you introduce them into your home, they look like they've been there for a lifetime. A nice side benefit from reclaimed wood furniture is the wabi-sabi aspect (see post "My House Isn't a Mess, It's Wabi-Sabi" on 6/1/08) -- wear and tear inflicted by my family of five only makes my reclaimed wood pieces look better. I'm very grateful to the green movement for making reclaimed wood furniture much easier to find. Here are some of my favorite resources:

Cliff Spencer makes furniture from reclaimed wine oak that's beautiful. I especially like their Parson's style dining table. It's a bundle, but I think if you're going to make an investment in a piece of furniture, a dining table is a good choice. You'll have it forever, and the story of shared memories around that table will follow it as you hand it down to your children.



Andre Joyau is a designer in Brooklyn who makes beautiful, large scale furniture pieces. For those who have children old enough, and don't have to worry about safety as much (see post "Coffee Tables That Will Save You a Trip to the ER" 5/29/08), the coffee table here is fabulous.

I don't think Andre Joyau has a website, but design blogs like DesignSponge regularly pick up their product, so you can always find an address and phone number.

Alan Vogel Designs is another resource for beautiful tables made from reclaimed barnwood.



Staples Cabinet Makers has such a great story, you'll want to pick up the phone and order something right away after watching this video. You can really feel the artisan's passion as he talks about his craft.


I'll just take a moment here to send a personal message to my Mother-in-Law: Linda, you are right -- everything can be re-used for something. Can I have my old picnic table back? I know I can use that wood for something!

Where Can I Get a Cute Gas Mask That Goes With My Decor?

The EPA has stated that indoor air can be up to three times more polluted than outdoor air because of emissions from paint, building materials, furniture, carpet, adhesives, among other things. Seriously?! As if I wasn't tossing and turning enough already.

Because of all the press about indoor air pollution, paint is a topic that's received plenty of attention lately. Fortunately for those of us trying to keep a stylish, family friendly and healthy home, many paint manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon quickly. Non-toxic paints are readily available everywhere from large paint manufacturers like Benjamin Moore, to smaller labels. A nice side benefit is that the demand for non-toxic paint has spawned interest in some smaller, more entrepreneurial paint brands. I always like it when the little guys benefit from a media blitz.

If you've recently seen the "Sex and the City" movie and are thinking about painting all your millwork black like I am, you're also probably thinking about how to choose a non-toxic paint. Here are a few things you should know:

There are three categories of non-toxic paints: natural, low VOC and zero VOC.

Natural paints are made from all natural ingredients. Water based natural paints give off no smell, oil based natural paints usually have a nice fragrance from the natural oils that are used. Aglaia is a brand I like because they have interior paint for both walls and millwork and their color palette is beautiful.
Aglaia Natural Paints

Zero VOC is any paint with 5 grams per litre or less of volatile organic compounds. This type of paint is easier to find, and many big brands have a Zero VOC option in their line. I like Green Plant Paints because of their commitment to small scale production. It's a little harder to find, but the quality is really nice.

Low VOC is any paint with 200 grams per litre or less of volatile organic compounds. I like Benjamin Moore's Aura line, because their range of color grea , and the paint is formulated not to exceed 100 grams per litre.

Another nice benefit of using non-toxic paint is that it's not deemed hazardous waste, so is much easier deal with when you're finished. Who has time to find a HASMAT site to dispose of the leftovers?

Better yet, EarthEasy.com recommends using the BUD method when buying and using paint:
Buy only as much as you need, so there's no waste.
Use everything you buy.
Dispose responsibly -- if you do have leftovers, donate to a local charity who can use it rather than throwing it away.

Organic Bedding Survival Guide

Yesterday's post on the health benefits of houseplants got me thinking about the healthy home in general.

Understanding all the volumes of information available on the different aspects of creating a healthy home for a family is such a challenge. Isn't enough that we've got to learn 4th grade geometry all over again? Must we also be subject matter experts on organic farming, formaldehyde and toxins emitted by our paint and furniture?

An easy place to start is with bedding. Anything that directly touches the skin should be as chemical free as possible and, with the proliferation of organic bedding in the market, any house can be completely outfitted with organic bedding. Most bedding is made from cotton. My friend Pallavi, who knows much more about organic cotton than I ever will, tells me that conventional cotton is one of agriculture's most chemically-dependent crops. It takes about 1/3 of a pound of chemicals to produce enough conventional cotton to make a t-shirt. Organic cotton is the version of its conventional counterpart grown without pesticides or other chemicals, and uses agricultural methods designed to help sustain the land it grows on. The organic cotton supply is estimated at only .1% of the global cotton production. As demand for organic cotton increases, so will the supply. Click this link for more information on organic farming

Organic cotton, both grown in the US and imported into the US, is strictly regulated by the USDA. That means you can reasonably assume that anything labeled and marketed as organic cotton is in fact organic cotton. If you need more assurance, look for SKAL International certification

There are plenty of great looking organic bedding options in the market now, so there's something for everyone. When you're choosing your organic bedding, remember to consider all the same things you've always considered: thread count, cotton quality, cotton fiber (long staple combed is great -- nice and smooth, won't pill).

Here are some of my favorites:

Pottery Barn has a great collection of patterned organics, plenty of choices and some really nice patterns.


Amenity has some beautiful, large scale patterns that are very stylish.


West Elm has some very pretty neutral organics -- lots of style.

Good Night Naturals is a good resource for higher thread count styles.

Convert your beds to organic bedding, and stay in bed a little longer in the morning. It's good for you!

My Mom Was Ahead of Her Time

I'm always looking for ways to keep my house healthy for my family. It turns out my Mom had one of the secrets all along -- houseplants. My Mom just loved houseplants when I was growing up. Our house was filled with them: spider plants, ferns, shiffaleras, philodendrons. We had them all. I vaguely remember a cross country road trip with my parents that included a houseplant. My Mom was worried the plant would die while we were gone, so it traveled with us and spent each night in our hotel room. But I digress.

Houseplants (and their macrame hangers) were a big trend in the seventies, and had been out of fashion for several years. Now with the resurgance of interest in all things healthy, eco and green, houseplants are making a huge comeback, because they not only look pretty, they have a purpose. According to a research study conducted by NASA scientist BC Wolverton, plants are the most efficient and cost-effective method of cleaning your indoor air.

Research has shown that these 10 plants give you the most bang for your buck:
Areca palm
Reed palm
Dwarf date palm
Boston fern
Janet Craig dracaena
English ivy
Australian sword fern
Peace Lily
Rubber plant
Weeping fig

You should allow one plant for every ten square yards of floor space, which means you need 2-3 plants in the average sized room for good air quality.

Besides keeping the air clean in your house, houseplants offer one more great opportunity to express your personal style. The containers that hold your houseplants can be anything you love:


Galvanized Buckets (Bailey's Home and Garden)


Pretty Glass Vases (Bailey's Home and Garden)


Vintage Sugar Molds (CitySearch your local flea market)


Mexican Dough Bowls (Direct from Mexico)

Just get some good advice from your local nursery on the best way to transplant your plant into your favorite container so it can drain properly.

I'm happy to see houseplants make a comeback, as I love the happy color they bring to the house, the fresh air, and my kids love to water them.

Is it too much to hope, though, that the macrame hangers remain a thing of the past?

My House Isn't a Mess, It's Wabi- Sabi

I made reference to the concept of wabi-sabi a few days ago, and have been thinking about it ever since.

Wabi-sabi is the japanese concept of appreciating the beauty in imperfection and of accepting the natural cycle of growth and decay. Wabi-sabi celebrates cracks and crevices and all the other marks that time, weather, and loving use leave behind. Through wabi-sabi, we learn to embrace stains, scratches, rust, and frayed edges, and the march of time they represent.

Does that sound like a concept for a working mother of three to embrace, or what?!

Even before the concept of wabi-sabi came into vogue, I unknowingly embraced it. I've always been drawn to things that have interesting stories, show signs of use, and look older than they are.

Now that I have three children in my house, wabi-sabi is the center of my decorating philosophy. I make a point of never buying anything that won't get better with the use of three messy, happy children. My dining table is made of reclaimed planks and has dings, scratches and dents in it. Perfect. The chairs in my family room are red leather and show all the wear and tear of hundreds of movie nights in that room. Love them. The wicker sofa on my front porch came from my mother-in-law and is weathered to show several layers of paint in different colors. Can't beat it.

The neutral carpet in my bedrooms shows all the marks that time, weather and loving use leave behind, but it is not wabi-sabi at all. When I finally get around to it, I'm going to replace the carpet with reclaimed wood floors, then my house will be truly wabi-sabi.