How to make your home as easy to maintain as possible

Copy of a great article by Marc Atiyolil, celebrity designer

Dear Marc:

I am a mother of three and have a full time job. When it was just my husband and me living in our house, I found it easier to maintain and clean. There was less traffic and I had more time available to dust and clean because I didn’t have my kids to take care of. I have to say with my kids being at a young age, I want to spend time with them when I get home, as opposed to having to clean for hours at a time, and then put them to bed. I don’t want to be remembered as the mom who never spent time with her kids. Can you give me tips on how I can make my home easier to maintain so that I have more time to spend with my kids?

— Beatrice

Dear Beatrice:

It is understandable that you want to spend time with your children when they are young because they won’t be young forever. Every homeowner struggles between having a designer space and being able to maintain this beautiful space they have created. Let’s face it, some of the spaces we consider “chic” would take us hours to clean and dust.

As a working mother, you must prioritize and customize your design to fit your lifestyle. Your first step to modifying your design is to figure out exactly how much time you have to maintain your home. Once you have determined the amount of time you have to clean and maintain, you will be better able to decide what stays and what has to be changed.

The first thing that most parents have in their homes that is not necessary is an excess of accessories. They clutter up our homes, take hours to dust and the kids usually end up dropping them and they break. So, why do we clutter up our homes with accessories? Homeowners think the more accessories they have, the better. Well, this is not the case. Examine the designer spaces seen in magazines. These spaces are usually simple and use distinct accessories that add to the overall design. Each accessory is carefully chosen and placed in the room. They are not there because the designer had an extra piece that didn’t fit into any other room in the home so they decided “Why not place it here?”

The trick to decluttering your home is to prioritize your accessories. Which ones actually fit into your colour scheme? If an accessory doesn’t fit into your colour scheme, then it doesn’t belong in your design. There is one exception — if the accessory is a family heirloom or a painting from the kids, you probably want to keep it. Even these elements can easily be modified to fit your design. If grandma’s antique chair doesn’t fit into the colour scheme, have it re-upholstered. If it was grandma’s chair, it’s probably due to be reupholstered to cover up the years of wear and tear and it will look great once it’s redone. In another scenario where it is a child’s painting, change the frame or the matting of the piece to suit your colour scheme. With a creative mind and an eye for colour, every design element can easily be modified to fit one’s colour scheme.

Also look at different colours and textiles when modifying your design. One colour every family should avoid is white. Let’s face it: no matter how much we try to keep it white, it’s just not going to happen. I have white leather chairs in my home and even I, with no children, have to be extra careful because I could stain them simply by sitting on them when wearing blue jeans. White leather is just too much maintenance.

Another maintenance friendly idea is to try to have patterns in your fabrics. Nothing camouflages a stain like a busy patterned fabric. Why do you think restaurants always go with patterned fabrics for their chairs and booths? If a customer spills his drink on the fabric, the restaurant does not have to re-upholster the entire chair. Let’s take this tip of the trade and use this in our homes as well.

There are a number of ways to create a low-maintenance design. The key is to keep things simple and take into account your family’s lifestyle when designing. Ask yourself this question, “who will essentially be using this space when I am done designing it?” The answer to this question will guide you in the right direction to creating your family-friendly design.

Marc Atiyolil, celebrity designer and home trend expert is the editor-in-chief of Canadian Home Trends — Canada’s Home Decor & Lifestyle Magazine, and regular contributor to numerous TV, radio and print media.