Design*Sponge At Home

Since having baby Dylan, our home has been in a state of chaos — we’ve got balikbayan boxes stacked in the living room to help elevate our artwork (some of them used to be propped on the floor), bubble wrapped statement chairs (which now doubles as toys for Dylan. Wrong move, dad), and countless corner guards taped in virtually anything with well, corners. Not inspiring.

Tom and I had the whole house child-proofed. Or so we thought. We had outlet covers, corner guards, cabinet latches, doorknob covers, swing locks, silent alarms, magnetic force fields, and five pairs of eyes watching Dylan’s every move! Haha!

We did everything we could to make sure he was safe.  But he had a way of finding the weakness in any situation.  Most kids do.  Take the coffee table, for instance. We had two small-sized tables with wheels that are now beyond recognition because Dylan used them as his “bebe car”. Haaaaay!

This. Is. Not. The. Way. To. Live.

Sometimes we’re so preoccupied with safety that we forget to let them experience the magic of childhood.  Kids learn about their world by exploring, and sometimes that means making a mess or playing with something that’s not an officially approved toy.  Sometimes it means taking a fall, and some of those falls hurt.  It’s all part of growing up.

SO, Tom and I decided to bite the bullet and invest on furniture that is Dylan-proof. We figured, it would be a good 8 years before our darlin’ angel can appreciate our collection. Otherwise, we ship him out. Joke.

The Epperson’s coffee tablescape

“Attention” to details

I want to create an environment for the Eppersons that is both stylish and child-friendly. This book couldn’t have come at a perfect time:

Thanks to Ms. Xandra Ramos-Padilla and National Book Store for  this book! I lav et!

Blog-gone-book! “Design*Sponge At Home” By Grace Bonney

I’ve been a DesignSponge.com lurker for years! Founder Grace Bonney is godsend to those who love design and DIY projects. Her blog is one of my “black holes” on the net! I’m so happy she finally came out with her book!

You will love:

• Home tours of 70 real-life interiors featuring artists and designers

• Fifty DIY projects, with detailed instructions for personalizing your space

• Step-by-step tutorials on everything from stripping and painting furniture to hanging wallpaper and doing your own upholstery

• Fifty Before & After makeovers submitted by readers of Design*Sponge—real people with limited time and realistic budgets

• Essential tips on modern flower arranging, with 20 arrangements

Customer review: “One thing I love most about the Design*Sponge blog is that it makes home decor and renovation so accessible and affordable. We don’t all need to be rich to beautify and transform our homes; we don’t have to be serial DIYers or spend buckets of money to turn our homes into unique spaces that reflect our personality and style; we can do much of the work ourselves, and there’s plenty at the blog to get us going. “

Grace Bonney is the creator of Design*Sponge, a daily Web site dedicated to home and product design. A native of Virginia Beach, Grace has worked as a contributing editor at publications like House & Garden, Domino, and Craft Magazine. In 2006 Grace founded the Design*Sponge Biz Ladies series, a traveling event designed to connect women running their own design-based businesses with free legal, financial, and marketing advice. She lives in an apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with her husband, Aaron Coles, and their two cats, Turk and Ms. Jackson.

Nothing in life is completely safe, including life itself.  We can shield our kids from the obvious dangers.  But if we try to shield them from everything we’ll just breed a generation of grumpy adults with no sense of adventure.  And looking around, I’d say we already have enough of those.

On that note, presenting our new and improved (read: Dylan-proof) coffee table…

Our new coffee table doubles as our little darling’s playpen, jump-off point, and makeshift ship. All aboard!

Meet the Epperson’s “Design Director”, baby Dylan Finn! LOL

Design*Sponge At Home is available at National Book Store