I have 3 very active kids ages 10, 11 and 13 and have 2 cats, 2 doxies, fish and lizards. Our house is a home, not a show place. We do have rules, but they are kids. As they get older, things do get easier, but stuff still breaks. I follow the KISS rule - keep it simple s-----. Accessories are mainly artwork and pictures with some specials things on display, different styles of candlesticks, books stacked on each other, stuff like that.

One of my favorite security measures is using "earthquake" putty to hold things onto shelves/tables (I use it on lamps too). Gives me some extra piece of mind. For the most part though, my children have learned the rules about breakables, and are respectful of our formal spaces.

But, things happen, and thank goodness I got the extra stain protection on our new-ish couch, which my little one drew on while coloring sitting on the couch the other day (it did come out)!

Another user of that "earthquake" putty---although ours was called "museum" putty---yours is a better description ! No vase was safe from our youngest, who managed at age four to break two ceiling fans and was a human hurricane in a house. Put away your nice things for awhile... and good call on the couch... the person who invented scotchguard is a hero in my eyes.

Also a Mom on three--though mine are a bit older than yours at 17, 15 and 9. Especially when kids were little I didn't really do much decorating per sae. I mostly focused on having a safe home and adequate storage spaces for all of the kids' various toys, games, arts&crafts, etc. so that the house was not a den of clutter. As they got older, toys gravitated into the bedrooms and we decided to remodel our house 4-years ago. It was only after moving back and many of the previous furniture was sold or donated that I felt more free to begin decorating. As I had both family room and living room, I used the living and dining room as places to finally give reign to my decorating bent. I thought the family room would be more functional and family friendly and it is; it took me a while to see that I could have a balance between the family friendly and stylish. I try to choose fabrics and rugs that hold up well to the inevitable messes that even teenagers make. Oxyclean is my best friend! Even the teenagers will get pen and sharpie marks on the sofa if they sit there and study, but I don't like alternative of religating them to their rooms all the time. I have an inexpensive storage ottoman that is a great place to store all the puzzles and games, which my 17-year-old DS loves to sit on and play video games. While it's nice to having activities accessible for the children, it's also good for them to learn to pick up after themselves in the common areas of the home. I guess our main compromise was after the toddler stage, the kids were expected to keep their toys in their rooms though family activities (like games, puzzles, art supplies) were kept in the great room (we have open family kitchen dining area). While they could make messes in their rooms and even leave them out awhile, I expected them to cleanup in the family room as I didn't want to be tripping over a lot of clutter. I don't go in for a lot of nicknacks...only adds to the clutter IMHO. Before I had a lot of small stuff which I realize how were just dusy magnets, now I go in for fewer, larger items. I shop at places like TJ Maxx so that nothing I leave out is an heirloom. Even though my kids are past the toddler stage, we do have families with toddlers visit on occasion and I do not want my home seen as a touch me not home. I keep two storage bins of toys in my hall closet so when children come to visit, I can usually distract them with that so they leave my things alone.

I've only recently started using a cloth tablecloth on the table after many years of using vinyl. When I tell the kids to have neater table manners and not get the tablecloth dirty, my 17-year-old would say, wny not just use the vinyl one and wipe up? I told him, it's time to learn neater table manners. I think if we have some nice things in our homes then kids learn to respect and take care instead of treating the home like a jungle gym and it's am important skill for them to learn as they grow older and go visit other peoples' home--to not sit on the armrests of the sofas or put their feet up on the coffee table.

What great input, thanks everyone!

I think we'll be using baskets (tough stuff) and things on walls quite a bit! Some brass lamps that have been spray painted in Antique White would work well, too.

Great idea on the Scotch Guard! They just got a newer used couch and love seat.

Where do I get the museum putty or earthquake stuff?

I am very interested.

I already did the kid thing (x3) we are on to the grand kid thing(x4).
For the most part I always told the kids there are outside toys and inside toys. Balls, bats, nerf guns, water balloons squirt guns, chalk , finger paints.......... we played with outside. I had bins in the garage for their stuff. I took the time to make sure they did play with the outside stuff outside and that it was a fun time.
That cut alot of damage and wear and tear on the house down.Outside toys were not allowed in the house. It cut down the chance of them doing something stupid on accident.
Inside toys always had a place of their own. Storage bins old suitcases.toy boxes, shelves. when they were done for the day they had to do their own clean up.
It made life easier if they knew where their stuff was and they didn't have to tear the house apart looking for a specific item.
It helped alot to make sure they were involved in the care and clean up of any rooms they played in. Pride of ownership.
Earthquake putty is good, so is scotch guard. I love Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.

Thanks, Carol! Yes, that's the key and the goal--a place for everything and everything in it's place! This has been my personal quest for the last few years also. I takes time.

Storage is so important. If all the stuff won't fit into the storage we have then we probably have too much stuff or too little storage! LOL I'm banking on too much stuff...

We're doing cubbies and weeding out toys and just plain junky stuff. It's a real challenge and I take it slow because it's my hope that the changes will be long lasting!

This stuff is great. I live in earthquake country and after our last big one where I watched my Waterford and many other pieces tumble out of the cabinets and crash to the floor...well, I invested in this stuff for the valuable pieces.

Here is a link that might be useful: museum putty

First it was my own kids. It became such a stress event that it was easier to teach them at a young age to respect the nicer things, or at least be very gentle around the breakables.
Breakables can be replaced but cuts on little feet and tiny fingers break my heart.

Then it was the Grandkidlets. Same approach.

Now it's the elderly parents that live with us and they are much harder to 're'-train.

Between pets and elderly parents, All three of the items below have saved my sanity over the last few years.

Velcro - Otherwise known as "Hook and Loop"

QuakeHold! [](http://photobucket.com) [](http://photobucket.com) QuakeHold! Now comes in a Clear Gel\-also the original is available; looks and sort of feels like Silly Putty. Pull a little bit off, knead it between your fingers to warm it/soften it up and shape it to your object. I live in earthquake country....haven't lost a thing yet. [](http://photobucket.com) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Indoor/Outdoor rugs. Thousands of nice colors and patterns found for today's decorating. Texture of the rugs I purchased is almost like a soft sisal. Clean by adding a little laundry detergent to the rug, spray off with hose. I do this on my cement patio in the back yard. Hang the rug over the fence to dry. Stains of all kinds, dirt, grime, jelly, oil\-based foods like peanut butter and even pet accidents come out like magic! Here's just a small sample of today's indoor/outdoor rugs: [](http://photobucket.com) [](http://photobucket.com) [](http://photobucket.com)

Thanks amity, great info!