Toddler Chic

When I moved into my first apartment without roommates, my decorating style was basically what I would call "College Chic" i.e. mostly leftovers from my childhood bedroom and hand me downs from various relatives. Thing is, I wasn't in college anymore, and even when I was in college I always lived with roommates that had all the furniture and stuff so I never had to worry about it. Then I went through a stage that I would call "Ikea Chic" in which like 90% of my home furnishings came flat packed with picture instructions and an allen wrench, the remaining 10% was the aforementioned "College Chic". Over the years I have replaced a few pieces, a new La-Z-boy sectional, a new, larger bed, but my decorating sense has pretty much stayed the same...until I became the mother of a toddler.

Today I'd say our apartment is "Toddler Chic", an eclectic style which includes toy strewn flooring and empty shelving below the 3 foot mark. Framed posters and prints that once hung on the walls have been replaced with framed pictures of a smiling chubby cheeked infant. The coffee table is gone now, it's sharp corners too dangerous for a once wobbly walker. Any surface which may have once been clean and shiny is now covered in tiny little finger and nose prints. A once large great room, is now bisected by a large metal and mesh contraption with a gate in the center. A high chair now stands next to my hand-me-down dining room table, the carpet underneath covered by a new plastic area rug. The entire design is really decorating by Amryn.

For those interested in this new "Toddler Chic" style, I'd like to pass on some advice...never buy anything that has an open bottom or sits off the ground. I am constantly down on my hands and knees retrieving toys/books/sippy cups from under our furniture! I don't expect to see "Toddler Chic" hit it big on HGTV anytime soon, but that's okay, it is the style that works for us!