as i’m sure you know, the past couple of years have seen a lot of change around here. it’s been an adjustment getting used to life with a toddler and an infant, on top of settling into our first home together as a family. the place has really started come together decor-wise in recent months, but it hasn’t always been that way. let me tell you a little story: before adam was born, i was never really into home decor. i was into punk as a kid and as i grew older, my various apartments were mostly filled with random thrift store furniture, house plants, half-finished art projects, piles of laundry… i didn’t know a thing about lamps or rugs or accent pieces. but in those last moments before adam was born, my hormones kicked into high gear and i suddenly found myself in a nesting frenzy. i was literally rearranging furniture at 38 weeks pregnant, and in a panic because his nursery wasn’t even finished. and in my rush to get the house perfect for the baby, i made some… interesting design choices. for one, i fell in love with a very stunning (and very expensive) vintage kilim rug with a pale floral pattern. and then adam was born.

shortly after his birth, our doctor referred to him as a “happy spitter,” which was basically a polite way of saying that he was a puking machine. he didn’t have anything medically wrong with him, he wasn’t sick or suffering from reflux or anything, he just puked. a lot. within months, my entire apartment was literally covered in baby puke. and that beautiful pastel rug i was talking about? let’s just say it was a small sacrifice to pay for a happy, healthy baby. fast forward a couple of years and i’ve learned quite a few lessons about decor and housekeeping. for starters, it’s probably a good idea to choose a rug in a more forgiving color scheme and pattern, preferably something that was designed for high traffic areas and lots of messes. we swapped out our beloved vintage rug for indoor/outdoor rugs made of 100% recycled plastic bags! they look like wool, but they do a really good job of repelling dirt, so they require a lot less care than a super absorbent natural fiber. but also, there are such things as cleaners that you can use to clean up messes before they get out of hand. yeah.

enter stainmaster carpet care. we teamed up with the brand to try their line of carpet care products, which are specifically designed to treat stain-resistant, nylon, and polyester carpets and rugs like the ones we now use. they have several different formulas designed to remove tough stains while leaving behind an invisible shield to repel dirt and protect against future stains without sticky residue. those two simple solutions have totally changed the way i react to my little “mess makers” around the house. now when edie spits up or adam drops his food, i’m not stressing myself out over ruined rugs. we simply wipe it up and move one to more important things. which is exactly the type of outlook us mamas need to keep sane and enjoy these precious moments with our little ones before they’re all grown up! oh, and it doesn’t hurt when dad pitches-in and helps us clean our messes, too!