Cubby Archive: Jul 2021

When Jessica and her husband moved into their home they knew that they would need to do some serious updating. They took off the Beetlejuice wallpaper in their guest room and when it came time to turn it into a nursery they decided to go full fun. A little bit of Memphis, a sprinkling of Facts of Life, a dash of FAO Schwartz and you have a super cute, very unique nursery.

Out with the green laminate countertops, in with a bright, modern look.

No matter your age, you deserve a bedroom that’s stylish, comfy, and perfect for relaxing — and that goes for kids, too. Need help figuring out where to start? Take inspiration from this glorious kid’s bedroom redo from Jennifer Harrup (Jennifer Laura Living).When Jennifer and her family moved into their new home, this room started out pink with a white chandelier.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! I have a clutter-busting, kid-resetting secret weapon. It’s called the Magic Basket and it lives in our game closet. Family life is messy. Figuratively, but also literally. Having so many people inhabiting one space means that things get left out all over the house.

Kids rooms are always so much fun, perhaps because parents use their children’s spaces to fulfill inner fantasies. But, parents are still parents after all, and can’t entirely forget they also have to keep their kids both busy, and on an even keel. So, when you see great decor ideas that aren’t just creative, but also fun and functional, jump on them. Here are seven favorites that don’t just look good.

My son is starting school this year — hurrah! He’s a little nervous, so I’m hopeful you have some suggestions on fun back-to-school rituals to get him excited again?AndreaDear Andrea,Nervousness around big changes like this is totally natural and it also means that your son has a healthy regard for what is about to happen.

How busy households set up their entryways!

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! Last summer, when my daughter learned to read, I wrestled with a laughable yet persistent worry: If left to her own devices, would my then 6-year-old ever venture outside again, comfortable as she was paging through one book after another?

As spectacular as bunk beds may be, they leave little room for organization. Unlike a regular bed setup, it’s tough to pull a nightstand up to a top bunk, which leads to books, pillows, and maybe even alarm clocks strewn about your sheets or lying out on the floor. This shouldn’t put a damper on your (or your kids) dreams of building this kind of space-saving structure though. Luckily, there are quite a few ways you can keep a bedroom tidy even with a double-decker bed.

For many Cubby readers, there’s a good chance you’ve already bought your first crib, but for those who are on the cusp of parenthood or who are in the market for a new baby bed, this guide will tell you everything you need to know about buying a crib today.A crib is a critical decision in your baby’s nursery because it is the anchor piece of furniture in the room, says Emma Beryl, an interior designer based in New York and New Orleans.

I’ve been finding that I use television as a rescue tool too often for my 5-year-old daughter. Do you have any easy alternatives to cure boredom and/or exhaustion that don’t involve screens?Jo AnnaDear Jo Anna,This is probably the TOUGHEST problem vexing us parents in this day and age.

Name: Ashley Wilson; Preston; 6-year-old son, Don; and two dogs, Derek and LucyLocation: Hollywood, FloridaSize: 890-square-feetWe’re in the midst of a beautiful, blazing summer, and no home screams summer more joyfully than Ashley Wilson’s two-bedroom Pink Palm Hideaway on the Florida coast.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! If I could have anyone as my phone-a-friend for advice about decorating my kid’s room, Julia Marcum, of Chris Loves Julia would be high on the list.

Name: The Three Amigos (3 year old, and twin 5 year olds) Location: Vancouver, Canada After Melissa snatched up a pretty cute playhouse from Costco, she started dreaming up an adorable upgrade. Life got in the way, as it so often does, so it took awhile for the playhouse to get an upgrade. Combine one weekend, a super creative mom, white paint and elbow grease and you get the kind of playhouse that childhood dreams are made of.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! My wife and I live with our three young daughters in a 700-square-foot railroad style apartment in New York City. We enjoy the simplicity of living in a small space and creatively thinking about how to make the most of it.

My husband and I have really different parenting styles: he tends to be really rules-oriented, while I take a less disciplined approach. Do you have any tips on meeting in the middle?BethDear Beth,First of all, I think it’s great that you have different parenting styles and that is a real strength in terms of allowing your kids to experience and understand two different perspectives and approaches to problems that they will one day solve for themselves.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. It sounds strange to say, given the events of the past year and a half, but we have been traveling a lot. We don’t go anywhere exotic or posh; we just drive two hours west to the same place over and over again.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! Four years ago, when I was covering home design for a parenting magazine, I noticed a do-it-yourself trend of parents building simple, house-shaped bed frames for their kids. They were so cute that we included them in the magazine along with instructions for how you might make your own.

Some rooms have a million flaws that need remedying; the problem with this nursery-to-be was there was no real there there. After months of sanding, painting, ripping out, and replacing by a very pregnant lady and her crew, this room was lovingly decorated for its tiny new occupant. The word for this nursery, created by Bridget Matkovich of The DIY Playbook, is dreamy.

How do we incorporate allowances — and what, if any, alignment should the money have with their chores or other responsibilities? JennyDear Jenny,I have really struggled over this one too, particularly when I’m tired on a Sunday, my daughter hasn’t been the best kid in the world that day, and she says, “You haven’t given me my allowance yet!

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! Living outside the United States changed me and my family life in both mundane and profound ways. Like many Americans abroad, we adopted local and regional foods, festivals, and language in our new home of Singapore.