Design Mom: How to Live with Kids: A Room-by-Room Guide is the kind of book you did not know you needed but once you have it, you cannot live without it. Author Gabrielle Stanley Blair shows you how to incorporate your sense of style as an adult with those bundles of joy in your life.

Ever since Gabrielle Stanley Blair became a parent, she’s believed that a thoughtfully designed home is one of the greatest gifts we can give our families, and that the objects and decor we choose to surround ourselves with tell our family’s story. In this, her first book, Blair offers a room-by-room guide to keeping things sane, organized, creative, and stylish. She provides advice on getting the most out of even the smallest spaces; simple fixes that make it easy for little ones to help out around the house; ingenious storage solutions for the never-ending stream of kid stuff; rainy-day DIY projects; and much, much more.

If you are the kind of parent who fosters your child's creativity, while not really loving the whole licensed character thing (read: me) then this book will give you plenty of ways to satisfy both you and your child's style. I like that she tells you that you don't have to hide every bit and piece of your life. With kids, not only is that impossible, but impractical and I personally think it is a blessing to have kids and their "stuff" is just as valid as yours. Her ideas are inexpensive and allow you to keep the home you have while making you more intentional in your design.

Our playroom is the top floor of the home (which is great for S when she has guests and I don't want a hurricane of toys everywhere), but because she likes to play with us nearby, her toys often end up in the living room. Blair suggests that children's rooms are for sleeping and showing personality but should not be "living room", and I agree. I used her ideas to organize toys and turn pieces of furniture we already had into fun and functional storage. An old china cabinet was turned into a bookcase where we store her baskets of toys she needs on hand (instead of upstairs) and another old china cabinet is not a dollhouse for a slew of characters (both licensed and not).

I love that Gabrielle Stanley Blair has given us a book that is easily usable and implemented in your everyday life. She encourages you to include the children in your design decisions and her advice offers you a way for harmonious, loving home.