Sneak Peeks: Kid-Friendly Fabrics

By Debbie Hagan

Lately  I’ve been hearing a lot about new sophisticated kid-friendly fabrics on the market–particularly imitation leathers (that really look like leather). Many of them have soft, interesting surfaces. I thought about this in reading a feature written by Stacy Kunstel about a  home in Westport, Connecticut, which appears in our upcoming New England Home’s Connecticut spring issue. The home was designed specifically for a couple with three kids (all under the age of four), their many playmates and a Bernese mountain dog.

As tempting as it might be to wrap the house in plastic, this couple worked with creative genius Jan Hiltz to design a home that’s both upscale and kid friendly. Take a look at this living room with its custom-designed, nailhead trimmed ottoman…upholstered in bright white. Fortunately it’s faux ostrich, so jelly bean fingerprints and cookie smears wipe away in a flash.

Photo by John Bessler

Same goes for this breakfast room. The bench is covered in indoor-outdoor fabric, and the seats and inside backs of these dining chairs are covered in faux crocodile. To add a little zing, a more delicate Osborne & Little fabric covers the outside backs–farther away from small, sticky fingers.

Photo by John Bessler

For more about this home and its kid-friendly features, pick up a copy of our  New England Home’s Connecticut spring issue.