How to Maintain Your Furniture With Little Ones in the Home

How to Maintain Your Furniture With Little Ones in the Home

You’ve finally put the last finishing pieces of furniture into your home. It took years to accomplish this because you saved up to buy each piece of high-quality furniture with cash. They complement your home decor and personal style. Investing in expensive furniture may cost more initially, but it stands up to wear and tear, allowing you to keep your carefully selected pieces for many years. Now with several young children going through the terrible 2s, 3s and 4s together you need ways to keep your furniture looking good.

Following the manufacturer’s guidelines for maintenance

Manufacturers include care instructions with each piece of furniture. It’s best to read these recommendations and apply as many as you can to the room where each piece will remain. Wood furniture, while adaptable, can swell and contract invisible to the human eyes during extremes in temperature and/or humidity. Exposing your furniture to direct sunlight can cause fading and discoloration to both upholstery and wood and even create fine cracks in your wood tables. Many manufacturers of fine furniture recommend that you place felt pads under long-term items such as a lamps, clocks or computers to avoid marks. Scotchgard™ your upholstery and add a leather conditioner to your sofa, love seat and chairs prior to use. This will help to prevent an accident from destroying your top quality furniture. You can also cover your dining room table to prevent nicks, scratches and staining with a non-plastic breathable and waterproof alternative material like a vinyl with a soft backing. Above all else, make sure the antique wooden furniture is of quality make, like Anne Quinn Furniture.

Common sense maintenance for every home

In addition to the instructions contained in the packaging, there are some things you can do to further enhance the beauty and life of your furniture. First, vacuum and dust often. This will help to prevent tiny particles from embedding into the furniture while also allowing it to breathe. Use coasters on tables and use insulated sippy cups with screw-on lids to prevent sweating from your child’s drink sitting on the table. Polish your furniture often to remove surface stains and add a protective coating that resists further stains and moisture in the future. And, keep your living room table a distance from the couch to avoid the temptation for use as a foot rest.

Teaching children to respect your things

You can do everything from A to Z and go the extra mile to prolong the life of your furniture, but if your children don’t know the rules, or you don’t enforce them, in the end, you’re doing all this for nothing. To avoid having to junk expensive pieces of furniture, sit down with your little ones and explain the rules of the home. They’re the same rules you had when you were growing up. No jumping on the furniture, chairs are for sitting on, draw only on paper, and no toys on the table. Young children have a mind of their own and in the blink of an eye your little darlings could end up forming a line in front of a living room table, taking turns to climb on and jump off. The key is to instill values and set by example. And, second to enforce the rules. If a child misbehaves and continues to abuse your furniture after several verbal warnings, then a time-out or loss of privileges may ultimately get you the result you want.

You love your furniture and of course, love your children. There is a way that they can co-exist and you can have the nice things you want and keep them looking good. Kids are kids,

and accidents will happen from time to time, it’s unavoidable. However, with a bit of training on the dos and don’ts and enforcing them, will help your children learn discipline and correct behavior, making it easier for them to transition into school and attend other homes.