Slob Proof! Real Life Design Solutions - Review and Giveaway

As you know I live with three very busy, active little boys. They are constantly keeping me on my toes, one reason being that they are as equally messy as they are cute. And I am not just talking about the toy bomb that seems to go off daily in our family room! They are messy through and through, total slobs. My food stained couch and carpet are the evidence of that. So, what's a mom to do? How do you keep a house looking clean under these conditions?

Which is why I was more than thrilled to learn about a book written by Debbie Wiener, called Slob Proof! Real Life Design Solutions. Debbie Wiener is a wife and mother of two and the owner of a full service interior design firm. She offers down to earth design advice for the cleaning impaired and decorating challenged. I definitely fall into that cleaning impaired category!

Design Tips That I Found Helpful

In this book I have discovered that Debbie Wiener teaches her readers that you don't have to sacrifice style for comfort. She writes about catering your design needs to the needs of the people that inhabit the space. What's the point of a pretty room if everyone that has to live in it can't be themselves? I learned some great tips from reading this book and to give you a sneak peak of what you will find I am sharing a few of my favorite tips that I learned from Slob Proof!

The first thing I learned was how to solve the problems that I have been having with my entry way carpet. It gets so dirty from all the dirt that is brought into the house, even though we have a rug to wipe your feet on as soon as you get in the house. To solve the problem, because right now I can't afford to get new carpeting or hardwood floors, I am on the search for the perfect aisle runner. One that will cover up my currently dirt stained carpet, and has a pattern with bursts of color that will help to disguise the dirt as well as any future stains. Once I find the perfect one and lay it down it will help out so much, covering that eye sore I call an entry way.

The second thing that I learned that was extremely valuable was about choosing a sofa. There are so many aspects to consider that I didn't really think about when we purchased our last sectional. Our sectional is three and a half years old and is completely trashed. The boys jump all over the thing and it is coming apart at the seams - literally! Shopping for a new sectional is in our near future so it was great to get some professional advice. I now know that I should choose something that has a colorful pattern to help hide stains, a soft and thick durable fabric, a cleanable fabric, one with crowning cushions made with premium foam and of course covered in either ultrasuede or leather. All of these combined will make for a sturdy, beautiful, livable piece of furniture that will hopefully last a whole lot longer than three years!


The last tip that I am going to share with you is in regard to window treatments. I love the look of window treatments but I just don't know how to find the right look for the rooms in our house. I am lost when it comes to finding a great window treatment. You need window treatments for not only home decor but privacy and light filtering. I learned the difference between window shading, shades, blinds and shutters. All of these options have different privacy and lighting levels, currently I have blinds. I loved Debbie's tips about shades and having to rescue her sons Star Wars action figures from getting stuck in the shades. She also shared that wooden blinds on doors get easily dented by swinging backpacks or slamming the door. Seeing as these would be common problems in our house as well I have taken this advice to heart. She said if she could do it all over again she would have used a roller shade, like the one featured above. When I finally get around to updating and replacing the existing blinds I will be following her advice and going with roller shade - any tips that save aggravation are greatly appreciated in my house.

Update - 4/22/2010

Debbie Wiener has recently partnered up with Crypton and released a new line of Slob Proof furniture. You can basically wipe any mess off with a wet sponge! How great is that? Debbie was just featured in the NY Times Home and Garden Section showcasing her Slobproof line. Here is an excerpt from the article that was posted on 4/21/2010:

"... Ms. Wiener, an interior designer, decided her furniture, not her family, needed to change.

The result is a new line of slob-friendly upholstered furniture. Ms. Wiener experimented with fabrics used in boating, but found them too stiff. Then she discovered Crypton, a nearly impenetrable material made from fibers encapsulated in a moistureproof barrier, which is popular in hotels and other institutional settings.

The Slobproof line — made with a softer, more supple version of Crypton Ms. Weiner developed with the manufacturer — includes sectionals, sleepers, sofas and chairs (the Jacob chair, above left, is $975). Ms. Wiener delights in showing how messy foods like chocolate sauce and ketchup easily wipe off. If a wet sponge alone isn’t enough, adding soap or detergent usually does the trick.

“People want comfort and a luxurious, tactile experience,” she said. “You can lie on the sofa and put your cheek on the arm.” You can put your muddy feet up, too."

Check out these cool ottomans from the Slobproof Crypton line!

To see the full line of Slobproof Crypton furniture visit Slobproof.com

Buy It!

Obviously there are so many great tips and design tricks that Debbie shares in this book that I couldn't possibly begin to cover them all. There are several helpful ideas for designing not only around husbands and kids but she has pet friendly solutions too. She also has very insightful tips in regards to flooring, lighting, seating and probably the most important - color. You can pick up a copy of Debbie Wiener's Slob Proof! Real Life Design Solutions from Amazon for only $13.57.

Each of the Slobproof ottomans featured above are available for $200 from Slobproof.com.


Win It!

TWO lucky Pretty Pink Momma reader will win a copy of Slob Proof! Real Life Design Solutions so that they can apply the tricks of the trade to their own home!



In honor of Debbie's feature in the NY Times Slobproof is celebrating by offering ONE of the ottomans (ARV $200) shown above to TWO WINNERS. The two winners will be chosen from a pool of entries from eight different Slobproof Real Life Design Solutions book blog giveaways.

The eight blogs that are participating in this giveaway are:

• Pretty Pink Momma (of course!)
• Nate and Jake and Me
• Mom Blog
• The B Keeps Us Honest
• Gaffney Gabs
• Life With 5 Monkies
• Thrifty and Chic Mom
• Mommy of One and Counting
  

By entering to win the Slobproof Real Life Design Solutions book you will automatically be entered to win one of the two Slobproof ottomans (ARV $200) that are up for grabs


How to Enter: This giveaway is now closed. Open to US and Canadian residents only.

Congratulation to Shel, who was chosen as the first book winner!

Two other winners - one for another book will be chosen at random from the entrants on this blog. Also two winners will be chosen at random from all eight blogs that participated in this promotion. As soon as I know who the winners are I will post them here.

Thanks to all that entered!

Good Luck to all that enter! This giveaway is open until Friday April 30th. Winner will be chosen using the Truly Random Number Generator widget on my right sidebar. The winner will have three days to claim their prize or a new winner will be chosen.






*I share my 100% honest thoughts and opinions in all posts. For product reviews I am only compensated in product for the sole purpose of writing an honest review. Please refer to my disclosure policy or email me if you have any questions.*