What We Love About Home: Durable and Effortless

This post begins a three part series on “What We Love About Home.” There’s so much we love, we couldn’t squeeze it all into one post!

Durability and the “ease-of-maintenance factor” are pretty big for moms. We don’t like being stressed, worrying if the stuff that we have is too easily damaged. But we still want to have “nice” things--i.e. pieces that are beautiful to look at and make you feel like you are still living in an adult home, not a kiddie castle. Even if you’re not a mom, we’re all pressed for time and want to live in a place that is fairly easy to maintain, but doesn’t involve throwing plastic over furniture. This is a home we’d all love to be in. Here are some things to look for to help you create a durable and effortless home.

Flooring
For stone floors, opt for a honed finish instead of polished to avoid scratches. Wood floors look really beautiful when they get a little distressed but you want to make sure you pick a wood floor that you can actually refinish. Use real wood planks, not veneers (engineered wood is fine). If you plan on being in your home for a while you want to be able to refinish something. It will be a bigger investment initially, but will be more cost effective in the long run.

Carpeting shows damage and dirt when it is smoother and more unified. Using a loop pile or a frieze (which is a twisted end cut pile), adds more texture and reduces the appearance of wear.

We installed this beautiful wood flooring in a recent home design
knowing the residents planned to be there for several years.

Paint
Flat finishes are always much harder to clean. If you are looking for a matte look, go with an eggshell finish. If it’s marked up, you can wash it off with much less effort and damage to the paint.

Fabrics
For upholstery fabrics, go with something that has more texture. The smoother the fabric, the easier it is to see dirt and damage.

Surfaces

Cesarstone is available in a variety of colors.

Avoid glass top dining tables that will inevitably get scratched and show every fingerprint. Go for hard stone in a honed finish. Personally, I use CesarStone, which is a hard surface made of quartz and poured into a mold. This is virtually indestructible. If you do want to use a marble or granite, remember to have it professionally resealed every one to two years. Know that it will show its age over time, but let it go; learn to embrace this as a part of the home’s story – because that’s what easy elegance is really about.