Last week I instastoried something that got a lot of engagement and pushback, and I thought I’d bring the discussion here to you all who presumably are more design enthusiasts. It’s about kids + my money philosophy, which is always a fun topic, LOL (P.S. did you read my Substack about how we talk to our kids about money, part 1?). I’m currently decorating both my kids’ rooms. One who wants to be highly involved (Elliot, my 10-year-old daughter) and one who wants it to be cooler than it is but is mostly ambivalent outside of being concerned that I’m going to make it look too “designer-y” (my 12-year-old son). I’m having so much fun on both of them, but ok fine, probably more fun with Elliot because she wants in on the process, has HUGE opinions, is super engaged with every detail, and is just so clear about her art direction. So this summer I tried to carve out time to take them both shopping for their rooms for the fun stuff, and I realized that while I have a lot of existential fear and anxiety about my job inadvertently spoiling them, I sure am fine spending money on some stuff for their room.
Do They Get To Pick Out Their Own Furniture?
While I absolutely let them weigh in on my furniture choices, I’ve learned now not to give them too much carte blanche freedom with investment pieces, or they will choose whatever looks like the most garbage-y, funky piece, which tends to be from Amazon ads. Think super fuzzy bean bag chairs, anything that could look like it involves gaming, spinning around, swinging, squooshies, etc. So I usually show them 2-3 options after I shopped and found pieces that make sense for them now, look nice in a room, and have some longevity (while admittedly some pieces might only work for them the next few years as they age).
This is all super privileged, obviously, but it’s also my job, and I have a business to run so I’m not going to buy them a crappy $80 purple fuzzy lounge gaming chair that is going to fall apart and look ugly (and become MY problem) in a year. So furniture is mostly my domain, with recommendations that they get to choose between. GREAT.
