My ‘Chic Retreat For The Mom Who Lives At Home’ Can Fit In A Closet Because It Is One

Sometimes I feel like all these interior decorating shows and magazines don’t understand my life. I can’t own anything white, or breakable, or expensive. That filters me out of most designs where they aren’t rehabbing an abandoned crack house.

Sunset Magazine has put up a video of what they call “a unique sanctuary for the mom who lives in the house.” That seems oddly specific to me, but I guess the mom who lives out of the house can’t fit an end table in her hut or lean-to or whatever she calls home. At any rate, the room (which is in their L.A. Idea House) is gorgeous. Here’s a screen shot if you can’t watch the video at the link:

Chic Retreat in Sunset Magazine

It’s beautiful. It’s clean. It’s calming. And it’s an entire room. I don’t even have a chair to call my own, let alone a room with a couch and a coffee table. I don’t know how much things in this room cost, but one of the chairs has leather trim, so…more than I will pay for a chair. Definitely more than I would pay for a chair to put in a room that will be quickly infiltrated and abused by my children.

Clearly, this is not meant for my life.

Maybe Sunset could design some chic retreats for the average mom? I have a few suggestions:

1. The closet.

closet

(Image: Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH / Shutterstock)

Play hide-and-seek in your cozy love pantry. Duck underneath the warm, hanging coats and have a seat on that cat bed that Cuddles never uses anymore. Shut your Home Depot-crafted door and let the darkness overtake you.

2. Blanket fort.

fort

(Suzanne Tucker / Shutterstock)

This retreat will have all the charms of childhood, because it is your children who will build it. This room transforms from a child’s play area on the weekends to mom’s dome during the school day. Brush away the Goldfish crumbs and relax into the comfort of your filthy couch cushions.

3. The other side of the fridge door.

fridge

(Lakov Filiminov / Shutterstock)

In horror films, they sometimes mention places where no one will hear you scream. We like to take that into the world of mommy relaxation, and find you places where no one can see you eat pie. Retreats don’t have to take up a lot of square footage, and this space behind the fridge door proves it. So open the door, step in, and indulge in that pudding you’ve hidden behind the lettuce.

4. Your bed. Under the covers.

bed

(Dmitriy Bezborodkin / Shutterstock)

A mother’s sanctuary doesn’t have to be somewhere new. Instead, it can be the place she spends every night…or at least parts of it. Consider your own bed. The sheets may be left on the bed for the past month and might also be covered with cat hair, but think of the smell and fur as momentos from your life outside the blanket. For now, cover up and enjoy the soft.

5. Ear buds.

shutterstock_174859142

(Path Doc / Shutterstock)

Who needs a whole room to relax in when all you need are your ears? Put on your favorite tunes or podcasts and watch the world go silent. You’ll be amazed at how much parenting can get done through just smiles and nods.

Sunset, I am waiting for my photo shoot.

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