Things I may always just look at and bury my head in my hands III. White walls

It seemed like a really good idea, and looked really good for a few minutes before we started moving in. Even then there were probably a few places where the walls were not perfectly white. Someone who helped us move in also brought one of his kids around, so our kids were playing in the garden and rushing into the house. And the hand prints appeared on the wall. Because of the nature of the walls, they are impossible to wash, but this is what it looked like after a layer of paint went over it. It looks a bit better now, but we will always know.

This was pretty much entirely our fault and an embodiment of the Chinese curse: beware of what you wish for, you may just get it. Nobody said, hey wait minute: the walls will get marked and stained, kids will touch them with muddy hands, people will lean on them, kids will drag sharp or dirty objects along them. 

Suddenly those wall paper designs with a strip of a different pattern or design at around waist height make sense. Wood panelling up to waist height seems like a good idea. Even those hues of wall paint close to children's diarrhoea start to give a knowing wink and a nod. 

It would also make sense to have wall paper for the lower part of the wall and paint on the upper part, out of kids hand reach. 

Putting photos or pictures on the walls also makes sense, and we need to do that as quickly as possible. Once something is on the wall, psychologically it ceases to be something to touch.

Watch this space.