Do you browse through designer show houses, watch the numerous design shows on TV, fly thru magazines or books, love what you see, but know in your heart that your family (or pets) would ruin these highly- styled rooms in a matter of minutes or days? Our next guest. Interior Designer and author Debbie Wiener believes you should decorate for the way you really live and that you CAN have nice things.  Her totally practical home-design book offers realistic, attractive, and comfortable design solutions to families overrun by messy kids, muddy dogs, and sloppy spouses who make beige carpeting an endangered species, and make hardwood floors look like a skating rink.  No need to wait until the kids are in college to enjoy a smart, stylish home. With this book, readers can have their dream house—and live in it too. “The elegant decorating style is influenced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in that it is carefully thought out to survive whatever life throws at it, including incontinent pets, food fights between siblings, vomiting babies and extremely sloppy spouses”

Debbie Wiener is a licensed interior designer, and owner of Designing Solutions, a full-service interior design firm specializing in real-life, family-friendly interiors. Her answers to designing dilemmas appear monthly in the Maryland Gazette Newspapers and Times Community Newspapers of Northern Virginia.