Shoji Paper: The bane of my existence!

There are things that I like and things that I loathe about our house in the Japanese countryside. For instance, I love the rooms that have tatami floors and the aesthetic of those, but I hate that our kitchen has minimal bench or storage space. I love that we managed to find a house with a decent amount of space (aside from the kitchen!!), but I hate that the house doesn't seem to have insulation - and heating it during the winter months costs a small fortune.

One thing that I'm on the fence about as to whether I love or loathe it is the shoji paper sliding doors that we have in a couple of rooms.

Holy moly...literally! We've had a few gouges to the shoji courtesy of the kids and the dog.

If we're talking purely from an appearance point of view, I think shoji screens are charming and I love the look of them. Functionality wise, though? I think I'd love them more if I didn't have young children or an overly curious dog. One of the rooms that has the shoji sliding doors in it is probably the room we spend the most time in as a family - it functions almost like a kids play room - and I think it was maybe a week or two into living here that the shoji paper had its first casualty. We've ended up buying a shoji paper roll (you can find them at most hardware stores) and had to do a couple of "patch jobs" here and there to fix them, and while it's not the most pleasing thing to look at right now, it's okay for a short term solution.

I guess perhaps I've got to count my blessings, and just be thankful that I don't have cats. It could always be worse, right?

Pic Credit: grapee.jp

Do you have shoji paper screens in your house? If you do, how have you managed them if you have children or pets? If you've managed to get off unscathed without holes, I take my hat off to you!