I found reading Gill Rapley's book Baby-led Weaning (available through the ABA) really helped me relax about BLS. Rather than thinking of mealtime as time to eat, I think of it as a time for DD to learn. Her fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination have improved so much so there are benefits even if she doesn't swallow anything. Also solids don't meet their nutritional requirements for another couple of months yet.

I have DD in her high chair with a smock bib on and a huge vinyl table cloth on the floor. I always clean her up before taking her out of the high chair. Even so, I still find the mess hard to deal with. Every time something gets dropped on the floor or smeared in her hair, I just have to take a deep breath and look at the pride in DD's face. She loves being able to feed herself.

I also have some of the Rafferty's Garden meals in the cupboard for my more disorganised days. Meat is also a fairly non-messy option. I just cut a slice of steak twice as long as the width of her palm. She'll suck on it for ages. At this age its the juices they need more than the protein in the actual flesh.

As for the fussiness, as others have said, there is a lot going on around 6-7 months.

Good luck hun