Remember that we bought this house?
I’ve been really wanting to give you a tour since we got ourselves settled in! I put it off, hoping to have it “all done” before I shared pictures, but let’s be honest… is our home ever really going to be all done? I’m settling for all clean.
(And by all clean, I actually mean picked up enough that the junk can be easily moved to another room while I take a picture of this one.)
(Which is also why this tour will only include our main floor. You’ll have to wait in suspense for our upper and lower levels.)
That’s our front yard, by the way. We just cut a bunch of branches off our mostly-dead pine tree by the front window, with the plans to turn that spot into a little sitting area. We live on a great corner with lots of passersby and since I love people-watching, I want a place to sit and enjoy the neighborhood.
Here’s the front entryway and stairs:
My mom bought me the two blue framed pictures to the right of the doorway a few years ago on a trip to Branson, Missouri. I have been waiting since then to find a place for them in my home. I love them here, and I love that whenever I see them, I think of her and I, poking around in old antique stores in 100 degree Missouri heat.
When you enter, this is our main living space. My plan is to add an area rug and some artwork on the walls. This room also features one of my most favorite parts of the home, our bay window. These pictures cannot do it justice – since I am not a photographer and have zero ability with any kind of editing software, imagine the most perfect lighting in the world and apply it to these pictures. It’s gorgeous.
Here’s our itty bitty dining area. We bought this table with a bench seat so that it can be pushed in during the day when not in use – it’s perfect for us. We can actually seat six fairly comfortably. For gatherings, we aren’t really “sit down dinner party” kind of people, more like paper-plates-on-laps-in-the-yard, so this wasn’t a vital area in terms of space for us. Still, it’s cozy, sweet, and perfect for our family meals.
Our kitchen isn’t huge, but I love it. In truth, its size gives me a great excuse to banish my children to their playroom while I cook at night. When I let him, John sits at the table and chats with me while I make dinner. Most of the time, I kick him out too and enjoy 30 minutes of solitude.
Here’s the hallway from the living room/kitchen to the two bedrooms and bathroom on the main floor, as well as the door to the basement:
I love bright and bold colors. So, while I will tell you that the downstairs bathroom was decorated “for the girls,” I will readily admit that if I lived alone, my bathroom would still look like this. Both of our bathrooms are adorned with photos from my time abroad – this one features mi lindo Ecuador, one of my most favorite places in the world.
The girls have been thrilled to have their own playroom, I’m sure just as much as I am. I know this goes against what is popular right now, but once I had children, I really disliked the open floor plan that we had in our townhome. Our family functions so much better in closed spaces, where messes are contained and I only have to clean a couple of rooms for the therapists instead of the whole house every day. 🙂
We had originally painted the kid’s bedroom in our old home with neutral colors, since the gender of each of the girls was a surprise. I was able to use the decor from their old room in the new playroom. All that we are missing yet are a couple of bins by the small table for their art supplies and the word “PLAY” in big, yellow letters up on the wall.
The last space on this tour is My Room, or the spare bedroom, or the office, or Oma’s room, depending on who needs it. I have labeled it My Room, as the girls have their playroom and John has the basement. All have been warned that if they want to enter, they must ask, and that it is not a dumping ground for The Stuff That Doesn’t Have a Place… because in this house, if it doesn’t have a place, it goes bye-bye.
I’ve been saving old calendar pages from my favorite Anne Taintor calendars for years to hang on the wall. You know, things like this:
Once I get the frames, I’ll put them up on the walls… But even as is, this is my little comfort zone:
The last piece of something that hasn’t found a permanent home is this sign, purchased on Etsy when we first moved in. I adore it, and I’m still thinking about where it will permanently hang in our home.
We are so thankful for this little, yet huge house that we can call our home. When we moved, I wrote about how happy we were, smushed into our old home. And guess what? We’re happy here, too. It suits us, and our needs, and we couldn’t be more thrilled that the only home we looked at, the one that just popped into our lives on a whim one Saturday, is now etched into the story of our life. Perfect. ❤
Yo soy La Lay 
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