Since I live WAYYYYY over in California, while most of my family is in South Carolina, my relatives don’t see my house much. Now and then, I like to share some pictures that just show how our house is arranged and decorated, so that my family and friends far away can have a better picture of where we spend our days.
I also like to have a “record” of the way things are, so that I can look back and remember all of the little moments that happened within these walls. Since I’ve married my husband, we have lived in 5 different houses! And they’ve all had their own feel to them. I want to remember.
This isn’t a FULL tour. This is a “ooh my house looks pretty clean so I’ll snap some pictures before it looks like a tornado hit it” post.
The dining room
We traded our large dark wood table for this small light IKEA beauty, and spray painted our espresso chairs white. I also changed the fabrics from our previous blue/green/white scheme to sunny yellow and white.
This shelf is empty in this picture, but I have plans for it. The top two shelves are now full of cookbooks, and the bottom ones are in development. The pictures on that wall have always been “placeholder” art, and I’m planning to do something cool there in the foreseeable future.
The Kitchen
We spend a lot of time here. Anneliese likes to sit on one of the stools at the bar, and I’ll either wear Joey or put him in the “rocker thing” (in the kitchen with us) while I cook. Anneliese colors pictures, or eats snacks, or “helps” me (stirring veggie peelings in a bowl, for example). Our kitchen is a happy place.
My Bedroom
Obviously this picture doesn’t show the whole thing, but it’s enough for a feel of the room. Joey sleeps in the cosleeper, which I moved away from the bed because I needed to GET UP to nurse him at night, otherwise I would just “hook him on” and fall asleep again. Which sounds okay, but he needs my focus and attention to nurse, and he gets more if I sit up. (And now, sometimes I also need to get up and warm him a bottle, and/or pump at night, and I don’t want to disturb him if he is sleeping.)
Living Room — Play Area
Our living room is a long rectangle, and I’ve designated this corner as the play area. It houses Anneliese’s “living room” where she can sit and read books, and a shelf full of toys. We spend a lot of time here.
Living Room
This part of the living room is where I’m usually writing, though right now I’m actually in the office! (More on this development later) I also pump milk for Joey on the couch, snuggle and nurse my kids, and read books to them here.
The middle of the floor is a great place for Joey right now, because he rolls ALL OVER the place. If I leave him to his own devices, he often tries to scoot half-under furniture (supervised, of course, and then I giggle and save him).
I love the light that comes through these windows, and how sunny our yellow paint and orange curtains make the entire room feel. For most of the summer, I had to have the curtains closed, otherwise the house would get very hot. It’s just now starting to cool down (mid-90s instead of 100+ temperatures), and I’m happy to have the curtains opened, and the windows often opened too.
Where do you spend the most time in your house?
Do you love the way that are of your house looks and feels? What are your favorite parts? What says HOME to you?
8 Comments
I love the children’s area especially. If you don’t mind me asking, where did you get the chairs for the kids? I’ve seen something similar at IKEA, but the design is a little different and the fabric is plain.
Thanks ! The chairs are guidecraft and I recovered the cushions (originally red) with fabric from ikea to match my throw pillows on the “big” couches.
I really enjoy seeing how other people set up their house, especially with kid stuff, so thanks for sharing! We just PCSed again and are in TLF while awaiting house #7 in 4.5 years 🙂 Hubby and I have decided that since we will be in this one a “long time” (which for us is more than a year) we are going to spend some energy and time getting into it and decorating. And with a babe due soon, hopefully the house will come before he does!
That sounds great! We always try to make our house “homey” … we even painted some walls in a house we lived in for less than a year. Worth it though. It makes such a huge difference!
Congratulations on your babe-to-be!
I have the same cosleeper for my little man. He is 2 months old & I cannot get him to sleep in it! Just this last week, I was able to get him to sleep in a Rock N Play next to my bed. Before that, he slept in bed with me. Did you do anything to the Arms Reach Cosleeper to make it more comfy? I don’t think my little guy likes how open & flat it is. I sooo wish I could get him in it! Any advice?
Love, love your blog!! 🙂
I did. It’s probably against all the rules, but I have a sheepskin in it, and then a little blanket over the sheepskin so if he drools it won’t get stuck in the fur and all gross. He has also been swaddled up until recently, and that helped him feel more secure.
Thanks for the motivation to clean my house ;P
We definitely spend the most time in the living room or front yard 🙂
Right now, I am not happy with my house… There are a few major things I want done before I’m happy with it:
-New flooring (right now, it’s old, nasty carpet and tacky linolium).
– rid of the wood on the walls in the living room/dining room (I would be okay with it IF it was done correctly, but it’s terribly done, so it has to go!)
-Add one more flower bed in the front yard (there’s only one right now to the left of walkway…and I want one more right in front of the house).
New windows would be AWESOME too…. But too expensive right now 🙁
You’re welcome for the motivation. Hehe. New flooring would be awesome. I’m currently trying to convince our housing people to replace the kitchen floor here. It was awful when we moved in and it really needs to be changed.