1/31/17

House Tour Part 2

Welcome back to my house tour, part 2! 

I did not spend a lot of time organizing these pictures, so I'm sorry if it feels a bit like I'm jumping all over the place. I think y'all can handle it ;)

boys' room

For the longest, this room really frustrated me. The corner windows make for challenging furniture arrangements.

Luckily, I have no problem rearranging and rearranging until a room feels right. Ask my poor parents and husband! I can't stop.

One rare day when most of my kids were out of the house, I got after it and finally found an arrangement I liked.


Because this room feels busy I hung the art with the top of each frame lining up to create more  uniformity. I was super pleased with how it turned out, and have not had the urge to change it.


Stephen, age 7, loves to read, and we keep his collection of books by his bedside in a crate. $10 at JoAnn's. This idea came straight out of Design Mom, one of my favorite design books.


Stephen is an old soul, so it made all the sense in the world when my parents picked out this desk and chair for him a 2 Christmases ago. He is a total pack rat, and I have to sneak around and clear out the drawers every now and then.

The bead board on the ceiling is our solution to cover up water damage from a leak. We intended to paint it but actually ending up liking the natural wood. Plus, one less thing we have to do.


My mom bought this handsome lamp. I thought it was perfect for the boys' room because it is tin and difficult to break...though I'm sure they could figure out a way! #wecanthaveanythingnice


When cooler weather arrived I ordered some coat hooks to go in the kids' bedrooms. These have been a sanity saver with all the different jackets and bags 4 kiddos need.


One day I was helping George get dressed and he stood admiring the new hooks..."I sure like those." Me too, George. Me too! Kids are so funny.


Stephen has an undying fascination with the Titanic. So of course there is a little (a lot of) Titanic love throughout this room. That's a completed 3D Titanic puzzle hanging from the ceiling.


moving down to the hallway...

I spent the summer before Caroline was born organizing and printing 5 years worth of photos. This gallery wall was one of the results of that project. We are coming on 2 years with these photos, so I think this summer I might update and change up a few.



kid's bathroom

This is the only room in the house we did nothing to when we moved in. What is there to say about it? It serves its purpose.


Another nod to Design Mom is our rainbow towels.


Stephen and Laurie painted the self portraits when they were preschoolers. I treasure them. I spotted Laurie's out of dozens and knew it was hers. She has a very distinct style.



Laurie's room...which will be Caroline's room too when we move her out of her teeny closet nursery this summer.


Laurie is still in her toddler bed, and we really need to upgrade. Again, this summer....we will have a small re-do, moving Caroline in here and upgrading Laurie to a twin.


The rabbit print was in my room when I was a little girl.

I bought the vintage Fisher Price kitchen on eBay.


This room is carpet, and I would love to rip it up and put down hardwood floors. One day!


You can see I have yet to peel this sticker off the toddler bed.


My favorite way to display children's art is to slap it on the wall with tape or even better, putty. I used to think I had to have it framed or some sort of system until one day I went to a friend's house and saw how simply she hung her kids art with a little poster putty.


The rainbow bunting is one of the last things I made before Caroline was born.


Notice another use of a crate used as book storage.


Kids rooms are so fun! I've tried not to buy much for their rooms because we are constantly changing them up depending on different ages and stages and sleeping arrangements. I've grown to enjoy the challenge of making things work without going out and shopping.

the guest room

We are fortunate to have a guest room and as the saying goes..."If you build it, they will come."

We have had a number of overnight guest, mostly family, a few friends. We love having a legit place for them to sleep. Also, it's nice to have one room in the house to put projects or stuff I just need to keep out of the kids' way.


My mom needle pointed this pillow decades ago. It is her and my dad, and it looks exactly like them. She nailed it. Since they stay in this room the most I thought this was the best place for it.


The quilt was on clearance at Target almost 8 years ago, and I had to have it. Even with my all my decluttering, this quilt remains a keeper.

 

At the end of the bed is this little bookshelf my grandfather (George) made. That's a picture of him with me in the yellow frame.

He was a general surgeon, and he had lots of hobbies - hunting, golf, woodworking, and photography.

He died when I was just 6. I'm the oldest grandchild, and so I'm the only one of my siblings and cousins who really remembers him. I've always loved this picture of us, and recently I decided to display it in a frame. I love using and displaying my favorites. I know this sounds so obvious, but I think a lot of us have a tendency to allow our most treasured photos or artwork to stay boxed up instead out where we can see them. I'm totally guilty of that.



In the corner we keep a desk. Stephen bought this lamp for me 8 years ago after I mentioned liking it in a flea market. He is not a gift giver, especially a spontaneous gift giver, so this was super thoughtful! I still love it because of the story behind it, even though my style has evolved and I probably wouldn't buy it again if I saw it today. It's sentimental.


My brother gave that little Lauren Barksdale Cardinal painting to us one Christmas. I love the colors!
The lamp is from World Market.
The side table is a hand-me-down from somebody in my family.



master bedroom...

It's weird, nothing like we would design, but it came with the house. I won't go into the boring details of why this room had no closet and no bathroom door when we bought it, but I will say....this room is all kinds of wrong.


But we've made it work because....we're not millionaires. Long term we would love to re-do it all.

The lamps are an Amazon find.


Because there is so little natural light in our room (I opened door wide during the sunniest time of day to get the photos), it has been difficult to find something to hang over the bed.

Because the lighting is normally so unflattering, nothing has suited me.


I'm trying out the mirror because it brightens the room up a little bit, but I don't know...I'm still not settled.


Pillows are from Etsy. I'm crazy about this fabric.

Last and least...the master bathroom

Weird, like the bedroom. We've done a few things...painted over the pool blue walls, bought a decent light fixture, and installed a pocket door because....there was no door previously. 


This vanity is....terrible, and we have ambitions to replace it.

The tile is cracking.

There's currently a rat that runs around in here every night and we just can't catch him!

It keeps us humble.


The highlight of this bathroom is that our washer and dryer are in here. I highly recommend putting your "laundry room" in the master bedroom if you have the choice.

I did not include Caroline's nursery in this tour. It is essentially the same as when I posted about it before Caroline was born.

Okay, that's it!

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I hope it's encouraging to see a "normal" person's house. I'm not a decorator or designer by any stretch. I'm a good example of someone who has learned and improved through lots of trial and error. And I have a ways to go.

House Tour Part 1

14 comments:

  1. I love your house!
    I'm inspired to re-look at my kids' rooms from your attitude towards them.

    I got the Design Mom book from the library - I'm really enjoying it! (Although I have to say that my husband banned wood crates from our house - they brought back bad college memories for him AND they are hard to dust, which is hard on his allergies).

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Margo!

      I get it about the crates - they can get dusty!

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  2. What a lovely and cozy home--thank you for sharing! Amen to it being refreshing seeing a real space on the internet!

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    Replies
    1. Also forgot to add that in the sweet children's rooms, I'm so curious: 1) how does room sharing go for nap time/bedtimes/any middle of the night wakings for illness/naughtiness etc? Our girls will eventually share and I'm both looking forward to it and fearing it messing up sleep for everyone. 2) do you use bed rails? I don't see any...I think my eldest is around the same age as George (almost 3.5) and I think she would fall flat out of bed every night without one!

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    2. We started room sharing so young, they really don't know any different. Rarely do they wake each other up. Putting the girls together could be interesting that's why I'm waiting till the summer when there is not so much pressure to get a great night's sleep.

      I have never done bed rails. George has fallen out...maybe twice. Some kids move in there sleep more than others.

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  3. What a lovely home y'all have made! So inviting and warm. We had a rat, too, at one point. You chose the perfect word: humbling. Haha! We finally caught ours, and I'm sure you will, too. Blessings on all who enter your home!😊 (This is Sherri, by the way. It's showing John's name on here.)

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  4. I love this post, and your entire blog. I think you have great style and it makes me feel at ease that there are other "normal" people out there. I am curious about your toy storage situation. Currently our boys have toys in their room which is a bad idea because it's always a disaster. Thinking I need to purge more toys!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I keep toys in clear plastic boxes in closets. We have minimal toys, I think...compared to the average. It can still get really messy, but we don't have so much that the kids can't pick it up themselves.

      My kids play with Legos, Magnatiles, and dress up clothes the most. I am ruthless about purging.

      This topic deserves it's own post! I will work on that!

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    2. I would love to see a post on toy organization as well! Thanks for sharing your house tour!!

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  5. Your house is lovely. I am envious of your rugs and love the pops of red throughout. It also looks so uncluttered and tidy! I would love to read a post about your purging methods.

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  6. Your home is so lovely! I love to see other people's styles. I've come to realize (still learning) that my house is MY house, and I don't have to follow design "rules," if I don't want to. Your confidence in your home is encouraging! Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Both of your kids rooms are charming. They just look like "childhood" to me. I am much older, with my three sons grown, but this makes me remember the fun I had fixing rooms for them. My favorites were the rooms where I used things we already had and got creative fixing up everything. Your kids artwork in the bathroom is great.

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  8. I LOVED going on your tour! Your home is beautiful and seems so warm and welcoming. Well done! You always inspire and encourage me. Thank you!!

    ReplyDelete

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