Welcome!

This is the first shot of the place we call home. 

Built in 2006--the same year my daughter was born!--our house is a fairly new construction. It is in a micro-subdivision (there are only five houses) in a tiny village on the far outskirts of Michigan's capital. The village is small enough that the ladies in the village office knew who I was before I even moved in. I suppose that could be a bad thing, but I love the small-town feel.

This is what things look like nowadays.

We moved into our home in February of 2010. Despite the snow on the ground at the time, I knew that I wanted the theme of the decor to be "beach house". 

I love the beach! 

But in reality, the beach is very, very far away. We actually live next to a corn field. That's the field behind our swing set. I swear in the summer time you can actually see the corn growing. It shoots up so quickly!

My kids playing with the neighbors. See all the corn?! :)

Come on in!

The house is 1,300 square feet with a full, but unfinished, basement. The master bedroom, en suite bath, and laundry/mudroom are on one side and the children's bedrooms and bathroom on the other side. The main living space is in the middle and is completely open. There are zero interior walls in this section of the house. There are some natural delineations: a bar between the kitchen and living room; wall-to-wall carpeting in the living room contrasted with hardwood  in the kitchen and dining area; and the entryway, which can be seen a little bit in the above photo.

This effect has been created very simply by placing a console table behind the sofa and placing a bench against the opposite wall with hooks above to hold all of our gear. Right now, the hooks are holding my Detroit Tigers baseball cap, a purselet, yoga mat, rain coats, jump rope, a plastic lacrosse stick, and a tote bag full of beach towels and our swimsuits (just in case we decide to run away to the beach!).

I've experimented with different sized rugs in this space. It's not huge. The tile in front of the door is only about 3x4. Since it is not anything too exciting (contractor tile rather than marble or something else worth showing off), I've recently covered the entire space with a 4x6 jute rug, transplanted from elsewhere in the house. It extends the space and means that the carpeting underneath won't get too muddy. While there are elements of the design of this space that I like, I see it changing in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned!