There are so many little things I want to do
around our house, however, I have been on a massive debt reduction plan for the
past two years. Almost nothing has been purchased that is nonessential. I am
beginning to see the light at the end of this very long tunnel, and can't wait
to have a little extra spending money for decorating the house!
Here are some photos of the house as it has
evolved since we moved in. Please overlook the mess that comes along with
living with adventurous, imaginative little people. :)
This photo is from the end of our first year
in our new house. We received the big brown sofa from a colleague whose
husband's parents had received it as a wedding gift. It is vintage! This couch
is now against an opposite wall and an even older sofa from my family, with an
even more interesting story, is in its place.
The large colorful pillow on the sofa is
actually a sham from my bedroom set. Other items from this photo that have been
relocated are a red armchair on the left (basement) and the gold curtains
(master bedroom, for now). The lampshades have been switched out from the white
cone in the photo to a more natural looking taupe drum shade. Currently the
floor lamp and table lamp have swapped places.
Image from old Pottery Barn catalog
Sadly, not how my actual bedroom looks
The large console table that
is against the wall, holding gourds, in the first photo, was behind the sofa
until this weekend, when it was re-located to our unfinished basement. The plan
is for it to resume life as an entertainment center; this time holding a TV for
us to do workout DVDs. It feels so much freer to have it gone. I already love
the way it looks and feels without it there.
After I moved the console from the wall to
behind the sofa, we hung a coat rack and placed a long oak bench underneath. I
have never been deeply satisfied with this arrangement for a few reasons:
1. The hooks are too high
for little people to reach so coats still end up on the floor
2. Because the bench is
directly below the coat rack it's hard to sit comfortably
3. The bench is a different
shade of wood than the rest of the furniture in our house
I do, however, really really like the photos
we hung above the coat rack. They were taken by my former neighbor, friend, and
photographer Lindsay Wilkinson. Her work is described as classic, happy, and
fun, which is totally like her. Check out her website here.
The frames, however, were
cheap garage sale buys (from another neighbor/friend).
Remember when I said "Ignore the mess"???
This photo shows a wider view of our open
concept house with the coat rack/golden oak bench combo on the far right. As
you can see, it would be hard to sit on that bench to tie your shoes and not
have the beach bag bopping you in the head. You can also see the color contrast
between the bench and the table and chairs in our dining room. While I
definitely think it's okay to mix wood tones, this wasn't one of those times.
This past weekend I moved the bench to the
laundry room/mudroom area. It may not end up staying there permanently, either.
There are hooks above the bench (lower for little hands) which makes sitting
down on it still a problem. The bench is great, however, for stowing all the
stuff that comes through the back door (our main point of entry). I prefer
having the stuff end up on the bench rather than the washer and dryer.
Unknown Source (saved in the days before Pinterest)
This is how the mudroom looks in my mind...
In
closing, there are so many more changes and additions I hope to make to our
house... someday. I hope you enjoyed this little peak into how we really live!
