Another Living Room

Over the years if you've been following my blog, you've seen several versions of our living room as we've moved quite frequently. Our current home is no different; mostly the same stuff just arranged to fit a new living room. We did get new couches though!

Our current home is a rental and as such, there are things we can't change. So please ignore the brown carpet, awful (and non-functioning) vertical blinds and all of that brown paneling!

We're thrilled with our new couch and loveseat. We have never had new furniture in our home, so this is a big deal to us! The couches are kid friendly, quite comfortable, and compliment Gary's leather recliner. I like how neutral they are without being a light color and think they will hold up well.

Our TV cabinet is now home to our fish tank. I think it's pretty, Gary enjoys the hobby, and the boys like watching the fish. Besides, the tank's pump sounds a lot like a waterfall!

We inherited Gary's dad's piano. I'm looking forward to teaching the boys a thing or two about how to play!

Wouldn't that paneling look so much better in white?

I loved this crib spring display above our dining table in our last house but dressed it up a little for the living room. The banner was from Gary's graduation and you can write on it with chalk, but I like it plain for now. I've displayed the newest pictures of our boys, some favorite snapshots, and of course the ultrasound images of our baby girl!

This is the main entrance to the house. I might switch Gary's chair and the loveseat, but I really like this table in the entrance. Across from it is this dresser and mirror with a small bin for shoes. The door leads to what will be the baby's room. See a glimpse of pink?

Thanks for visiting our home!

Our Idaho Home Tour {Before}

We had the hardest time finding a place to live in Idaho. At first we looked into buying a place but decided to wait a year (or more?) before committing to a certain area or neighborhood. The rental market here in rural, small-town Northern Idaho is very small and you wouldn't believe the YUCK Gary and I saw in some of the houses we toured.

The house we ended up in is one I originally didn't like. It's hard to live in a rental and not be able to change the parts you hate! We didn't seriously consider the offer at first because it's next to a highway, wasn't going to be available until late July (we moved here the second week of June), and we weren't able to see the inside of the house when we were house-hunting in May.

Then we got desperate! We kept in touch with the landlord and were super surprised when he called us in early June to say the house would be available in less than a week! What was supposed to be a 6-week stay in a borrowed trailer turned in to just 5 days!

Needless to say, we were pleased with the house when we saw the inside. Considering some of the filth we had seen in other properties, we were impressed with the cleanliness of this place and knew that the landlord would be a good one. While we don't like brown 70s paneling or brown 80s carpet, we know we are living in a safe place and we're very comfortable here. The highway is loud but not dangerously close, and the yard is very big with apple trees, maples and pines--perfect for little boys.

While it's not a house that we love, we are very content here. The main areas are all unpacked and just need their pictures taken so I can show you! Stay tuned!

Our Living Room {Tour}

Of all the places we've lived, this living room is my favorite. I like the paint color--though I don't know what it is--and I like the hardwood floors. Every time we move we downsize a bit more, so nothing is crowded either.

Always having the same furniture in the four main places we've lived makes things familiar, but every time there are tweaks in the arrangement. I think it's fun making it all fit, be functional and seem comfortable.

My black ladder shelves flank our entertainment cabinet. We don't have a TV, by the way, so the top half is used for more book storage while the bottom half is where the printer and all of that "office" stuff goes. Gary's favorite chair presides in front.

I've mixed books with some family pictures, decorative lanterns and our memento jars from different places we've visited.

On top of the cabinet is a birdhouse, plant in a basket, an old fashioned lamp (whose globe was broken in the latest move) and our family rules subway-esque sign.

The other side of the room holds the couch, centered under the window and flanked by side tables and lamps that almost match. I've had a dusty gray-blue color in the living room at the last two houses, but because of the green undertones in the paint, blue just didn't work here! Thankfully, this rug--the only one that I didn't donate before leaving the last house--matches perfectly!

"The rules" in home design say the rug should be a jump bigger, but it works for us. The pillows... not so much! I pulled the pretty blue-flowered covers off of the purple pillows, and while purple and red are both undertones in the rug and play nicely with the sagey-gray green in the rug and walls, it screams 1993 to me! I will be sewing new covers from some dropcloths or something soon!

Another part of this living room that worked out perfectly is the white curtains. I left the curtains in the last living room, but brought the sheers from the dining room in Ohio. I had added a ruffle at the bottom to make them long enough for that house. But in typical fashion, I had only half-finished that project! The pair with the ruffle are the perfect length for the window by Gary's chair. The pair that I didn't finish are the perfect length for the window behind the couch because of that funny bump-out in the wall. Yay!

Moral of the story: It's ok not to finish projects. Ha! (Sheers work here because there are wood blinds on the windows. Kinda important!)

The left side table has a lamp and a plant. I removed my laptop for pictures, but it's usually hanging out there too. This is where I blog. :)

There's another lamp on the right side, along with a memento from Gary's dad's missionary trip to Africa in the 60s and a wooden bowl that belonged to my parents but now holds treasures. You know, the little boy kind. Rocks, feathers, acorns... There was a worm in there today that must have crawled out of an acorn.

This half wall is at the top of the stairs. We're in a split-level ranch style home, and this is kind of the welcome-to-our-home table. The door behind the half-wall is our coat closet.

The big white bowl and watering can, the wood used in the monogram sign, as well as the old window (below) are all from our barn on our property in Iowa. This is also where the boys' blocks are kept--which are currently being used several times a day to make Jericho or castles or jails.

We read together on the couch after lunch and before rest time. I find that these bins of books get put away more neatly than books on a shelf. The boys also "read" quietly after they've bathed in the evening while waiting for their brothers to be done and worship to start.

For art on the walls, we're still using these pictures I took on my last trip to Europe in 2003. I printed these shots at home in 8 X 10 and stuck them down on freshly-painted canvasses. I painted a border around the prints, then put stickers under the pictures. Black paint on the outside edge frames the canvasses. I got the canvases on sale at Michael's and the paint was a friend's leftovers after she painted her living room, so the whole project was pretty inexpensive for the impact. Minus the trip to Europe, of course.

I hope you've enjoyed this peek into our home! I wish I could invite you over for a meal and a chat and maybe some fun games. We like Apples to Apples!

For those of you who have visited us in the past, does this living room feel familiar? Does anything surprise you?

Have a great week!

Our {Old} Master Bedroom

We rented a small trailer today to take our things from Missouri to Iowa. We packed our things that we've been using for the last three months, plus the boxes of things we had out in California. Today we are driving up to Iowa where we'll spend Thursday and Friday loading the rest of our things that have been in storage since July. We'll be headed to our new place after the weekend. 

We're super excited to be settled again, even if only for awhile! We know it's a lot of work to unpack, but we can't wait to have a place to call home.

In honor of that, I thought I'd re-post a tour of our old master bedroom. I don't know if we'll be allowed to paint--or take the time, effort and money in a rental home that we'll only be in for a year and a half at most, but we sure loved this room! Hope you like it too!

*****

Our master bedroom is done!

It's such a good feeling to have a finished space, a little sanctuary, a place where we just love to be! It's simple, rustic and cozy and full of fun details and meaning.

We love a fan running while we sleep in the summer. It helps us stay cool while not worrying about the power bill! My husband's mom made the block quilt. It's heavy and warm, made from corduroy pants. We love how cozy it is in the winter, and the colors work well in this room. My grandma made the afgan on the foot of the bed. She passed away in 1999, so it's a treasure of mine. The large, square pillows are couch pillows that our couch is more comfortable without. The bedskirt (and matching shams) are a microsuede set I bought with a gift card from our wedding. The rug is a bath mat, but it's so soft!

My husband made the barn door headboard from an old fence he tore down on our property. The iron bed frame is one I bought when I bought my first home. I love how they look together! I made the wreath from drop cloth canvas scraps.

On her side of the bed is a narrow table. It was just waiting around downstairs for some purpose in life (our living room is too small right now), and I thought it might be a good idea to carve out a desk area for myself. So I did! And I love it! As you can see, my computer likes it here too, so I've been blogging from this little desk.

Here is the view out this window, just for fun!

This little table works well as a bedside table as well. The small basket on the desk is full of lotions while the one below the desk holds magazines, an extra throw blanket and my camera after I've downloaded pictures.

On his side of the bed there is just room for a night stand. I'm under the impression that my dad made these. Even if they're just something he bought, it's fun to have something of his. I may paint them (there's a set) one day, but for now I like it as is.

Here is the wall on the far side of the bed. I used my Cricut to cut out the quote and put the vinyl letters around canvases of my husband and me during our wedding. "I have found the one whom my soul loves."  Aww...

Here is the view out this window to the west:

On the wall opposite the bed is our line-up of dressers. The closet is tiny, so we rely heavily on these dressers! You'll notice that they match the narrow table; they were part of a set I bought at Pier 1 about 10 years ago. Styles and tastes have changed, but we like these distressed pine pieces of furniture just fine. 

His dresser is in the corner with the dreaded alarm clock, a box with mementos from his grandpa and a tray with a plant, a tiny Bible and a bowl for little things--tie pins and a watch, mostly. There is quite a bit of 'kid' left in my husband, and he has a line-up of matchbox cars on display! The mirror is another Pier 1 find. 

 

Her dresser has some decorative votive candle holders and a tray of out dated pictures. The canvas art is a picture of the Arch in St. Louis, the place my husband took me on our first date.

Beside my dresser is the door to the room, or, since we're in the room, the door to the hall. You can see my next project in progress! I painted the hall side of the ugly door in slate black.

Above the door I hung a piece of barn wood with our anniversary date stenciled on it. Here you can see a close-up of our duct tap trim as well!

Just for fun, I covered the back of the ugly door with newspaper.

This little space of wall between the door and the closet I had thought was big enough to put a hanging shelf with hooks for our robes. I'm so glad it wasn't big enough! I stole this small wrought iron shelf from another place in the house. It goes so well in here!

I put some books on the bottom shelf, a plant, some candles and a picture frame on the other shelves and was excited to finally have a home for this vintage suitcase! This is something a friend of mine gave me several years ago and I never had the perfect home for it. This might not be the right post for it, but I keep my hair dryer, brush and curling iron in this suitcase. If you look closely you can see the cord--it's always plugged in for easy use. Our bedroom is steps away from the bathroom, but there always seems to be other people using it, so the only girl in this house needed to find a place for doing hair! 

And if you're doing hair or just getting dressed for the day, you need a mirror!

This is the tiny closet that the two of us share. I decided it would be easier for both of us to access our clothes and shoes if the sliding doors--where only one side can be open at a time--were removed and curtains hung instead. I sewed these striped curtains from drop cloth canvas and corduroy. There's a ruffle on the bottom that was my first ruffle ever and I love it!

Sharing a closet this small takes organization and neat folding, but it works! I painted the closet the same blue as the ceiling.

That concludes the tour of our master bedroom! I hope you've enjoyed it and been inspired by a thing or two!

The blue ceiling is 'calm misty sea', the walls are similar to 'rural fairfax gray', and all trim (with exception to the stripe around the ceiling which is duct tape) is off-the-shelf white trim paint, all by ColorPlace which is Walmart's paint brand.