Moodboard Collection: Work Spaces

Many of us work from home, some for fun, some out of necessity. Others homeschool their kids or have a dedicated space for their kids to do homework. Some just want a place to pay bills and check their email, or work on crafts. Many times these spaces double as dining rooms or guest rooms or are nooks carved out of living rooms or finished basements.

Here is my collection of work spaces. Where do you work in your home?

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Insta-Friday!

Hey! How was your week? We had another busy one that included another 10-hour drive. That's right, this post comes to you from Iowa!

It's funny, since we've been in town--less than 24 hours--we've been to two of the same restaurants, I recognized the workers at the grocery stores where I used to do my weekly shopping, even ran into a friend while we were out. It really feels like home here in Iowa, even though we've been gone for a year now.

We'll be in Iowa all week, so next week's Insta-Friday will be all about that. Today, just some randomness from a random week in July in Ohio!

On Sunday we went to the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall that was in Johnstown, Ohio. I've seen this replica wall before and I've seen the original in D. C. It just hits you differently every time. War is no fun.

It was hot!

And sticky.

On Monday this happened! It's always hard after you move to know where to go to get your hair done. I asked a friend who she goes to and got my hair done a week later. I had a great experience! Thanks again for the referral, Kim!

I think it turned out pretty cute too!

On Tuesday I tried this. Coffee + coconut oil + blender = latte. It's weird, but the blender emulsifies the coconut oil. I did include a little sugar and milk, but much less than I have in a regular cup of joe. Spend a minute on Pinterest or Google and you'll get an idea of the benefits of coconut oil.

This also happened on Tuesday. It still makes me want to cry, so I have to look at it very logically. Josiah is 26 months old. He no longer uses a sippy. The mouthpieces are chewed on and cracked... They've served our three kiddos well, and I want the cupboard space! Just don't think about how it means there are no more babies in the house.

On Wednesday, the boys helped Daddy change the oil in our car. And by helped, of course I mean watched intensely while asking 1000 questions! Gary is a sport and they probably know more about it than I do now. I love that he can do this, as I would have had to waste half the day at Jiffy Lube and here he is, teaching the boys and getting it done at the cost of materials and a quarter of the time.

We were invited over for a play date on Wednesday! This pool is awesome and entertained 5 boys for two hours! I think they would have played longer, but sadly it was bedtime and we had to go. Thanks for a fun evening, Myers family! Let's do it again soon!

We were on the road by 7:10 on Thursday morning. We had 9:30 hours of drive time ahead of us. These guys are the best little travelers ever! I had a bag with a few toys, coloring pages on clipboards, we listened to Bible songs, had water/gum breaks and ate two meals on the road. Seriously, they're awesome!

I snapped this picturesque farm not far from Mt. Vernon, Ohio. It really is a portrait of the American Midwest, isn't it? So pretty!

Do you play the license plate game? I guess it's not much of a game, you just write down the different states on license plates that you pass. Something easy and entertaining for people who like lists.

We have borrowed a friend's travel trailer to live in for the next 10 days or so. Thanks so much, Mark and Julie! The boys were just glad to get out of the car and run around! Here they're investigating a trail of ants.

Awesome trailer-lending people have this cutie-patootie. It's good to get my baby fix!

How's your summer going? Is it hotter than is

Our Hall Display

If you stand at the bottom of our stairs this is what you'll see. If you go up to the landing you'll see our gallery wall.

 At the top of the stairs is our bedroom. (Nobody pin the mauve carpet!)

Across from our room is Jared and Josiah's room.

Just so you know. 

If you thunder back down the stairs like my boys do, or glide down like myself (cough, sputter), you'll see this little display across from the little bookcase I showed you earlier. It used to be in the guest room and it looked like this:

That room has evolved into Jonathan's room and now looks like this.

But back to the hall. This little display is just an odd collection of cute stuff. A couple signs I made with fencing from our property in Iowa, a couple mirrors, and an empty frame with paint chip strips clothespinned to it. There's also a shallow box that opens and holds keys, but it's empty. It makes a great perch for the ducky though! The ducky is in the pictures of my first two boys at 9 months in a bathtub. That made more sense in my head. Boy number 3 got his picture taken too, but it's still not printed, framed and hung. He's 2. Bad mommy.

And back to the bookcase side of the hall...

There's this large frame with a canvas wreath hung on it. 

There's a picture frame with pictures of me and Gary when we were babies. Aw...

There's some design books with a basket of travel guides on top. The one about Scotland has been getting attention lately. Oh, look, a peek at our bathroom!

I keep my book collections here, you know, all the sets of books you used to love--Narnia, Little House, Anne of Green Gables. The bottom shelf holds magazines--just Real Simple and Better Homes and Gardens. The basket below holds old children's books that were Gary's.

So there you go! A little tour of our little hall. I tried to keep it light and bright as it isn't on its own. I also tried to make it uninteresting for little hands and they've mostly stayed out of it. Love those little hands!

I pass this little spot about 73 times a day and it makes me smile each time. I love it when that happens!

Jonathan's Room

You're going to recognize this room. As I mentioned last week when I showed you Jared and Josiah's room, we experimented with giving Jonathan his own room while on a trip in June. He loved it! We loved it too. I hated the idea of giving up my craft room/guest room, but in reality, giving Jonathan his own space was much more practical and rewarding than having a dedicated spot for my crafty stuff! And we're not overrun with guests.

So yes, I moved out a little bit of my stuff, threw away some things that I'm not sure why I was keeping, edited the art, switched out the bookcase, added a waterproof mattress pad and had a room suitable for my 6-year-old or overnight guests which still stores my crafts!

I would like to show you a quick tour today and in the future talk about different areas and how they work for my son, for guests, or for crafts. So, enjoy the tour!

I was sitting on Jonathan's bed to get a picture of the desk. Josiah thought it was an invitation to come and sit with Mommy. I love his little toes and how he shows us how he needs to be loved!

Jonathan loves his room. He takes more ownership, is less of a clown in the mornings and evenings, and has taken some additional responsibilities. He's growing up so fast!

I will share with you about the art, the stuff, the closet, how I made the dresser and desk serve different purposes... I even changed a mirror into an art display center!

You know what's funny, one of the main reasons I didn't want to make this switch was because of the little gallery wall that was there. (Don't remember? You can see it here!) But the hall that this bedroom and the downstairs bathroom share was looking a little blank, so I moved the display out there and I think I like it better! I'll show you soon.

What do like about Jonathan's room? It's the first time he hasn't shared a room since before Jared turned two! Ok, so Jared just turned four, but still, it's pretty special