Welcome, welcome! We are so happy to have you here! I can’t believe I haven’t taken you around my whole home yet (Oh, wait. Yes I can, because it had to be all clean first 😉 ) Anyways, come on in, kick of your shoes and let me show you around!
When you come in, we have a small foyer type entryway area that holds our shoes and coats.
From there, you can turn left into our half-bath. We recently painted the vanity white, which really made the space look bright and clean!
If you go straight down the hallway from the front door, Alex can provide you with refreshment! He is the biggest kitchen helper! 🙂
But, before we head to the kitchen, let’s make a stop at the laundry room! I’ve tried to make this funky room as functional as possible with it’s 3 doorways and multiple uses.
Adding some DIY artwork helped to brighten it up a touch!
Then, we head into the kitchen which is one of my favorite spaces in the house. It is so light and bright and happy! We started the renovation last February when we put up the back splash and made some more progress when we painted all of the cabinets! The groceries sign was one of my first DIY projects in this house. I love the charm it adds to the kitchen!
Our kitchen table is right next to the kitchen and we spend a lot of time here too! It’s not just for eating, folks! Alex loves to sit here and color while I tap away on the computer.
One thing I absolutely love about our house, is how open the main floor is! I can basically see the boys playing from anywhere. It’s so nice to be able to cook and clean in the kitchen while they lounge and play in the living room! Now this is where we really spend our time as a family (watching Octonauts, of course) 🙂 The pallet clock was something I made with my dad and it adds a ton of character to the room. It really goes well with our reclaimed tv stand that John whipped up and our reclaimed mantel! Have I mentioned that we love old stuff??
We’ve slowly been trying to make this room more “us” and with the addition of the blanket ladder and family photos, I think we are scoring big!
On the other side of the kitchen is our playroom. This is, obviously, Alex and Christian’s favorite place to hang out. It usually looks like a tornado has gone through it, so this is a rare moment of calm! Alex is still loving his train table that I made him! We keep our running/race medals, bibs and memorabilia in here as well. Yes, that is a giant face of John that my sister and I made for the Detroit Marathon a few years back.
I am slowly working on the “gallery wall” in here. The signs we made a while back really add the punch of color that is so needed in here! We try to keep the toys as organized as possible on the Ikea Expedit shelf, but we also keep about half of the toys in the basement and rotate them out.
Attached to the playroom is our craft room/office/catchall room.
This room is like the never-ending project. I have successfully gotten rid of about half of the stuff in here, but I can never seem to get it just how I like it. I love a lot of the elements of this room, like the aqua dresser that I painted.
The other side of the room is where we have our changing table (formerly in the playroom), busy bags & other activities for the boys, files, John’s bike, etc. I told you it was the catchall! Basically, it’s the only room that the boys don’t have access to, so everything goes in here. That’s probably why I can’t keep it organized 🙂 I always think of a quote from The Nesting Place when I’m in this room. “The imperfections play an important role: they put people at ease.”
That concludes the lower level; now let’s head upstairs!
Right at the top of the stairs, is our boy’s bathroom/guest bathroom. We are currently in the middle of re-doing the upstairs bathrooms, which I am so, so excited about! Lots of splashing and fun happen in here!
If you turn right, you head into the master bedroom. It’s sort of a blank canvas still. We haven’t done much in here. It’s such a big room, I’m sort of overwhelmed by it! I did paint that bedside table over on the right and we got matching lamps, which makes me feel very grown up! That burlap wreath has been hanging out there since I made it quite a while back. I can’t decide where to put it! And, feel free to laugh at the curtains that still have not been hemmed! This is how a sweet husband gently reminds you to get your butt in gear! Although, the knotted look is growing on me 🙂
Attached to our room is our bathroom, which is also in the middle of getting fixed up!
If you turn left at the top of the stairs, you will go into Christian’s nursery and Alex’s room.
In Christian’s nursery we were going for a woodland theme. I painted an old window with some trees, made his mobile, and got some Ikea curtains (also not hemmed; there is a trend here!).
The silhouette prints were from my sister, Sarah and her husband, Jose. I love love love them!
Alex’s room was one big DIY project! I painted the OHIO letter for John’s Father’s Day gift last year and decided they fit perfectly in here! The mantle/shelf was a gift from John’s parents that we finished with some PolyShades and his curtains were made from drop cloths and painted!
John made some toddler bed rails for Alex’s big boy bed and I painted some number art to hang above it. The dresser was another makeover project that my parent’s gifted us!
I painted the sport art above the rocker (which is now in our room) and made his blanket, too!
That’s it! I hope you enjoyed seeing our house! It is, and will always be, a work in progress because I don’t believe a space is ever truly “done”. I am always looking for new things to add, ways to make spaces more functional, and my style is always evolving!
We love our little place here and have so enjoyed sharing all of our project ups and downs with you all! Thanks for stopping by!
xo
Sam