My Happy & Colorful Living Room Tour

 Hello + Hello Again!

As some of you know...I've been working my way through my home doing a little virtual tour.

Today I'm going to show you my happy little living room.

The front door of our home comes off a rather large front porch.

I suppose that could be treated as if it's an "entry way"....

....however....

it is technically outside.

When you come in our front door you are immediately staring at our flat screen T.V.

So,

I decided that rather than be greeted by a glaring T.V.

 it would be more fun to be greeted by pops of color and whimsy instead.

SO,

I grabbed some thrifted embroidery hoops and a mix of fabric scraps both old and new and made a swatch wall.

I've had this for a few years now...and frankly have not tired of it yet...but I know the day will come....

(Some day we hope to finish off our dungeon of a basement and put the T.V. down there...but until then...it will reside in the living room.)

We truly use our living room.

It is tied to our dining room as one large room divided only by an overhead beam

(as seen below)

Notice the front door opening directly into the living room? It's a decorating challenge to say the least!

I love the quirky elements that are in our 1913 Craftsman Bungalow.

For instance, we tore off the nasty old wallpaper in these two rooms to expose the fir tounge and groove rough hewn walls.

I actually like it...but it's not for perfectionists!

You can see where the teeth of the circular saw blades cut into the wood....I think that's cool....but many others would call that plain silly!

I like the cracks and pits you can see in the walls....it makes the house seem cozy and homey to me.

 You may have noticed this by now...but we have 2 young boys

(Tristan 8 & Elliot 6)

who love to play games of any kind here in the living room.

So,

I used our old T.V. armoir to house all the puzzles, games, craft supplies & extra Wii equipment.

From time to time we have family game nights/days and play right here on the coffee table

(which was once a taller library table. My hubby cut the legs down for me, and I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence & then covered the top of the table in laminated cloth from a great vendor on Etsy called Laminates. She has the best selection of styles and colors!)

 Our dog Olive (Fox Terrier) is waiting patiently for the boys to come home off the bus from school and share some of that freshly popped pop corn!

:)

 Every chance I get, I'm always trying to infuse that sense of childhood wonder throughout our home.

Even the knobs on the armoir got a shot of blue!

I believe that one day (Lord willing) our boys will grow up healthy and head out of our home to make their own way in the world.

That will be the day when I begin to decorate more "seriously" and with more delicate and sophisticated materials...for now? It's going to have to be secondhand and durable!

No sense wasting money on things that can't hold up to boyhood wear and tear!

:)

 The photo above is the "His and Hers" shot of our chairs.

Again....

for now?

Secondhand and durable.

Someday?

New and stain free?!

;)

 I enjoy my little chair here however....

I even used an old signmaker's kit to post a favorite phrase of a song I love...

 ....it reminds me to be content with what I have rather than to always be pining away after the things I cannot aquire at this point in my life.

After all....if I really think about it, I'd rather have my home filled with my giggling wild little boys and popcorn tossing than starchy lifeless belongings that never get used.

I want to treat life like a party...filled with all the best guests:

friends, family & neighbors coming through our doors to celebrate the little things in life like Birthdays and holidays...I try to be happy with the things I already have....breathing life and love into them with creativity and elbow grease.

 We celebrate the everyday mundane things like being done with another day of school...and getting all your spelling words correct on your test. It's great to have a home filled with laughter and cheer.

I hope my home reflects that to those who enter it.

We may not be the normal household...but hey....who is?

Sometimes it's lifes simplest gifts and pastimes that make us the happiest.

I want my home to be a place where we can really live....a place to tickle eachother with glee, dream big dreams and have the most time spent together possible.

Nothing is permanent in this world, and you just don't know what could come for you around the bend....but....if you really live your life with a sense of daily wonder...

it's gonna be "....well with your soul."

:)

T.

xx