51 months in (the christmas edition)

i get so many emails from people who have seen our house on pinterest and ask for floor plans, who built it, do we love this choice or that choice, what have we changed/added since moving in. for the interest: thank you! this house truly was a labor of love for us, and continues to be our happy place in the world.

so if you are coming here from pinterest or, specifically, the one month in post, welcome to the future!

while the house was all clean and christmasy and waiting for guests to arrive last week, i took some new pictures of the space. not every room was photographed, and i will definitely be better about documenting things in 2016 ... i've found a real love for answering emails about our house, and want to offer more to those who are working on their own build or redecorating projects. and once the holidays are put away, i will try to do a more complete tour, including the rooms i didn't photograph last week. i will also update on the projects we have in the works (whether plans only or baby steps being taken) for '16.

without further chattiness ... our house, 51 months in and dressed for the holidays:

 

main floor

i'll start with the entryway, because this post on the craigslist dresser is one of the most pinned things i've posted on the ol' blog.

 

because of its status, i probably should have taken more than one photo. anyway ... moving on.

 

the great room is still one of my favorite spots in the house. we literally never use the fireplace (makes the house too hot), but i love the mantel and the built-ins. they remind me of what i loved in our first house - a 1925 bungalow in south minneapolis, and missed in our second house - a 1965 ranch in the 'burbs. and yes, i should have made sure the blinds were equally open before taking the picture.

i know ... i told you months ago i would share the gallery wall process. i will do that in january. making myself a note Right Now.

 

(i was inspired by the glass box of travel ephemera in the asid design house that i toured with erin from house of turquoise back in october, and knew a similar box would be perfect for christmas cards. the box is from west elm.)

 

(blending my old school crosley with marc's new school mp3/receiver/buttony tech.)

 

(the mantel seemed boring this year ... new garland took up too much real estate and i couldn't put other things out. luckily, i still had a bunch of paper snowflakes from last year - our elf brought them - and added them to the wall around the picture of the kids. perfect filler, zero cash involved.)

 

moving on to the tv room ... this room has gone through the biggest change since i last blogged about it. four years ago, the room was empty of all but boxes, but i did have some ideas for where it might go. the rug i wanted sold out shortly after falling in love with it, but we moved forward with the white couch and the cabinet of my dreams. and then ... stuck again. we had the couch, we had the cabinet, we had a tv, but the room needed some warmth - a rug, some curtains. so again, i brainstormed. and eventually, it came together. we went with the graphic yellow rug from west elm, and some adorable white curtains - also from west elm; i may need a 12-step program - with translucent circles in the fabric, and sweet little pom pom trim. then i attended junk bonanza with a girlfriend, found a vintage german periodic table school chart, and my life - and this room - was complete. and today, it looks like this:

 

and ... i took no photos of the kitchen or other areas on the main floor. like i said, post-holiday complete tour is on my To Do list. so, then, let's move

 

upstairs

 

the only room i really photographed is the guest room. it has gone through several looks in the past four years. it started with harper's ikea pull-out bed

but when she wanted her bed back, we switched it out for the two jenny linds we had put in her room. however, when we upgraded to a king bed over the summer, we did a bedroom furniture shuffle, and put our bed in the basement guest room (more on that in a minute), and the guest bed that was in the basement moved to the upstairs guest room. and that's where we are right now.

 

more about this room when i do the actual, factual tour.

and ... a brief tease of the master bedroom:

yes, the new bed ... black and white. the the $50 craigslist chair also got fancied up in new black and white fabric. shocker, i know.

now it's time to move on to the

 

basement

 

a quick glimpse at where the past four years have brought this space.

when i last shared pix of the basement, we had pretty much just moved in all the main furniture from our last house and called it good. with the exception of finally buying a piece of furniture for the tv (instead of the old desk i found on the side of the road in college that we HAD been using), and some bookshelves, this space is largely the same, just more finished.

(a star wars tree. because, yes. i found it at treetopia, and it is a black-to-silver ombre tree, which in my mind meant it was a dark side to light side ombre. of course. i really should have gotten one that was a foot taller, but we'll make this work.)

 

 

on to the guest room, where the old master bedroom bed now resides ...

usually, there is flannel snowflake bedding on the basement guest bed at christmastime, because it can get pretty cold in this room when the door stays closed. but truth be told ... i couldn't find it. the linens got lost somewhere in the mess of the upstairs guest closet, where all spare linens go ... to never be seen again. organizing that closet is *also* on my To Do list for 2016.

i have a lot to do in 2016.

 

and there you have it.

hope you liked the little holiday tour, and i hope it will hold you over until the official tour of All The Rooms in the coming months.

 

later this weekend: actual christmas photos and re-cap. because it was super fun.

 

the rest of snowflake's visit

i'll wrap up snowflake's month with us, and then go into christmas in a day or two.

also, i took some updated pix of the house, so that is coming, too! bonus: the house was all christmasy and sparkly at the time.

 

on day 19, snowflake and gray kitty found a little hiding spot in the kitchen window shade.

 

day 20: they somehow knew we were going to *finally* see the new star wars movie that night, so harp found them having a light saber duel in the pantry.

 

day 21: we had a christmas party for marc's co-workers the previous afternoon (before star wars), and there were some leftover veggies. snowflake and gray kitty used them to spell out a morning greeting for harp.

 

day 22: our visitors from the north made some cute little gingerbread cookies.

 

day 23: visitors from the south (ie my family, from indiana) arrived the previous evening, and one of the first things wyatt wanted to do was dig into henry's legos. so on wednesday morning, snowflake and gray kitty had gotten pieces of their own and built a little spaceship.

day 24, christmas eve: harper awoke to find the annual present from snowflake under the tree in her room. she ran downstairs and said, "mom! snowflake brought me a present! i know it's my christmas jammies, because that's what she always brings on christmas eve ..." then she trailed off and batted those big browngreen eyes at me. so of course i said, "well, then you better go open it!", and off she went.

day 25, christmas: snowflake was gone. gray kitty was sitting alone on harper's nightstand. but under the christmas tree, there was a present with a tag: to harper, from snowflake. she opened it, and immediately was speechless. then a little teary. then she sat the rest of christmas morning, holding that gift in her lap. and said to me, when all the opening was done, "i should have opened this one last. it's my favorite gift of all of christmas."

what did snowflake leave for harper?

a picture frame, with this photo:

major. win.

though next year, i'm screwed.

 

thanks for visiting, snowflake! we - and gray kitty - look forward to seeing you next year!

snowflake, days 12 through 18

another long week almost in the books. swim meet tonight, busy tomorrow, busy sunday. then ... with any luck ... relaxing and enjoying next week.

 

fingers crossed.

while we were all crazy this week, here's what snowflake got herself into:

day 12: she led a gathering of the reindeer.

 

day 13: she and gray kitty stayed out of the way during my mad cleaning, by hanging out on a wreath.

 

day 14: the girls (i just assume gray kitty is a girl) had an, "i feel pretty, oh so pretty" moment.

 

day 15: harp lost a tooth at school on friday, but forgot to bring it home over the weekend. monday, she remembered, and left the little treasure box by her bed for the tooth fairy. i'm not sure what transpired in the middle of the night, but we awoke the next day to find snowflake and gray kitty tied to harper's ceiling light, and the fairy's dollar was strung up with them.

 

day 16: continuing with her "stay out of the way" theme, on wednesday snowflake and gray kitty hid in a small vase to watch - and mock, i'm sure - my frenzy.

 

day 17: marc and i finally got some shelves in the craft room, so snowflake and gray kitty broke them in by being arty in the middle of the night. there was a little portrait drawing session, apparently.

 

day 18: last night, i held a party at our house for women at risk, international, and had out all of the beautiful jewelry and scarves made by women who have been rescued from sex trafficking and exploitation. this morning, snowflake and gray kitty were decked out and having a namaste moment.

 

namaste, indeed. it's friday, and it's almost christmas, and my house is clean. namas-freaking-te!

snowflake's week

longest. week. ever.

but snowflake showed up every single morning, like a good elf.

she deserves christmas brownie points.

or brownies.

maybe green ones.

bit i digress. or i'm just really tired.

where was i?

snowflake. okay:

day 5: she and gray kitty held onto the white tree for dear life. luckily, the tree was as yet undecorated, so harper was able to spot them fairly easily.

 

day 6: she hoarded some marshmallows by the cocoa stuff.

 

day 7: she and gray kitty had an "e.t." moment in harper's room.

day 8: snowflake and gray kitty were bundled up in jacket, hat, boots, and scarf, and settled into the "snowy" village.

day 9: ladies' (and kitty) tea.

day 10: back at the marshmallows, she decided to make a s'more. and gray kitty just wanted some chocolate.

day 11: hide and seek in the mantel garland. sneaky pair.

off to a swim meet, because that's our life. happy weekend!

snowflake 2015

well, she's back.

and here we go again.

we got home from indiana on sunday night ... a good quick trip to celebrate thanksgiving with marc's family, then monday we were thrust back into madness. high school swimming started, harp's club swimming started, time to pull out christmas stuff, a million errands ... and other harder, sadder events that would affect the week.

regardless, tuesday morning, there was snowflake - snuggled up with gray kitty on a chair in harper's room. and there was much excitement.

wednesday, she brought a fun elf puzzle and tried to get it put together before morning. she didn't quite make it, even with gray kitty's help.

thursday, snowflake decided to get a little snarky, and remind me that those eight loads of towels and sheets i washed before thanksgiving were still on top of the washing machine, waiting to be folded. snowflake, apparently, doesn't understand my schedule. at least Towel Mountain was clean.

this morning, snowflake was literally the elf on the shelf. but with a cheeky little twist.

four days down, twenty more to go.