Saturday, September 25, 2010

Our Peaceful Place

Welcome to our home!  I am so glad you came!  :)  We are blessed to be renting this house from another missionary family who will not need it for the next five plus years.  It’s incomprehensible, in the most wonderful way, to think about not having to move for that long!  

When you walk through the front door (which is to the right of my purse), you enter the dining room.  The table remains my favorite piece of furniture!   

Still to do: The curtains are going to get a little lengthening treatment so I can get away from the high water look (and also hopefully raise the curtain rods a bit so that the ring clips are not competing with the window trim).  Stay tuned!

Dining Room 1 Compressed

The dining room and living room are actually one long, skinny room.  This is the furniture I had to work with for this small living space but I was not happy with the lack of color, pattern, varied wood tones or scale (the sofa is much too bulky)!  Alas, that is life when you buy furniture for one rental and have to find a way for it to work in the next.  :)

Original Living Compressed 

So first, my super talented friend (and now sewing teacher) Brenda made the chair slipcovers and I used a painters drop cloth to cover the coffee table. 

Second Living Compressed 

Even though it didn’t feel right, it stayed this way until the weather got cold and we moved the couch right in front of the fireplace for staying warm! 

Living Room 1 Compressed

Then it dawned on me: putting the arrangement on the diagonal took away the improper balance of weight in the room!  It felt so much better!  Eventually, I hope to get 2 side chairs (with my Christmas money??) so that we aren’t sitting on hard dining room chairs for visiting with our friends!  :)  But for now, it works and all it cost was less than $15 for the chair slips. 

Still to do: Sew some little pillows to put on the chairs for color and verve .  It’s all a bit predictable right now!  :)  Also, hang some family pictures!  It’s driving me crazy that we only have one picture of family hanging on the walls! 

Across from living room on the left is the entrance to the TV room.  We’ll skip the toy mess and move on.  :)

Before curtain croppedCurtain cropped

Next you come to the main bathroom on the right.  The brown shower curtain was one I had on hand.  It was ok, but it just felt like it went a little too well with the 70’s tile, so I used some of my birthday money (thanks Dad and Mom) to buy this fabric.  After a couple of sewing lessons, I completed my first big project!  I’m happy with it. 

Because the ceiling is low, I wanted the shower curtain to go to the ceiling to make the room look bigger, as well as hide the shower head, etc.  Unfortunately, it needs to be a few inches off the floor because of the water drainage. 

I’m hoping to find a pretty burnt orange rug to warm up the space a bit and eventually I think it would look much better to have burnt orange/rust/umber walls too.  The current paint color works well in the rest of the house, but for some reason (lighting?) it doesn’t look that great in here. 

Towel Shelf Compressed

I’d also like to replace the tan towels with burnt orange (if I don’t end up painting) because that would really help the paint color to look less “off” as well (I always have so many plans for my Christmas money!!).  For now, it’s fine!

If you continue straight down the hall, you get to my kids’ room but I didn’t take photos of that either.  Hardly anything is done in there.  I still have beds to paint, hang their names, etc.  The do have their Pottery Barn Inspired Transportation Art hanging though.  :)

Bedroom Compressed

Then to the left at the end of the hallway is the master bedroom.  You can see I did a little rearranging since this and this.  I wasn’t happy with the headboard so this is what I came up with for now. Often in the past, I have used a window for the “headboard” but I could not get that to work for me this time because of where the windows are located!  Oh well!  Eventually, we’ll figure out a headboard, maybe even by filling in the other one with some bead board or something. 

The desk was formerly my hall table but it was a lot prettier than my other desk and fit the space better too so it got a coat of white.  I absolutely love it! 

Bedroom Right Compressed     

The location of the bed is totally impractical for opening the windows, but I’m more “form” than a “function” so for now it stays! 

Still to do: Some sort of art or pictures! 

I’m sure you are wondering about the kitchen…I’ve got a project brewing there (hint: it has to do with the Sermon on the Mount) and I want to finish it first!  But I do have plenty of cabinet and counter space which is such a blessing! 

So, now that we have the house tour out of the way, we can sit down for a good latte and visit a bit!  You KNOW you are always welcome here!   

24 comments:

the Chacogirl said...

Even though I've been in your house for real, thanks for the great tour! I really admire your gift in decorating your home. Thanks for the linky love and real love, too! Love ya!

Belinda Chaplin said...

Love it!! Thanks for the tour... you do know how to make a house a home...
bless you!

Betty W said...

You make it all feel so warm and welcoming. I´m glad you don´t have to move soon. :)

Anonymous said...

As always I am nutured by looking at your creative decorating. Through the winter I hope to put more of my mark on this 1980's mobile home. I need to find ways to introduce my beloved blue and white theme into these brown and green atmosphere, lol.
You inspire me so much, dear friend.

Anonymous said...

Wow, this is wonderful. So grateful that you are doing what you enjoy doing and that it is a blessing to your family and your internet friends. Will pray you find the burnt orange towels!

Katherine

This Is The Day said...

Beautiful! I love your decorating style! I need to get some inspiration for my own kitchen. I haven't really done a thing to it since we moved in. It is the only room that we haven't had to remodel so I''ve left it alone, but it is very blah. Love the desk in your room! I love taking older furniture and giving it a new look. So fun!

jb said...

Shilo, your home is so beautiful! I wish, wish, wish I could sit down with you for a latte and a nice, long chat! You are such an amazing woman, and I miss you. Praying for some extra Christmas money to find its way into your "house fund" this year;)

Brenda said...

I love the tour of your house and it makes me so nostalgic for Paraguay. The tile floors, rustic furniture. . . I love it all. You've done a wonderful job decorating. Thanks for the tour.

Karen said...

Shilo,
I have tried several times to leave comments today, but have had problems with internet also. I love your home! You know how to make it a place of peace and a haven for your family. I would love to be able to visit one day and share our love for decorating. Mine has dwindled as age has eased in. I still have the want too. But, it is harder to put it together! I can tell it is an extension of who you are!

So glad the Lord has allowed our paths to cross.

IN HIM,
Karen

Susan Schroder said...

Ya know I want to get down there! I'm hoping in the next 2 years! One of these days we'll have to decorate together! Or just have a cup of Coffie at the very least! (o;
K's and my love to the 4 of yas!
Sus

houghslife (how's life?) said...

Wonderful. I totally love your color schemes and attitude about decorating. Brown/orange...nice! You've done a great job.

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

It must be good to know you can stay settled there for a while! You've done a marvelous job already and I'm dying to see what you're going to do in the kitchen!

Manuela

Tim and Susan said...

Beautiful...love all your colors. Warm and inviting. Glad you can cozy up to a warm fire on a cool evening.

Norberto Kurrle said...

Looking great sweetie! I still wanna hire you to come down here and help me with some fresh decorating needs. lol

Hugs to you and your family

moonlight said...

You remind me of my mom who would move into houses and make them special. Love the windows in your house.

Sunday Koffron Taylor said...

Very nice!

Café Bouclé said...

Really sweet home.
Kisses

savita said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Susan said...

Thank you for the tour of your lovely home. I felt as if I could just sit on that sofa and have a latté with you and chat for a while! The improvements you made are so simple but do make such a big difference! Wow!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Chinagirl said...

I found your blog. Hope to hear and read more from you in the future. It was nice to get to know you.

chelsea said...

Your house is very elegant! so lovely!



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Unknown said...

your post are very good i enjoy reading them i have a 2 month old little boy we attend a church would love hear more about what u do

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