Happy Monday! House tours are pouring in from friends! I am scrambling to get them all sorted and ready to roll! This has been so much fun for me to see so many spaces. I hope you are enjoying it as well!
Today we are getting to see my friend Jenny’s space. Jenny and I were roommates at Dalat School (a boarding school for missionary kids in Malaysia) when we were in 5th and 6th grade. Jenny was always spunky and fashionable…you know the cool girl with the puff paint shirt and side ponytail. (SOOOOO wishing I had some time to dig up old pictures right now!) She is still a fashionista in my mind, just without the side pony! I caught up with Jenny again when she was living in West Africa. I found
her blog, Madame Eclectic, and had so much fun seeing her sense of style and also her journey into motherhood! Her house is just so full of love. She does such a beautiful job or mixing modern with vintage and all on a budget! See for yourself!
Last year, my family and I packed up our life in West Africa, where we had been for the past four years, and moved back to the states. We had no idea where we were going to live, or what we were going to do, but we knew that God was calling us back from the mission field and that he was going to open doors for us. And open doors he did- literally and figuratively! My hubby got a job offer right at the end of our much needed summer break, and before we knew it, we were starting a completely new life in Charlotte, NC.
One thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were first time home-owners! We were super excited and jumped right into making it ours. I ‘ve always loved decorating and I’m even more passionate about doing it on a dime! I thrift, I craigslist, I yard sale, I IKEA…I’m a bargain hunter, through and through. Not only do I like to get a good deal, I like the idea of mixing old and new, ugly and cute, retro with modern- my style is eclectic to say the least. I don’t know how else to describe it! When I left Africa I told my friends that I was going to go more neutral with my new place…no more crazy colors and patterns. False. I just can’t help it- I am drawn to patterns…to many of them…and the brighter the better. But…they make me happy and they make our house feel like “us.” We wanted to create a place that is fun, bright, and happy- a place where our kids can be silly and creative. One thing I have learned over the years is that I want my house to be cute, but it has to be functional as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little sneak peek into our home!
who doesn’t love a red door? and a red door that opens to this sweet wall?! I love it, Jenny!
I love the mix of colors and textures! And the owl collection, and chalkboard…
Do you ever have bad days in this space, Jenny?! So cheery!
And the family picture above doesn’t include a sweet little someone, Jenny recently had another little boy. This is his nursery below!
if we ever have another child the “Hush Little Baby, no seriously” sign might be painted in jumbo letters on the wall! I love the combination of fabrics, wood, stitching, pictures.
look at the Master bedroom!
Jenny has recently started an etsy shop with some of her creations! Her shop is
Free Spirit Jenny . Hop on over and check out her shop for your holiday shopping! Here are a few pictures of her stuff to wet your appetite! I know Jenny also does lots of custom orders so message her on etsy if you don’t see what you are looking for!
Thanks for sharing, Jenny! And for all of you readers, feel free to leave questions or comments for Jenny. I will tell her to watch today in case anyone has questions for her!
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So much about savoring home these days is embracing the personalities in it. We are all so different. Jackson takes after me more personality-wise while Owen is more like Seth. Owen and Seth are better at sitting back and enjoying the show, cool, calm and collected, while Jackson and I are more the take action fast, don’t want to miss a single thing. I’d like to think Seth helps me slow down and enjoy life a bit more and maybe that I encourage him at times to jump in! As much as the boys are like us they are such a blend and so much of their own little selves. thank goodness.
On Thursday I was baking to take some bread to MOPs. I let the boys have the beaters and it was so funny to watch how differently they tackled the treat. Owen went for it, not minding the messy cheeks or awkwardness involved in licking the metal beater. Jackson however used his finger to systematically get the goods while staying neat.
About halfway through Owen decided he’d like to share his beater. Seth was his chosen one to receive. He hopped down from his chair and headed outside with the beater. He was determined to find Seth and share a big lick. This is so typical of this little guy. He came by it honestly. I am sure my dad can attest to my constant desire for him to try a bite. I can’t enjoy something fully unless I know I am sharing it. Poor Seth inherited me, relieving my dad of the duty of tasting. I have learned that he just doesn’t want to try but Owen, he’s got hope for his father coming around to his sharing. I ran out with the camera when I heard Owen standing at the base of the ladder hollering up to Seth for a bite. Determined to share his enjoyment!
The other little glimpse into a personality this week came when Jackson ran a fun run race at school to raise money for the school fundraiser. Seth went along to watch him run. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I anticipated a very tired boy having a kindergarten breakdown if his friends ran further than him. Instead Jackson was so excited with all of the other kids running that he ran 36 laps….fueled by sheer enthusiasm!
can you spot him in the first picture? note, his feet are literally off the ground with anticipation
savoring the little budding personalities around here!
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So I bet you never knew that a power washer could help you savor your space more. Well, I knew when we bought this place that we would become great friends. Seth and the neighbors power washer bonded over nearly 8 hours of power washing this week! No joke. He shared it with me a couple of times for a very few minutes…the guy loved it! I have been itching to get the power washing going since we moved in but we just did not have the time. The front of the house is set back enough and it didn’t look as bad as the back so we knew the project could wait a bit but still we were antsy to be done on the inside work so we could get going on the yuck!
To be honest it is maddening to me how someone could live in the space and watch the house change colors before their eyes and not take the time to do minimal maintenance. But then, oh yea, I guess that’s a bit how it is with my heart. I get really comfortable with the build up of junk and think it won’t affect anyone else. Turns out it does. One attitude, piled on one hurt feeling, piled on exhaustion, added to little time to slow down and pray, throw in there a million other little teeny tiny things and before you know it you’ve got some big clean up work to do. It’s been high time for some power washing on the heart and house levels lately! Disclaimer: much to my disappointment the power washer did not turn our cement slabs into a beautiful stone patio….didn’t want any of you non power washers to get high hopes! But everything does looks much more sparkly clean…and sometime that is enough to satisfy a little perfectionism!
before
after…doesn’t do it justice with this bad lighting but you get the idea!
before and after
best helper award goes to the O man!
before
after
who knew that a love note written in green algae could be so darn sweet!
Happy Saturday! Pull out those power washers! It’s refreshing!
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Happy Friday y’all. Things are a bit tense around these parts. We learned this week that our chimney likely needs to be rebuilt at a hefty little price tag of between$ 8-10,000. Yep. Fun times I tell ya. Add into that Seth being home for a few days to work on pending projects and this is some real time DIY sta-RESSSSS. But we press on. And we savor this space despite the sheer terror that it might all crumble around us. Ha, ha! But ya know, it’s Fun Friday in Kindergarten and that makes this a fun Friday! And the Swiss chard is looking gorgeous!
Whew, okay. Back with the program.
On any given day if you were to show up at our house you would see the end of the dining room table draped with an oil cloth, wide open bag of markers and a slew of masterpieces. This is where so much of the boys afternoon time is spent. Jackson “writing” and illustrating books, begging for scotch tape for this or that, asking for me to spell and respell and Owen imitating all the way. Owen is begging for scissors and paints and conversation! I am savoring these afternoon “table times” as we call them. The boys are like sponges. I am often coming back and forth from the kitchen cooking a little, spelling a little, breaking up fights…
In our last home we had an eat-in kitchen and a formal dining room. We now have an all-in-one. Which has it’s perks and downfalls. The perk is that I have only one space to keep up with, the downfall is that if I ever do want it to be a bit more “dressed up” I have to be mindful of keeping the kitchen under control as well. Really for our phase of life with little ones it makes perfect sense. We aren’t exactly wining and dining these days. When we have people over they either have kids themselves or they love our kids so they pretty much know what they are up against when they come. We love having friends and family over so the leaf pretty much lives in the table! Our house wouldn’t be home for us without a space to share meals. Not only do we want our kids to learn good manners and learn to make conversation and host but we want them to know real community and that takes serving others! That is really the purpose of this space!
Although I want the space to be comfortable for life and accommodating to our day to day activities I wanted it to be pretty as well. When we were working on the kitchen design and moving around cabinets we had to save money on buying more we ended up with some space in some cabinets in the kitchen that wouldn’t be accessible. So, we asked if our contractor would be willing to just build a couple of shelves. These shelves are the perfect spot for cookbooks, table linens and the baskets disguise the markers, artwork and oilcloth when it’s time to close down shop.
I used treasures from our time in Switzerland and other travels to fill the dining room wall. Remember the thrift store find that my friend Leigh talked me into?…here it is.
It is The Lord’s prayer in German. It’s super old and goes perfectly with this menu from France (another thrift store find) and these plates. The bottom plate was a gift from my mom. She found it in an outdoor market in Paris. On the opposite wall I have a big clock that was given to me for my bridal shower before we got married. The skeleton keys and keyholes I found with my sister-in-law Tina at the Old Home Supply House. If you are in the Ft. Worth area you MUST go sometime!!!
So there she is. We are still lacking curtains which will add color and texture but like with the rest of the rooms they will be waiting a while! Buckle up, tomorrow is all about savoring home with a power washer!
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