We have company! Which is fabulous but leaves less time for blogging. But having company was good motivation to get the house in order.
After I took these photos I was feeling a little insecure about my abilities as an interior designer, and my reluctance to spend much money on decorating a home we will only live in for less than two years. I had no sooner sat on the couch to treat insecurity with a good dose of Facebook (always effective, right?) than I saw this blog post by Glennon. It warmed my heart and just made me feel really grateful for this place.
Reception room AKA living room.
The walls still seem bare, but maybe over the months we can accumulate some more things to hang on them. We aren’t allowed to put holes in the wall so the moulding is perfect for hanging things from.
The dining space is really big and I wanted to do something functional with it, I wanted a space where the kids would play on the floor. Unfortunately they seem to prefer doing that in the living room but maybe I just need to enforce my “no toys in the living room” rule.
The kitchen looks virtually the same. I REALLY like this kitchen. I told Richard that I don’t need custom cabinets or fancy hardware, give me this sleek white look that I can wipe down with a washcloth in five minutes. I hope someday in my dream house I can have an orange kitchen just like this.
Aside from people, so far the only think I have noticeably missed from American is my dryer.
The downstairs W.C.
Mim and Simon’s room. We had to do a hack job on their mattresses because they were too long for the bunk beds, but fortunately they were the right width.
I think I mentioned before that the stickers and curtains were left from the previous landlord. But they were cute enough and colorful enough for me.
The upstairs, and only full bathroom/toilet. Sharing a bathroom with the whole family has it’s obvious drawbacks and some less obvious ones. But we are getting used to it and adapting and really, could there be a more first world problem?
The shower and bathtub are separate, which is somewhat helpful, but not really because the water pressure isn’t great if both are running at the same time. But this long shower head in the bathtub is soooo nice for washing kids. And there is one in the shower too, I love it. Almost as much as I love…
THIS! The heated towel rack. Nothing like a nice warm towel when you step out of the shower. It’s especially nice because for some reason our shower doesn’t get to the scalding hot temperature I prefer, so I never quite feel warmed through after a shower.
Cameron and Eli’s room. I thought these vintage posters were so cool, but it turns out Cameron and Eli are interested in ACTUAL geography, and apparently the U.S.S.R. doesn’t exist anymore?
Sometimes an online purchase feels like such an amazing success- when you buy something that you are sure you wouldn’t have been able to find if online shopping didn’t exist. But then I realized this poster of these WWII airplanes wasn’t what I thought it was and I found a much better one at the Winston Churchill museum we went to. *Sigh.*
Our bedroom. I’m still working on putting photos in some of the frames… obviously.
The other day Richard said “You know, I don’t really like this duvet cover.” (He didn’t say “duvet cover” because I’m pretty sure he’s never used the word duvet.) If I had known he had an opinion on such things I might have asked. Or maybe not, because it was on clearance at IKEA. And it turned out it matched the fireplace pattern (in color, not so much in style) and I felt pretty good about it.
I had to make my own “vanity” space because there are no outlets in the bathroom. Is that annoying? VERY.
The built-in wardrobe has been really nice. It’s really tall but I make Richard use the top half.
The “office.” When we were listing our criteria for a house we really wanted a fourth bedroom for guests. But when it came down to it I think this might have been the only house we looked at that actually had four bedrooms. We decided it’s not functional for two adults to sleep in here, so my parents are sleeping in Cameron and Eli’s room and the boys are sleeping on the sofa bed in here. But it’s really nice to have this little space, it makes a great sanctuary for Richard in the mornings.
So that’s our house! We love it. It’s one of those things that once in awhile Richard and I just vocalize our gratitude for it to each other. I’m usually one of those people who thinks you can be happy anywhere, and make the best of any choice, but this house feels especially right for us.
Just Your Average Jo 
You have done such a great job making this be place your home. I have missed your blogs so I was really happy for this one. I hope you are enjoying your parents I am sure they are enjoying you and your beautiful family.💖 look forward to more of your news in the future. We are getting excited to go see sean lori and girls in Sept. Best to you always. Julie😀
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You did a fantastic job of decorating Jo! Your house is immaculate and belies the fact that you have 4 little cyclones living in it ha ha.
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I love it – looks fantastic!
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