Welcome to Our Home! Part 2

Earlier I posted a mini-tour of the first part of our home. Here's the second half!

Harmony's room! It's a small space between the main area of the house and the back den. She loves it. Her tea set, box of treasures, stuffed animals, and some musical instruments stay in here. The wicker chair moves around the house wherever she wants it to be.

Yes, her toddler bed is on the floor. It used to be on the floor in our apartment next to our bed, and she still rolls around so much in her sleep that we just keep it this way now. Half the time when she falls out of the bed she'll just pick herself up and climb back in! She also likes having her books nearby.

Two beautiful pieces of art that my mom created: the owl and the pussycat at sea, and my favorite childhood lullaby that I now sing to Harmony: 

May the Lord, mighty Lord, bless and keep you forever. 

Grant you peace, perfect peace, faith in every endeavor.

Lift up your eyes and you'll see His face and His grace forever.

May the Lord, mighty Lord, bless and keep you forever.

More art hanging on the wall, Harmony's beloved set of handbells, my rocking chair that Chris bought me from an antique store before Harmony was born, and Harmony's baby doll in the hand-made cradle grandpa made for her birthday. We were blessed with more than half a dozen hand-knit or crocheted baby blankets when Harmony came along; I rotate them every so often, so that we can enjoy the warmth and beauty of all of them!

Here's our den! We use it as a combined t.v. room and toy room. And craft room. And storage room. It's full of all sorts of odds and ends, like our vacuum, and the thing you hang clothes on folded up behind it. You can also get into the backyard from this room.

Most of Harmony's toys stay in here, which is nice to have them contained in one main area. We have tried very hard to have toys that inspire imaginative play, and to limit noise-making or technology-driven toys. So far it's gone well. This past month I've been watching Harmony spend hours making up stories with her animal and pony figurines, building with blocks, playing with water toys in the bathroom sink, zooming her toy cars across the table, and developing her imagination!

More books! More art! More instruments! That is Harmony's rainstick in the corner. Yes, it's Harmony's personal rainstick. Our family gives awesome birthday presents to two-year olds. 

That's the door to my sister's room. No pictures of that space! We try to respect her privacy while she lives with us. My crafty things are mostly stored in that corner. The beanbag unfolds into a comfy mattress that many guests have used in our house.

Our room! I am still in love with this gorgeous comforter Chris and I purchased when we were first married. It is so cheerful!

There's the other entrance to my sister's room. Yeah, the floorplan is weird in the house. It's worked out well so far for all of us, though. I especially love the coat-rack my sister found for us at a thrift store. If you're curious, we have some knick-knacks on top of the bookshelf including a leprechaun whiskey container (empty) and a stuffed frog holding a guitar. WE ARE WEIRD.

Here you see all our clothes. Seriously, all of it is here except for the stuff we have hung up in the tiny closet you see on the side. We don't separate out our cold or warm weather clothes. The white bin is where I store my yarn stash, our gift-wrapping supplies, and all our heavy winter sweaters. My summer and winter shirts/t-shirts/tank tops are on the wire stand, along with our hats. Our pants and pajamas and underthings and socks and all Chris's shirts are in the dresser. 

It is bizarre to me just to realize how few clothes we own. Chris and I have very singular, independent (read"weird" again) approaches when it comes to fashion; we pretty much wear what we like, and what's comfy. Ninety percent of what I wear comes from thrift stores. Maybe I'll do another post about that later ; ) 

Oh, and I got that little ceramic pig on the dresser from a white elephant gift exchange years ago in Kansas City. It's adorable and matches my eight dollar thrift store lamp. Our wedding candles that we lit during the ceremony are on the dresser too. We light them during every anniversary. 

The newest art piece hung in our room, a beautiful quote hand-painted by my mom for my birthday this summer! I am so grateful to have meaningful art from many family members everywhere in our home. 

There you have it! Our home, looking decently clean, even though you can't see the dust on everything or the dirt on the floors. We're not spotless around here. But we do try to be welcoming. We look forward to having many friends over to enjoy time together!