Autumn home tour 2018

Well, that makes it sound fancy...

Alternate title: it was sunny today, school holidays are finally over, the house was partially clean and my baby was sleeping so I quickly took some photos.

Something about Autumn always gets me into nesting mode and thanks to 2018 being such a happier year this far I've had the energy and snippets of time to actually do some creative things. My budget is $0 so I've basically just gone through the house rearranging everything. Pretty sure the hubs thinks I am a bit strange for doing this, but when your place of work is also your home there is REALLY something to be said for creating a change of scene with what you have.

Let's start with Ella's room. Last year it was like this (below) but I was never able to shake the feeling that the bed looks wrong and this room just never had any sort of cosy vibe. This Autumn my life's goal is to create a cosy vibe everywhere I go.

...So we ended up just moving the bed around, and it immediately felt cosier. Something about feng shui? It feels better now! The funny thing to me was that she was SO into the whole process and followed me around adjusting things like the mini-Amy that she is.

She even went so far as to pick some flowers out of an existing bouquet in the dining room and put them in her drink bottle next to the bed. She's 3.

 New bed orientation:

The little wooden school desk was an op-shop find for $5 accidentally one day. It literally says "Ella's desk!" on it in graffiti. It was a sign ;)  I have/had plans to sand it back etc but for now it works.

Well, I kind of hate the weird green glow that shows up in photos of this room (below) from the reflection of our backyard (grass, trees, hills etc) - it's actually a warm off-white almost-beige colour.

The quilt is just an extra winter layer I added to her duvet for warmth - I have PLANS to make her a quilt this year but oh my goodness... I need to write a post about all my unfinished projects.

It's hard to see but that ball-type thing on her drawers is the beginnings of a hot air balloon! After she saw the one I made for Josh, she decided she wanted one too. Unfortunately I didn't use a pattern and thought I could just wing it on the sewing machine.... so it's pretty wonky.

If I had another blog, it would probably have the word impatient in the title because everything I make gets rushed!

In our lounge, I did a bold move and covered up our huge ranch sliders with an equally huge couch. Our couches are custom made to be ginormous enough for a 7ft man to lie down on and have back support in. I don't think the pictures really do it justice, but for example my feet can't touch the floor if I sit back in them properly! (And I'm about 5'10"). I love that we have them so my ex-pro-baller husband can lounge around to his heart's content.... but I kind of don't love how much floor space they dominate.

So, because of their size, the only way to get a different configuration in this room was to cover the ranch sliders. We decided this can be how we have them in Winter. The room actually gets too hot from all the sun so I'm not bothered about losing some of that! I didn't want it to seem like all the furniture was gathered around the TV but you know what, it feels so cosy in here and when we DO watch tv it's nice to have a straight-on view.

I just moved this bookcase down from the corner where the door is and laid it horizontal. (See the before in the second pic here) I like horizontal lines - they make a room look bigger and mimic the natural landscape. Of course, this bookcase is a flimsy veneer piece which, if you look to the left of it, has a base that shows it's only meant to be placed upright. So sad, too bad. I have to work with what we've got!

Looking toward the dining room is the TV area I don't love but at least it looks better without the tall shelves next to it. That freed up that corner for our rocking chair which I'm sitting in now while I type!
The yellow cushions were sewn by my mum WAY back before I was pregnant with Ella and we had them at our last house. At the time I was selling cushions as a little business.

The dining room is much the same as before. We got cheap chairs from Kmart before hosting on Airbnb last Summer. I kind of strongly dislike the dark grey especially when paired with the brown floors that I love to hate....BUT they are an improvement on our last ones that the upholstery was literally falling off of. (I still have those chairs, and still plan to get them reupholstered! But until then.)

I fantastize at least once per day about getting the colours in this room sorted. I know the wall colour (Dulux Benmore Half) and the chair colour (a light stoney beige) and floor type (honey hardwood) that I want. I also know those things are not in my very near future. So I try not to look too hard.
On the positives, it's a sunny room and I love our table that my husband salvaged when we first moved here. It was previously a dark coffee colour all over, all old and dented up, and he and a friend sanded it right back before varnishing and painting the bottom white.

Ella's play kitchen lives in here and gets played with so often. It's nice being able to see the kids while I'm cooking in the kitchen.

Josh's room:

I think the is the final room that I've done some little changes in. I've wanted a shelf for this wall for ages. You know when you come home from being away and see your home with new eyes? I walked in after being away all Summer and knew I wanted some white horizontal shelves to go on this wall and create some order. About 4 months later I finally spotted these on Trademe for $30. Ella lost no time in arranging them!

I spend a lot of time sitting on the floor in this room playing with his toys with him or just being nearby while he plays, and these shelves are just right for his toys and books. Finally having a HOME for things always makes me happy. There are so many things that still seem to be floating in our home without a system, but getting things in order just feels great. 

This is the room before shelves (phone lighting, sorry). It was looking pretty sad with the rocking chair moved to the lounge and nothing else on that wall.

Josh loves his shelves and I love HIM. So scrumptious.

So there you go. Some little changes around here formally documented on the internet for all to see and care about. Or not. But I'm stoked so that's the main thing. 😄

Hope you are enjoying this crazy sunny golden Autumn as much as I am! (Or whatever season it is where you live).