Once upon a time, @MomNom, @jennandtonica, @emmie_bee, @heirtoblair, and @ColeEmmett were talking about home decor on Twitter. We thought it would be so great to be able to see each other’s homes! A *bunch* of other tweeps joined in, @Alena29 put together a terrific button, and #twitterhometour (or #twitterhouseparty) was born! Feel free to join us – add a link to your home tour post (pictures, video, or both!) below.

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Hey, y’all!  Welcome to our home!  I’m excited, I’m nervous, & if I had my wits about me, I’d grab the video camera, put on my hostess apron, & invite you in with a pitcher of sweet tea.  In my heart, that’s what I am doing, so kick up your heels at your desk & enjoy a peak into our home.

Downstairs

Living Room

Our living room is really fantastic.  It’s the heart of our home & pretty much the first thing you see when you enter the door.  We’re blessed/cursed with a very open floor plan that flows in a full circle, which means our breakfast table & Harry’s high chair are adjacent to our sofa & coffee table.  (umm, if you have any tips about what to put on that black table at the door besides mail, my pocket book, & hand sanitizer, I would greatly accept suggestions!)

Really Strange Things In My Home

• Picket Fences on the living room walls.
  • The seller left these.  We just didn’t know what to do with them, so here they are, over three years later.
• A massive spoon & fork.
  • When we were still really cool, we used to have our friends over for both dinner & drinks.  Inevitably, someone would get hammered & try to take the spoon and/or fork off the wall & eat with them.
• No rugs on the floors.
  • Our smaller rugs are upstairs on the wood landing, softening the blow of Tuck’s nails so she won’t wake up Harrison.  & the big rug is outside in the garage, waiting to be cleaned because it got left out in the rain.  Three times.  It’s been there for a month because I’m lazy.

Would y’all like a drink before we continue?  Gin & tonic, perhaps?

Kitchen

I love cooking when I’m not…you know, having a mental breakdown.  My kitchen is small & if there’s one thing I want in my next house, it’s a bar or island.  I do not care about granite counter-tops or stainless steal appliances, but I DO care about counter space!

Formal Dining Room

I love my dining room.  LOVE.  It was on my must-have list for a house & I purchased the furniture with my inheritance from my grandmother (which seemed like the right thing to do since it would house her china).

I’ve hosted fondue night, Mother’s Day, a brunch, Christmas dinner, & a few romantic nights, so this table already holds some amazing memories.  I’m thinking of changing it up – blue walls & gold drapes.  We’ll see!

1. I own china.  Three different patterns.  This is my casual summer Carribean China.  Don’t laugh.
2. Proof that I am not perfect, nor is my house.  My dog chewed my silk drapes two years ago.  She is still alive.  & my drapes have not be fixed in two years, despite having company over.
3. Yep, that’s my bridal portrait.
4. My grandmother’s bamboo china.
5. My Christmas china, which I have been collecting since I was 16.  Don’t laugh.
6. My sweet angel given to me by a very, very sweet friend after I lost Harpie.  Notice the little egg basket she carries?  I think she is beautiful.

Let’s go upstairs, shall we?

These lovelies were purchased here.  Also part of my nesting phase where I felt like EVERYTHING needed to be spruced up & I went on an Etsy craze.

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UPSTAIRS

The Loft

This is where most blogging/playing/picture-taking goes down so it should look relatively familiar to you, no?  It hosts Harrison’s toys, our workout gear, the computers, our inappropriately large television that we no longer watch, & Nate’s framed first hole-in-one.

The Guest Room

I struggled mightily with this room when we moved in because we simply were not using it.  & it was JUST SO FREAKIN’ CUTE between the shaker knobs & cheery yellow walls.  I’ve tried a zillion different ideas in here, but I think it finally fits & I adore the personal touches.

1. This is a water color of the building where we had our Rehearsal Dinner.
2. My beloved Pottery Barn bedding that I splurged on with my beloved birds on it.  Also, my first Ebay purchase.
3. The fabric framed here is from the first couch Nate & I owned as a married couple.
4. Chest of drawers.  The entire set is antique & my furniture from high school.
5. A few family pictures.  Nate walking on the beach, my best friend’s wedding, & my grandparent’s tying the knot back in the 1940′s.

The Guest Bathroom/Harrison’s Bathroom

I know that it’s Harry’s bathroom.  It’s where he’s bathed every night, where he’ll be potty-trained, & where he will probably flush a toy or twenty down the commode.  Eventually, the pretty stuff will need to go & a step-stool will stand in front of the sink.  But for now, it’s also our guest bathroom & I like keeping the baby to a minimum.  His duck bath hangs in the shower along with his bath wash & the hooks on the wall (as viewed in the mirror) hold his robe & towels.  A basket holds any forgotten necessities for guests – toothbrush, razors, toothpaste, etc.

Harry’s Room

You should remember this from the Great Paint Debacle of 2009.  (in case you missed it, it’s where paint peeled off the walls, I briefly considered giving Tuck up for adoption, & then certifiably lost my shit over the crib touching the walls).  But here is in useful glory.  Not much has changed, other than the size of the diapers in the caddy & the blankets that sit on his dresser, ready to be grabbed at a moments notice.  I love his nursery & we do spend a ton of time in here – so worth the time & money we spent, in my opinion.

Where The Magic Happens
(aka the Master Bedroom)

Our furniture was a steal & our first big purchase as an engaged couple.  It also takes 3 grown men to lift the solid-oak-&-iron headboard on the bed.  The duvet is from Pottery Barn & was my last pre-baby big splurge – you know that moment of panic where you think, “I will never, ever be able to spend $200 on bedding again in my life?!”  I had one of those at about 36 weeks.  & pressed purchase.  & yes, we’ve slept happily together in a queen sized bed for almost four years

We’ll call this segment “things on my dresser.”  I think you can tell a lot about someone with the things on their dresser – who they are, where they’ve been, what is important to them.  (wow, I sounded like Forrest Gump with shoes there).  From top left going clockwise:

1. Paint swatches.  Nate decided he wants our master bedroom green after 3 years in a brown house.  I’m not arguing, but I am putting my foot down for a nice olive rather than lime or mint.
2. Yep, that’s what I smell like.  J. Simp on a regular day, Euphoria for date night.  Nate gave me the Euphoria for a wedding present, so you can tell how much I wear perfume given that it’s been 3 1/2 years.
3. My Willow Tree gals.  The “Courage” angel has her arms up in victory, given by a sweet friend the night before I had heart surgery in college.  & the mother one was given to me when I was pregnant with Harpie.
4. Pictures of my other set of boys, aka the Brothers.
5. I had a cat named Sweetie – she died on November 18, 2004 of kidney failure at the age of 14.  There isn’t a day that passes that I don’t miss her sweet soul.  She really did fit her name, & this figurine looks EXACTLY like her.

& sweet other touches, like my wedding garter around Nate’s side of the bed, collages of us, & our wedding invitation, framed to remind us daily of the vows we spoke.  Random fact:  We have ZERO pictures of Harrison in our room.  We just feel like it should be…ours.

The Great Outdoors

ADORE our porch.  Adore.  Nate & I spend so many evenings out there, either eating dinner at the bistro set or having a beer on the sofa.  We are REALLY working on our green thumbs this year!  I started tomatoes, am transplanting some Crepe Myrtles, & a raised garden is in the works!  We’re also training some wisteria, & I cannot wait for my new Gardenia to bloom – it’s one of my favorite smells.  In the meantime, we’re busy killing our grass (see Thankful on Thursday) & basically getting everything ready  & perfect for it to be a boy’s paradise in a few years.

& that’s pretty much it!  It’s not huge, it’s not fancy, but it’s our home & we love all of the personal touches.

Y’all come back now…ya here?