As I write today, I am nestled in my blue floral wing chair next to the fireplace in the family room. There is a light snow falling which should reach nearly 3 feet in accumulation by tomorrow evening. There is something very settling about knowing that you don’t need to run out anywhere. These days I am always having to shuffle a kid somewhere or pick up something at the store or drop something off at the post office. I am relishing the thought of three days without these usual demands and time to spend with my family and on some long awaited projects.
Today I am starting a series that will feature a little tour of our home in the suburbs outside of Washington, D.C. I hope you will find it insightful and inspiring (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t like to snoop and see someone else’s house).
We purchased our home in 2001 when I was pregnant with my second child. We fell in love with the house primarily because our good friends lived right down the street. I wasn’t looking for a “dream home.” I hadn’t really ever given that much thought. Up until that point, we had lived in townhouses that we rented from friends, so I was happy just having a place of our own. We walked through it a couple times and I loved the light filled rooms and open floor plan and especially the proximity to our friends, so we bought it.
I’ll save a longer discussion on dream homes for another post, because I want to get to the first room on the tour: our family room. This room is in the back of the house and is open to the kitchen with a step down and bookcase separating them. It is a nice sunny room with four floor-to-ceiling windows with transoms and western exposure.
I have thought about finding a nice white color to repaint the walls, as this salmon color was on the walls when we moved in, but each time I bring this up my family persuades me not to make the change. I did swap out some aging Hunter Douglas blinds this past year for some bamboo roman shades that I purchased at Lowe’s and I couldn’t be happier.
I also made slip covers for our couches and a wing chair. The wing chair was a hand me down. We purchased the couches when we were first married. I still liked the shape, but the white damask fabric just wasn’t my thing anymore. I used drop cloths and followed an online tutorial. I really loved the look and the practicality and in fact, these projects were what started me down the road of starting my own business.
I added the gallery wall a couple years ago after my dad gifted me the two seaside prints. I decided to keep the theme going as a nod to my mother’s side of the family who came from New Bedford, MA. In fact my great-great grandfather was a whaling captain. My daughter bought me the whale print which is actually the entire script of Moby Dick in tiny print. The larger prints were already in gold frames, so I added some black frames to keep things grounded and to tie them into the room.
I hope you have enjoyed the little tour. There are more pictures to peruse if you click on the “Our Home” button. Now I think I have some shoveling to do!
