Open House

Well, Emily asked me recently to post an "open house" like the one Natalie put on her blog - but I had missed hers. So today while Rachel napped, I looked at Natalie's so I could do one. What fun! I decided to split mine between up & downstairs (just like Natalie did) mostly because the downstairs just happens to be clean right now. So, I don't know when the upstairs will be clean enough for me to actually take pictures and post "open house - part 2" but for now...

The picture above is taken from my front door looking in. Straight ahead is the staircase (obviously), the door on the left is to the garage and straight across from that door is the door leading into our only bathroom downstairs - the "powder room." Just beyond that, to the left is the living room and to the right is the kitchen.


This is taken from the doorway of our office - just to the right of the front door (you'll see the office door in a picture below). It shows our stairs and the family room (upstairs) where we watch TV & spend most of our time. If I were to re-build this house in the future, I would have a wrought iron railing instead of a wood one painted white, but it was already here when we looked at the house.

This is also taken in the entry way - with a view to the right. That open doorway leads into the dining room.
The dining room that I just painted and decorated.
Another shot showing the entry way but taken the opposite direction. The double doors on the left are to the office - and no, I will NOT show you the office until it is majorly re-done and cleaned up. It's a really pretty room with great windows and light and a two-story ceiling but right now it looks like the dump. Sad.
This is the living room downstairs - on the left of the house just past the garage door. I love the long narrow picture hanging near the armoire - it was $3 at Michael's and I found the frame for less than $20 and the colors were just right and I love the way it looks there. There are 4 windows along that wall on the right so this room gets lots of sun. We don't "hang out" in here that much though.
Here's another shot of the living room with me closer to the windows. Looking at this really makes me want to re-do my mantle and mess of stuff hanging above the piano - ugh! Any suggestions? The red wall was kind of fun to paint. We used a primer first that they recommended at Home Depot and it was hot pink. You should've seen Hannah's face when she saw it. She was SOOO excited to have a bright pink wall...

Anyway, this is taken leaning on the back of the leather couch in the living room looking into the kitchen. This is to the right when you pass the bathroom (just opposite the living room). I love these barstools. They were a great deal - probably because the original fabric on them was kind of boring and ugly. So I found something I liked better at Jo-Ann fabric and for about $20 and my handy-dandy staple gun, I had barstools that I really like! I am lucky to have lots of counter space and a HUGE island and tons of cabinets - since some of them are actually still empty my kids climb in them and play "spaceship" while I fix dinner. Notice that I can't hang anything on my fridge so it's all stuck on the side. This kitchen and the pantry are what sold me on the house. I also like the clock on the top left. I got all of my good stuff (the things I like at least) in Utah - still haven't found a decorating store here that I like.
A picture of my decorations above the cabinets in my kitchen. I posted this mostly because I love those grapes on the pedestal and the rooster.
This is the shelf above the door that leads to our back yard. It's right next to the kitchen table. The little green tag on the vase is an index card that says "los flores." Hannah's teacher told us we should put labels on things at home to teach her vocabulary. Those green cards are on lots of things right now, so just disregard them if you notice any others.
A picture of the doorway that leads from the kitchen to the "butler's pantry" that leads into the dining room. (This is the first house we've been in that makes a loop - the kids love to run around and around and around...) The door you can see in the hallway is to our laundry room and where we keep our extra freezer. Just out of sight on the left is our table. You can see the corner of our island - the cookies on it were delivered yesterday by our home teacher. The other door you see on the right leads into our HUGE pantry. Honestly, it's the size of a small room and has built-in shelves and is wonderful! I don't know what I'll ever do someday when we move. Where else do people put food storage?
This picture was taken upstairs in the family room looking down into the entry way. You can see the front door and the office doors. We have a VERY tall Christmas tree that we put directly below where I was standing when I took this picture and we put pre-lit garland all along the railing going upstairs and across the upstairs rail. It looked so pretty (to me) and it makes me kind of excited to decorate again this year.

Anyway, so there's a little tour of our house. The missionaries are coming for dinner tonight, so I've got to go start something. This was fun - thanks for the great idea Em. Someday, I'll clean up upstairs and post part 2!