This post was initially supposed to be a tongue in cheek tour of my not exactly Pinterest worthy house. I realized that it could be taken as a) Jealousy towards bloggers who have posted their lovely home tours or b) Humblebragging. I decided I was going to make this a learning experience for myself and try to look at our home in a different way. Seeing the good, the memories & the humor instead of the bad. I ended up learning more than I’d planned. The most surprising thing? Looking at the photos I took, I don’t see the dust, the sticky fingerprints, the dings on the floor, and the mess doesn’t seem as bad. So either the camera makes everything look nicer (in which case I don’t feel as terrible about these Pinterest homes) or I am really being too critical of my home.
We are very blessed. I know we are. 15 years ago I was living in a hotel room sized efficiency apartment, in a bad part part of town, and driving my rickety car to my $8/hr job. I eventually saved for a used couch, but sat on a folding chair & used cardboard boxes as tables for quite a while. If you’d dropped me into my current life then, I wouldn’t have believed it. Back then I had very little but I couldn’t have been happier and I don’t remember comparing myself to others or lamenting what I didn’t have. Today, I see these gorgeous, beautifully decorated homes on Pinterest and blogs, and I can’t help but feel down about my own. Old, ratty furniture, sweat on my brow just keeping up with the laundry, dishes, toys and junk, let alone deep cleaning. Why would it take me a full day of cleaning & re-arranging to even consider photographing my home? Well I didn’t (clean) and I did (photograph.)
Our current house is nearly twice the size of the house I grew up in, yet about half the size of many in our area. After I dropped my daughter off for a sleepover, I came home and told my husband it was a little depressing to leave the 5,000 sqft, 3 car garage, golf course home, that looked like a model home and didn’t have scuffed walls, sticky counters, dinged floors and junky furniture. He told me I needed to hang out with poor people. 😉 He was joking but he was right. We have so much and no, my house isn’t Pinterest worthy (not even close), but I am grateful for everything in it and I have got to stop comparing myself to others, instead being grateful for what I have.
So here’s a true to life “home tour” along with why I love it – even if it isn’t Pinterest pretty.
The dining room was once my favorite room in the house. When we moved into our first house in 2002 we bought this pressboard table from Ikea. On our first move someone put a leaf on top of the other leaf & scratched it (which of course, isn’t fixable for pressboard, hence the runner.) We’ve had many nice family Thanksgiving dinners in here, but now the table is forever dusty and baby gates make this the one place to keep things safe from little hands.
The dining room is now my makeshift photography studio, though someone still managed to get in here, get a camera lens, and throw it over the stair gate (I was folding laundry at the time.)
The idea for my office was for me to have a place to work in semi-quiet (ha ha) but now it’s mostly where I store my stuff (my prize closet resides here), pay bills and edit photos while my son terrorizes the bookshelves, and the kids come to steal my paper. :-p The desk is Sauder pressboard, purchased at an auction for $27 (if I remember correctly.) It has amazingly survived 5 moves, but if you nudge it, it will collapse. So don’t. 😉 The rocking chair I am so grateful to have. It was in my father’s mother’s house as long as my Dad can remember, and he said it was NOT comfortable to sit on as a little boy! It’s not valuable (the estate valued it at $50) but it’s priceless to me.
The bookshelf, side table and chair (pressboard most likely!) we purchased when we were selling our house in 2008 and needed to “stage” our empty formal living room. Not pictured: a headless angel. A friend of mine gave me a beautiful angel as a gift, which has been dropped & re-glued twice. Each time I was sure it was out of reach. *sigh* For now my knick-nacks consist of preschool crafts!
The laundry room is also home of toys in “time out” (on the shelf) and where I seem to spend an awful lot of my time!
Like all exterior doors, this room’s has a chain lock because my son will be out the door faster than you can blow your nose.
When we built this house, we had just one child, who was 3. We carved off a slice of the mud room for a walk-in-pantry. Unfortunately the mud room that was plenty big for three is unbelievably cramped when trying to get 5 people out the door! I’m always tripping on shoes or my daughter’s stuff.
We had planned to remove the pantry to make room for built in benches, lockers etc. so we emptied the pantry and moved things elsewhere (to the pantry cabinet, extra bags, wrap, toilet paper etc. to other cabinets.) It never made it into our budget so this slowly became a dumping ground. It started with one tote for each kid’s art supplies and one tote for me to dump their random junk in that I was picking up. It’s exploded into the mess you see here. Believe it or not, this closet has been Pinterest perfectly organized several times of the last few months. I’m waving my white flag now. I give up!
The coffee maker. Best part of the kitchen. 😉 Not really pictured here are the eternal smears & fingerprints on the appliances. Stainless steel with 1 kid was way cleaner than stainless steel with 3. Too bad I didn’t have this should you buy SS appliances flow chart. 😉
Not pictured: the “toy distressed” floors. We were really in love with cherry floors but they were spendy. Especially the hand distressed floors. So, we went with engineered cherry (thin veneer of real wood over pressboard – different than laminate which is a picture of wood sandwiched between pressboard & plastic.) We were told (ha right) that Janka hardness ratings did not apply to engineered wood. Well, now we have toy distressed floors instead of hand distressed! The felt pieces I bought before we moved in and asked my husband to help me put on the bottom of the couch, shelves etc. are still in their packages (I was worried about trying to flip all the furniture over myself, hence why I didn’t just do it myself) soooo…we have scraped and scratches and gouges from furniture being pushed around before we got this rug.
These Ikea tables & Wal Mart TV stand were actually a recent purchase. What we had before was even cheaper & worse. We were the last people on earth (so it seems) to not have a flat-screen TV. DH really wanted one and we got a steal after Thanksgiving, bought the cheap TV stand and Ikea tables.
We bought this couch & love seat when we moved into our first house in 2002. I remember sitting on the family room floor with my husband eating popcorn before it was delivered. The set wasn’t expensive (we were broke) but we loved it. What was a miniscule, barely visible tear became larger & larger over the course of a few weeks (every time I turned my back.)
I lamented that maybe someday we’d have a decent couch. Like, when our kids move out. 😉 My father-in-law wisely told me that when you approach retirement age, money in your account is far more important than nice furniture, but then again, they’ve always had nice furniture! On a positive side. This is where I sat & nursed all 3 of my babies for countless hours. It’s where I sit and do my job that allows me to stay home with my kids!
Random goldfish on the floor. My husband bought me a Roomba as a gift, but my son drives me batty by stopping it and/or trying to ride it. So, I have to pick up all the toys & try to vacuum almost every day, at which point he tells me “is TOO LOUD!” I’ve tried scheduling the Roomba for early in the morning & it wakes me up and scares the heck out of me when it gets stuck on something, LOL.
The half bath was one of our few projects. We got a great scratch & dent deal on this vanity, DH put up the wainscotting, and we (eventually) put a new toilet in too. The front of the vanity & sink are almost always filthy from my son’s little “projects” and dirt he’s bringing in from outside, LOL. It’s the most used bathroom in our house, and my youngest loves to follow big brother in and sit on his little potty while big brother is going. It’s so cute when big brother encourages him!
All of our doors had lever style handles, and by pulling hard, my son could force them to unlock from the outside. This in turn broke the lock mechanism. I had gone to Lowes and bought some cheap knob style handles with the locks you turn instead of pushing, to give everyone some chance at privacy. I had the old handle off, turned to reach for a screw, and my son shoved the door closed. Now I was trapped in the bathroom with bacon on the stove no less. I used the screwdriver, the screw and my fingers to get it to open with no luck. My daughter slid my phone under the door and I called my husband to try to figure out if there was some simple solution I was missing, but he didn’t answer. I ended up just beating it with the screwdriver to get it to open. That was quite the adventure!
My daughter had a friend spend the night & she said “WOW, your bed is REALLY TINY!” SO I guess I know that her parents have a King, LOL!
When we bought our first house we spent about $1200 at Ikea on the table, chairs, cabinet, 2 dressers and 2 nightstands. All are pressboard, all are junk. I was just happy to have a nightstand and things that matched, instead of a mishmash of our childhood furniture like we’d had before. I’d love to have better furniture but I get sticker shock and think about the zillions of other things I could do with that money. So, as long as the furniture functions, it stays!
Any time I buy a lottery ticket I mentally spend my winnings on a fancy, beautiful, stone walk-in shower. For now, mine is filled with toys since I never shower alone. Generally my every-other day shower is spent dodging my son as he tells me to get out of the way (me washing myself blocks the water), LOL.
This is the amazing bathtub (though I’m not crazy about the tile – we were on a budget) where my son was born. A.K.A. the kids’ swimming pool. I don’t think I’ve been back in it since he was born!
My daughter is only 9.5 but her “beauty products” and play makeup and hair stuff are already out of control. I’m forever trying to scoot the things her brother shouldn’t have into the locked cabinet. This is better than it usually looks. There are always nose and/or fingerprints on the mirror from my boys admiring themselves, ha!
This is one of my favorite rooms in the house because my 2-year old doesn’t regularly destroy it yet, ha ha. It was our “spare room” for the first 6-months of his life since we were co-sleeping, but then he & I bed-shared for two years after he realized that was far preferable. 😉 Just a few months ago, we transitioned him to the crib which sounds weird since many other kids are transitioning to big kid beds, but it was a perfect step for us. The glider was the cheapest we could find since my son (2.5 when his brother was born) wasn’t ready to give up the chair where I rocked & read to him. I dread the day I rock my babies for the last time. 🙁
The chair in my 5-year old’s room was the one my Dad was to help me pick up the day my water broke on 2/5/05! I called my Mom & said “ummm…has Dad left yet?” She says “yeah, why?” Me: “Um, because my water just broke.” I’d already called my husband to come home from work (he had to work Saturdays at that point) and my Dad wouldn’t leave until he got to our house. It was a little awkward since I had resorted to wearing a towel around my waist since every time I stood up I soaked my pants, and only had 2 pair that fit, ha ha! I rocked my older two babies in that chair, and now my son loves to sit on it. It is in terrible shape with marker and who knows what else on it! One of the selling points when we bought it was that you could buy replacement pads. I hope that’s still true! My son’s room usually isn’t too bad, but don’t look at his closet. He recently got mad at me for messing up his “phone store.” He draws these adorable paper iPhones (and even an iPad mini) and you can buy one for just a penny if you come to his store. 😉 I swept them all up into a little case to get them off his dresser and he was like but now no one can come to my store and buy one!!
My daughter swears her room is clean. This is hard for me. I like things neat & clean and to a certain extent I think I can say OK, no food in here, it has to be sanitary if it isn’t neat. I usually can’t vacuum in here because there’s too much stuff on the floor and it just really makes me nutty. I try to respect her right to her own space though. When asked for help, I’ve assisted with cleanout and organization, but it never stays that way.
The other day we were talking about one of her friends moving and she said “I wish we were moving because then I could go through all my junk and get rid of stuff.” I’m like “You can! Heck, pretend we’re moving!” Ha ha. Desk from Ikea, shelves from Target!
It is neat to see her preferences come out as she grows up. She loves One Direction, obviously. I try to respect her individuality & not show my feelings on the hideous fashion trends. As long as it’s not inappropriate, it’s fine by me. I do draw the line at ripped or badly stained clothing, but they generally choose what they wear. I think I’ve spoken before how much it bugs me that my kids want to dress like hobos, ha. Growing up wearing 3x hand me downs and being able to buy my kids nice clothes now, it’s definitely mind boggling.
We have lost many of our chickens to predators, and we only have one left from our second flock at this house (we’ve had them on & off since 2007.) This flock flies over the fence like mad & clipping their wings doesn’t help. They are pastured in our fenced back yard (maybe 1/3 of our 1 acre) but apparently the grass is greener in the front. They are driving me nuts tearing up our flower beds looking for bugs. I tolerated it until they made their way to the neighbor’s yard & started messing in his flower beds. So now my husband is working on building a run for them. That won’t be a fun change for them.
I still remember the body aches that came with moving all that mulch over the course of the summer (while I was pregnant.) We need to get another load as it’s compacted, blown and been kicked around by the chickens. Not pictured: stuff growing where the chickens ripped the plastic underneath. Also: yard full of random junk, tools, equipment, and a “garden” that is just a bunch of weeds.
At least half of our backyard is clover (mostly close to the house) because of the chickens hanging out there, pecking & scratching. It bothers my husband way more than it bothers me. I’m like “meh, it’s green!” Also: chicken poop. Chicken poop everywhere.
My husband has a tendency to leave stuff where it falls (drives me bananas) which means he starts & never finishes projects, leaving things absolutely everywhere. I hate it because I feel like our yard looks like a junkyard! Right now he has the chicken’s run, the old garden he’s supposedly tearing out and a new garden he’s building closer to the house. Our garage is equally junk filled. It’s funny because I was looking at pictures of our first house & took a picture of the garage that I thought was sooooooo dirty. I want to pat my 2002 self on the head and say “bless your heart.” BUT it contains our two (used, over 100k mi on each) cars that are nicer than anything I ever thought I’d drive, and best of all, they are paid for!
This deck was built on the cheap, if you don’t count all the beer he & his friend drank the summer they built it. Usually covered in chicken poop.
What I do love about this house is the view.
Everywhere we look, we have a beautiful view not done justice by pictures. When we bought this lot it was basically because it was the only thing available in the school district for which we were shopping. I didn’t want to be this far out of town & my “non-negotiable” was that I needed a shoulder that was safe to push a stroller/bike on with kids. Well, that didn’t happen. People drive 50+ on our 35 MPH winding, hilly country road (lots of blind hills & curves), often with tractors & horse trailers that are wider than one lane.
So, our house isn’t Pinterest worthy. Our furniture is junk and I struggle every day to keep up with the mess. A home is made up by who is in it, not what. Comparison is the thief of joy. Don’t compare yourself to other people or what they have (do as I say, not as I do!)
Someday I hope to have the time to be a savvy thrift shopper and get an beautiful home on a dime. Someday my house will be empty and impeccably kept like my mother-in-law’s home, and I dare-say, I will look back fondly at these days and I won’t remember the messes or the junky furniture.
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
OMG I love the changing the door handle story! Had to share with my hubby and we both lol’d! I’m in the same spot as Jill above, clutter, clutter everywhere. We have a tiny house with no storage and too much stuff. With baby #2 on the way it’s time to get rid of it all!
It’s funny now but at the time, whew, I was a little ticked, LOL!
WE know people with spotless houses and people with dirty houses. Poor and rich. Nearly everyone better off than us because they were already having families and getting the mess behind them while we were paying our way through school, etc. I love that you are so open about ‘junk’ stuff. We got some matching stuff when we first got married, but it was heavy to move, clunky, etc. Now I kind of wish we had mix-matchy stuff that’s just fun instead.
There is stuff on literally every surface of our house, both floor and table wise. it’s crazy. I hate clutter, so it drives me insane, but I rarely get time to actually DO the cleaning. between diapers, kids, running errands, laundry, dishes, etc. it just doesn’t get de-cluttered. bah.
oh well. not pinterest worthy, but you can tell we actually live in it.. few things I would change, but mostly just ‘get rid of clutter’ and ‘for the love of god FIX what is broken’ sorts of things..
There’s a furniture store near us with stunningly beautiful antique reproduction (solid wood) furniture. Absolutely beautiful and their prices really aren’t much more than a regular furniture store, but the quality is so different. They even have a buy-back where they will give you what you paid for it at any time in the future BECAUSE the furniture won’t lose value. It’s something you’d pass down for generations. I’d love to have a houseful of that stuff, but the chairs we liked were $250. Each. EACH.
I’ve looked at regular old furniture stores and their prices seem so high, but the quality isn’t much different than Ikea (save for some solid wood.) The dresser drawers don’t slide smoothly etc.
The kids’ beds were bought on sale from Pottery Barn Kids & are pretty nice & we have dressers from an unfinished furniture store & are pretty nice BUT the prices have gone up a lot over the years. I think the chairs we liked there were rubberwood & were still around $100+ each unfinished!
Anyway the point of my ramble is that I guess I’d prefer functional, semi-OK looking junk than way overpriced, not all that fantastic furniture & an empty bank account. Now I’ll be honest, if I won the lottery, after investing etc. I would totally just buy all new furniture!
And yes fix what’s broken! Totally agree.
I love this post! And your lovely, REAL home! I do sometimes get down on myself and my house a bit when I’m browsing Pinterest and see the beautiful DIY projects, fancy furniture and gorgeous light fixtures in peoples’ homes. Then I feel extra bad when I click over to the blog and see that she has like 8 kids and 4 jobs yet still manages to keep the house immaculate lol!
My husband always tells me to hang out with “poor” people too! So funny!!!! I tell him, “It’s not my friends’ fault that they are rich!” HA!