home sweet home :: special guest

Today's guest post is from the beautiful Jessamie over at Bird & Branch Redesign. I'm kind of obsessed with her blog. No really. I absolutely love all of her furniture facelifts and DIY projects. Her blog is the kind that inspires you to create something beautiful. Oh, and her house looks like something right out of a magazine. Which is exactly why Jessamie is the guest blogger for today's topic... Home Sweet Home. But I love that she added a dose of reality to today's post... the perfect home... yet, with evidence of life... toys, unfinished projects, laundry... the things that make a house a home. Be sure to stop over and visit Jessamie at Bird & Branch Redesign to say hello! Enjoy!

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Hey yall! I'm so excited Julia had me over today. I hope I can live up to her awesome-ness! So I'm here to chat about home decor. This is such an addiction of mine. Wait...addictions are usually bad though. Maybe I should find a new word. Nonetheless, I love the world of design. Modern, country, you name it and I can probably find something I like about it.

Here is the thing though. All those pretty pictures Julia and I both "pin" on our Pinterest boards don't usually work for normal life. If I had books stacked all over my coffee table my husband would wonder where to put his feet. That's only if my 14 month old didn't scatter them all over the entire house first. {p.s. I love them!}

So today I've decided to show our house. This guest post has actually helped me conquer a fear of mine. Well, not really a fear, I just kept putting off showing my house on my own blog because it wasn't "finished". There are about 9 projects I still want to accomplish, but I'm going to share with yall anyway. Here goes!

My husband and I live in a bungalow style house.

With a cute little front porch. {I'm actually in the process of giving it a face-lift, so if you want to follow my process check me out!}

And here is our cozy living room. You see "Toy Corner"? Luckily I took these pictures during naptime, otherwise it would have looked like a bomb just went off in Toys R Us.

Here is our dining room and I love it. I feel like it's a great balance of casual and formal. But, there is a dresser over to the left I've wanted to paint it for about 6 months now... ooops and a left over birthday card on the mantle.

This amazing piece of furniture used to act as a china cabinet, with pretty breakables on every level. Momma's had to do a little rearranging.

Then our sweet little kitchen. It really is little, but we did a great job figuring out how to make it feel roomy. This post is bringing back a lot of "Before" memories!

And our breakfast nook. Don't look too close, you'll see all the food smeared in the creases of the bead board by the mentioned 14 month old!

Then there is the Mudroom {laundry / grilling equipment / Bird & Branch studio}. Unless you have a closet, there is just no attractive way to display a steamer, haha!

Don't you love how pretty little flower hooks end up holding an ax and extension cords?

See yall! Real life and comfortable design can co-exist! The #1 rule {in my book} is to have a place for everything. I know, it's a age old rule. If you don't have room for something, re-evaluate your stuff. Decor is fun and you should never hold onto something you don't love!
 

I might have to do a "Before & After" soon, this was a lot of fun.

Julia, thank you so much for having me over! Have a blast on one of your many summer vaca's!!!