having almost two months off work has given me a lot of time to think. i think it is good to be able to slow down sometimes and re organize your thoughts, your life, your days. i saw some things that needed to changed and am doing my best to work on those changes.
something i really want to do is to fall back in love with my house. HOME means everything to me. my home is my life. it is a direct representation of who i am and what i love. my family, music, colors, relaxation, laughter, blankets, painted wood, photographs. i want to connect to it again, and so this month especially, i have been nesting.
the top of my dresser has been a catch-all pretty much since the day we bought it, but now it is pretty. and i love waking up and falling asleep to it.
the wood frames were found at various flea markets. black box is my jewelry box. the photo with the three girls is from the black apple. the next photo is from delong ceramics and the hot man is mine.
i got this granny necklace thingamabob from urban outfitters and that gorgeous fun little necklace from mood swing. it is my favorite piece of jewelry.
this delicate little lantern is what im most in love with currently of all the goodies on my dresser. i have been eyeballing these for months and had them on my christmas list. needless to say they werent under the tree. when i came home from target happy as a lark, thrusting my new lantern in jeffs face and rubbing it in that i got one anyway (and for $14.99)
he said, “see babe? THAT is exactly why i didnt buy them for you. i knew you would be MORE happy to find them yourself.”
and because he is such a smart ass, and makes me laugh even when i want to hit him, that is why i love waking up and seeing him, too.
This is a great reminder. Home is where the heart is & personally, I don’t think people think enough about what you just said. The little things. The unimportant things that are so dadgum important.
Thanks for sharing! :)
love your nest. I am doing the same thing right now…trying to make my house something I love again during the messy construction zone that it still is! :) It is amazing how a few tiny details in a room can make you overlook the mess around it. :)
HI Tara,
As always – you inspire me!!! I have been looking for a new color for my living area – I LOVE the color on your bedroom walls – can you tell me what it is? Thanks :)
Have a great nesting day!!!
Ruth
i LOVE moodswing jewelry. I could buy everything she makes! i love the vignette of items on your dresser and really love the empty frames sitting there. :-)
yUM!
what a pretty spot!!!
but i am searching.
i NEED to paint and decorate my house, it’s more finding the time/talent/money that’s a factor!
you inspire me!
tara
totally dreamy necklace! :)
Tara I love your house and that you show it to us too. The kitchen is fabulous, and your dresser is a perfect collection. I decided at new year to work on the house a bit more too (as we are now here another 3 years). I dont mind clutter (indeed I suspect its part of my decorating style), I’m not on a big cleaning binge, I would just like more pretty curtains and cushions, bright duvees (bedspread? comforter), pics in frames and nick nacks. Thanks for the inspiration!
love the way you put different pieces together in your home..
very inspiring!
I’ve totally been nesting too over the last month or so. And I’m getting into it as another way of expressing myself / being creative since I’m not doing the scrapbooking thing so much any more. ;)
oh my, total eye candy here – thanks for sharing a little more of you t, you inspire me often! the chalkboard thingy, way cool! will have to talk my hubby into it! hugs, rach
Music to my ears…Youve been nesting. I love it!!!! House looks so homey. So glad you have had some time to have TIME for you, for home, and for family.
PS The pictures of Boy + Girl on couch was just too precious. She looks so grown up. You got me thinking,maybe somday…..
Continue to Enjoy your “Love Lives Here” Life
Momma
I love it Tara! Love your cool, family-friendly style. My house is just family-friendly right now, needs a bit more of the cool. Thanks for the inspiration. Your nest seems so very you! Please don’t be shy at sharing more! I can’t get enough.
Emily
Looks great, Tara! I know the feeling of your home being everything! Home is my favorite place and I love coming home after a long day away and just breathing it all in and instantly feeling relaxed an that all is right with the world! We have just moved in to a new home and I am enjoying taking my time, putting up all the little pieces of me and selecting just the right things for just the right spot!
Totally love your dresser itself! Where did you get it? It looks like on I saw at Ikea but didn’t know they had it in black?
Thanks for sharing pieces of your home with us….keep it coming!
Trina
cool. i love all the colors on your dresses. thanks for taking the time to give us the links. i have discovered so many cool things from reading your blog–urban outfitters! (i love the roof-top print.) your “check it” bar is one of my favorite places on the web. awesome shtuff.
smiles
ria
it looks so great! i love that little lantern too it is so cute. i’m glad you have things that you like to wake up to.
I checked out a few of the sites you had linked. Please, don’t link amnymore for I’m not sure my wallet can stand it. Too much gogreous stuff!
this is why i share-to spread the love around. :) i figure if i love these things someone else will too right?
the paint color is a ralph lauren shade from home depot called “regiment khaki”
love seeing the pics of your home–very you! Urban Nest–the title fits you perfectly. AND I love your kitchen. What a fun place to gather. love it. love it all! Show me more! :)
I love love love seeing pics of your home. Thank you so much for always sharing with all of us!!!
Beautiful!
Funny, that very thing has been going on at my house the last couple months, too. I loved all the rooms in my house *except* one – my bedroom. I just never ‘finished’ decorating it after painting, and suddenly one day I realized, I HATED being in there. So I started moving stuff around, purging the stuff that was just clutter, giving the pieces I LOVE a place of prominence, working in things that I hadn’t found space for before. And you know, I LOVE being in there now.
TFS Tara!! Looks like pictures from an urban catalog! Wish I could get inspired like that! LOL! :)
i loved your comments on your house… how you want to “fall back in love” with your house. i spent my entire childhood in one house… i could tell you the creak of every door, the number of steps it took to reach the lightswitch on my wall in the middle of the night, the numbers of steps on the stairs… i knew it all by heart. it WAS a part of my heart.
since marrying seven years ago, my husband and i (and now our little two-year-old) have lived in three houses, and i’m really missing this familiarity with the buildings that we inhabit. i’m working now to make our “house” feel more like “home”. part of it is the familiarity… the months of waking up in the same place… of feeling around in the dark for those darn light switches… and part of it are the little pieces in your house that just scream home.
recently, i created a little piece of art that i hung on the wall directly in view as i walk in from the garage. it says, “it is GOOD to be HOME” and every time I see it, I smile. my son is even picking up on it… when we walk in the door… he points to it, says “good… home!” and smiles. and my heart melts!
keep up the great posts… i’d love to see you continue to tell how you’re “rewriting the love story of your home”!
thanks,
stacey
I really need to do the same thing, esp. our bedroom, it’s just not us. Heck it’s not anybody at all, totally boring in there. That urban nest line in the pb catalog spoke to me too, love what you are doing with your house, tfs! And I flippin’ love that necklace, cute!!
it looks gorgeous! I’ve slowly been doing the same. unfortunately I’m limited since I don’t own the house, but my dad does so I can get away with some stuff. :)
STOP making me buy things! I need that woven white beauty.
I love that white vase :)
I spot two of my favorite magazines: Dwell and Blueprint (RIP). Happy reading!
Urban Nest… mmmm maybe that sounds like me too!
I have been loving having a permanent base, 5 years now! A worlds record for me! Going through and slowly getting it to how I like it, with the exception of my rat hole of a studio! Tornado alley in there! And our bedroom, but girl you have inspired me with your bedroom!
LOVE the colour on the walls! now to try and find something similar here in NZ.
Your dresser top sounds like mine! But since I can’t paint for a while now (just re did the lounge!) without my dh complainin bout the cost of paint! I think I will have to start with my dresser tops! That I am sure I can do with the assorted treasures I have right here, right now!
Inspiring as usual in more ways than one!
I clung to your every word because it is exactly the same way I have been feeling about our home, my home. In fact, I made it one of my 35 resolutions… to make this house a home again. I too, feel like I have disconnected with our home… fallen out of love with it. At some point, I lost the desire and ambition to care for it as I once had. Honestly, I think it happened when I discovered scrapbooking. It just sort of took over. So now I am having to compromise and find time for them both… just in smaller doses. Because I want to be happy when I walk in the door, and feel good about the home I have ‘made’ for my family… where the memories are made.
I love this idea, and I NEED TO DO THE SAME.
K, since the subject of this post is your home and decorating… I’d like to pose a question. It”s obvious that you have good taste, and are willing to take some creative license with your home and with your photos!!! How do you go about selecting photos to print and/or frame in your own home. With so many great ones to choose from, it must be daunting!!
Just CURIOUS!!
Katrina
Love the lantern. I see two of my favorite magazines: Dwell and Blueprint (RIP).