Transforming Home's home tour

I have always wanted to participate in one of these home tours, but something always stops me.  It's kind of shameless, showing off your home.  That's not really the way I look at it, but I know that is how it is often perceived.  But I feel so strongly about making my home comforting, warm, and inviting.  It's my, no OUR, safe haven from the world.  And I know there are many women who feel the very same way about their homes, so it makes perfect sense that they would want to share that effort with others.  I love looking into other people's homes and seeing how they live.  A home says a lot about a person.

I just picked a few rooms and corners of my home that I particularly love, to share over at Danielle's place.  Not a day passes that I don't thank the Lord for this beautiful home we have been blessed with.  I am dead serious.  I am so happy here (we just moved in a little less than 2 years ago), and know that I will call it home for a long time.

First up is our main living area.

Our cat, Isabella, sitting in one of my favorite chairs.

There are so many things I love about this room.  It was all based around the rug, which I got for a steal from Target.  I made the pillow with the fabric flowers and I painted the Tree of Knowledge behind the leather chair.  Would you believe it if I said that everything but the curtains and torchieres/sconces followed us from our last home exactly as is?  The color scheme pretty much stayed the same, and yet it is has such a different feel in this home than in our last home. I love color and this room reflects that better than it did before.  And a few eclectic touches like mismatched frames on the mantle make my somewhat traditional furnishings seem funkier.  Which is exactly what I wanted.  The room is bright and open; it gets a lot of natural light.  But in the evening when I turn on those torchieres it transforms into a romantic, warm, comfortable area to relax. 

Next up, the kitchen.

The kitchen is our second most lived in area.  Which is nice since it opens right up into the living room I just showed you.  It's fun and quirky - lots of pops of color inspired by my pitcher collection (on top of my cabinetry).  And my drawer pulls are a never ending project.  They are all different so I have been collecting for a while.  I love to bake and my kids love to help me in here.  They are often found at the table painting and making fun little crafts.  And behind our table is an addition with built in desks where they do their homework.  So this kitchen is well used.

I switch things up in here a lot, right now I am loving to mix and match textures - glass, ceramic, stone, metal.  As well as country style decor with modern bits and pieces.

 That's an old washboard refashioned to be a magnet board.

Isn't this calendar fun?  I just realized it is hasn't been changed to today's date yet, lol.  But this was a rare find at TJ Maxx.  And I adore it.  I added a little scrapbook paper (with mod podge) to the square magnets that go around each day of the week/month.

Next up is the master bedroom.

These pictures were taken soon after we moved in (I don't take much time to get settled).  So, a few changes have been made.  But this picture is pretty accurate so I'm using it!  This room is a big change from our last master bedroom, which was red, white and black.  We also upgraded our bed/frame.  I love this new color scheme, it is so serene.  I am carrying it into the master bath, which I've redone about a billion times.  Bathrooms are kind of hard for me.

This was one of my favorite projects.  As you go upstairs there is this very large niche at the top.  I love collecting old ancestry photos, but they usually stay stashed away in a box.  I wanted to create an area where we could see, daily, our ancestors looking down on us.  This spot was just perfect.  

Last but not least, is this fun project I did in the playroom.

You can only guess how long it took me to collect/paint/mod podge all these letters (except the N and C which were purchased at a Farmer's Market in SLC).  The project was inspired by a photo in a Pottery Barn Kids catalog ages ago... they had all these wall letters jumbled together like a collage.  And I loved it.  But this playroom is huge, so I spread them out.  The border goes all the way around the room (minus a wall with a big window).  I have changed a few of the letters as time has passed.  Next on the list is Y, which will be spray painted to differentiate it from the W a little better.  I haven't decided on a color yet, though!  And if you are curious about the bulletin board in the 3rd pic, I bought some cork tiles at Target and covered them in fabric.

So there is a peek into my home.  Hope you enjoyed looking around.  I have more pictures on my home blog, which I started when we began building this house.  The pictures are pretty old and a lot has evolved since then, but you are welcome to check it out. :)  I have shared many pictures of other rooms in this house on this blog as well, the most recent being my new design room.  

I hope you'll head over to Danielle's place and look at the other great homes that are featured there!  It's a lot of fun to see the different tastes and sense of style represented there.