Welcome back! So, when we first showed you inside, you came in the front door and saw the hallway into the living room. Here's where that hallway ends:
This side of our living room is home to the kids' desk and our desk, as well as the television and cabinet, which also serves as a train table.
Fortunately, everything we had from our last apartment ended up working really well in this space. Everything you see here, we had already:
I love having a little shelf above our desk. Not only does it keep our pens out of AJ's reach, but my favorite/most referenced/current reads are right at hand, too. Some I wholeheartedly recommend: Kisses from Katie, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Last Child in the Woods, Crazy Love, and The Irresistible Revolution. The cool little statue was a deployment souvenir given to James by his brother, and that beautiful little bowl James brought back for me from his recent trip to the Philippines.
The kids' simple desk is much-used and well-loved; James just painted a piece of quality wood from Home Depot and hung it with three heavy duty L-brackets that are supported by anchored screws. The chairs we got incredibly discounted from West Elm, and the art I found for free online and printed on card stock at home. (The exercise ball doesn't usually reside there, but it's out for use as a labor ball and it may be needed in the very near future!)
Looking across at the opposite side of the room:
The rug we found on clearance at the NEX Home Store when we first got here, and we replaced our glass coffee table with the ottoman several months ago, and are so happy with the change. It's much more functional for our family, since it serves as an extra seat/play surface, and it's much harder to injure yourself on (an important consideration for a crazy two-and-a-half year old!).
James made this shelf to hold AJ's cars and guys over the book sling that I made last year. (Here's the tutorial for the sling, which I found via the always wonderful Sew Liberated, in case you're interested.) It cost about $6 to build three of these shelves! (Two are upstairs in AJ's room.) James cut an eight foot piece of 1x2 to size, spray painted it, screwed it into the wall with anchors, and super glued caps over the screws. That's it! So simple, and one of our favorite additions to both rooms. The wire basket doesn't normally reside behind the red one (which is for library books), but it's been temporarily relocated to make room on my "bed rest table" on the other side of the couch, which is also usually home to a big lamp. The wagon and blocks were our gift to AJ for his first birthday (from Nova Natural); it's safe to say that they're still among the most played-with toys we have.
From my spot on the couch, you can see where the play kitchen has been temporarily relocated. It usually lives in the corner of the dining room next to the kitchen.
The view from the couch:
This room is where we spend about 75% of our time, so we're really glad that we have a space that really feels like "us," despite the little changes we'd like to make here and there. So, while we still have a few projects and purchases in mind for this area (like backing the glass doors of the cabinet with contact paper, building another shelf for AJ's cars, and adding a few more frames above the small couch for the new members of our family), the living room is definitely the most finished space in the house.
We'll be back on Thursday to bring you out to our (first ever!) backyard. Hope to see you then!
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