So, y’all know I am a mom, a full time grad student, and work as a youth ministries coordinator. Keeping my house in tip top shape falls to the back burner almost always. So the photos I am about to post of our living space may shock you if you are used to Pinterest perfect, but it is real life and I am going to talk about it for a minute.
This is our front room, the front door opens right onto this dining room table. We have a table in the kitchen where we eat, so as you can see this one gets used mostly for homework, puzzles, and crafts. There is a new to us desk by the piano that will be going into our family room soon, but for the moment it is piled with laundry to fold, because I am busy. The coat tree is crazy and the hat basket is overflowing (I like to knit). Also, this wool rug shows everything!
I have been dreaming of hosting a small group at my house, but there is absolutely no place for anymore than a few people to sit. See that one couch…that is all the seating we have. Aside from dreaming of small group I am hosting a small gathering of folks after my graduation. It is time to rearrange some things!
First things first, we moved the big table into the kitchen and the kitchen table to the attic. We bought some new to us, pretty rad I think, chairs on the facebook market place. This is not where all of these things are going, but Brad was a trooper and moved all of this stuff while I was dealing with kidney stones and a migraine this weekend (I am doing so much better now)! I so appreciate him! The girls and Princess have put their stamp of approval on the new furniture and have begun jumping on it and building chair forts already.
My parents ordered us a little electric fireplace, it heats up the living room pretty well and I think it looks pretty cool. The girls have been digging it today too. We still have a long way to go and a ton of things to move, but we are getting there. We have a loveseat that will make its home to the right of the bricks and electric fireplace, the chairs will face it on the left. My S wall will probably be moved over here too…or maybe some Brad art…I will just have to play around.
Our house is small, and wonky, and lived in. Nothing is perfect or fancy at all, but it is our home and I really want it to be a place where real people can gather without judgment, pray without fear, and to feel safe in a world that sometimes seems uncertain.
It is going to be very much “grandma chic” when we are all done because that is what we can afford, what we have, and what we have been given. I am pretty ok with that. I will post updates as our perfectly unperfected non Pinterest worthy home comest together.
Mandy Sloan, MBA 