Combining our Passions in to a Decorating Style

A couple of weeks ago I was asked by Compass, an online home finder company in New York, to share my starter story. You know, the story of your home and how it molded you as much as you molded it to you :) I loved the idea of this and totally jumped on the chance to really look at our home again.

So for starters, the home we are in now is not our first house together. In fact when Reed and I first got married we lived in a itsy bitsy house while we finished college, I mean it was so small you could plug in the vacuum in one room and do the entire house. Yes, thats small. If you wanna see more of how we made that itsy bitsy space in to our own check out these links >>

But for the purpose of this project, I felt like the home that we would say is the starter to our story is the one we are in now, our boondocks house.

We still don't own this house, but it's a step up from our last one because the landlords have agreed to let us make it fit our needs and style. Reed and I have done tons of projects both inside and out in the past year and a half. But I think the room that shows this the most is the living room. We have really combined both of our passions in life to make this space a beautiful expression of us as a couple. It gets changed around a couple times a year but the gist stays the same. 

Outdoorsman meets artist. 

Odd combo I know :) 

This room is bright and fun but oh so comfy. We've managed to have all our most important pieces in this space. Including some of Reed's animal mounts and my all time favorite painting. 

Most people think if you are gonna have taxidermy in your space that you have to go natural, rustic, or lodge/cabin style. But I don't agree! I think Reeds taxidermy is beautiful, and when paired with the bright teals, whites, and other pops colors in the room a beautiful juxtaposition happens and makes every corner of the room interesting. 

I'm not sure how I would describe our style, other than a perfect combo of the two of us. Maybe whimsical rustic?? Whatever you want to call our style, this house has allowed us to grow in to this style and really find out how to combine our contrasting passions in to a beautiful and unique piece of work. 

This house is in no way our dream, but it is exactly what we need.

What is your starter story?? Did you  have a house that molded you and your family in to what you are now?

PS. If you are in the NY area be sure to check out Compass and find your perfect home :) 

Boondocks Christmas Home Tour 2013

I've been sooo excited about this house tour! I have had some of my Christmas decoration up since before Thanksgiving so waiting this long to share with you has been so hard! But if Rachel of Like A Saturday didn't ask me to be a part of this home tour I don't know if I would have decorated the way I did. And I'm basically obsessed with how I got to decorate :) 

Be sure to check out Like A Saturday and be sure to follow all the blogs that have been a part of the tour since Monday! And if you're coming from What Meegan Makes, Christmas Tree Home Tour welcome! If not be sure to head over and check out her beautiful blue Christmas!

Now that you've made it all the way out to the boondocks lets get this tour started!
Our front porch is the perfect southern style porch. Long and deep with loads of room to enjoy the view of our fabulously large yard!

I'll be sharing how I made this easy gas can table, and the day bed out of nothing but left over scraps. Be on the look out for these tutorials in the next few weeks! 

Now that we are in-side our humble abode kick your shoes off and relax awhile!
The tree and mantel are perfect for making a cozy little living room and when we get that Christmas candle going I could stay forever! 

Check out how I made the faux weathered wood boards, the simple natural wreath, and the paper stars.
And don't forget to check out the post on our Natural Cotton and Burlap Christmas Tree!

I love our little Nativity scenes!

Now, do you want something to drink or to snack on?
Lets take a whirl around the kitchen real quick. I've got lots of little vignettes going on :)

Well, if you've gotta go at least it's ending with my absolute favorite spot in the house! We finally got our back porch in shape and ready to use! I've still got some other projects to make it 100% complete but I still can't wait until warmer weather to sit out there with a book!
 

 I've got my charlie brown tree, cozy little papasan chair with my DIY cushion, leaded windows and the best view of my little "santa's workshop"! (studio).
DREAMYYYY

Now be sure to head over to Absolutely Arkansas to continue the Christmas Home tour!

If you didn't make it over to the boondocks after visiting What Meegan Makes then head over now, trust me you don't wanna miss it! 

And don't forget to check back Friday to join us in a Link party and the final homes of the tours!

This is what a REAL house tour looks like.

Today I had planned to share with y'all a side table for our living room. But I failed miserably... And I just didn't have time to fix it, photograph it, and write a post. I was SUPER discouraged and annoyed. I've been trying to get my living room ready for the final tour. But today I had to just step back and laugh. My living room looks like a joke, and this is cleaner than it was yesterday!! 

So here is my super un-photogenic (not sure if that is a word or not...) living room tour. 

Look at all the junk laying around.... Sad part is thats pretty average. Paint, puppy toys, shoes, computers and loads of TV wires. It all has a place to go but its the stuff I use most so it sits out more often than not.
I'm gonna clean it up one day figure out what to do with those wires and photograph the beauty of this room and add it to my super fab house tour. A girl can dream right!

Do y'all remember my post from last week of my revamped trunk coffee table? Well it is broken already. Tepe (our puppy) got a new toy and got too excited and knocked the table legs off.

She did that last night and I was trying to fix it today, but I still didn't get the right materials... I'm thinking I should plan these projects out a little better. Oops. And those pillows in the back, they pretty much stay piled up on one side of the sofa. They look awesome when they are placed the way they are supposed to be but our sofa is kinda narrow so we usually push most of the pillows to the side so we can cuddle up easier. 

And this dumb chair. It was a hideous green, yellow and red plaid. Ok not hideous but just didn't go with the rest of the room. So I FINALLY ordered a slip cover. I was super pumped and ready to have a light chair that didn't totally clash with the room and show every single dog hair. Yep, most people want darker furniture but if I have lighter finishes its easier for me to keep lookin spiffy. 

But as you can see the slip cover doesn't fit to good. I've got a few tricks I still need to try, like putting a rod in the cushion cracks to keep the fabric from pulling back out and getting all wrinkly. I have 30 days to decide if I like it. If I can get it to look less frumpy I think its a keeper. 

Proof that I use the living room to do projects. Yep that is paint, paint brushes, tape, and a half finished painting. I love the light in the living room it makes everything beautiful so even though I have a craft room and a studio outside I still do most of my projects in here. I like to put my paintings up where I can look at them for a while. Sometimes when working on a project I get to close and can't really see the finished product. So this isn't done but it is in the process of deciding the next steps.

So, there it is. My totally un-photogenic living room tour. I so badly want to be a blogger that has a stunning house that people drool over. I think I would if I didn't live in mine all day every day. I like the way I have the room decorated. I just have a few projects I really need to figure out first.  Like those dang TV wires!  Yep, horrid day as far as being productive. My living room is scattered with un finished projects. But as soon as Reed gets home we are going to figure out the issues of a rowdy dog and the coffee table. 
FEATURING This Ole Mom *Now totally unrelated. But have you met Kim from This Ole Mom? She holds one of the large ad spots on my side bar and I wanna help her with a new project she has going on. Kim is starting a parenting info page. Now I don't have kids, and don't see any in the near future so I can't help contribute but if any of YOU fabulous moms or moms to be want to help Kim fill this page up with fabulous advice from real life moms then be sure to click over to her page and let her know you are interested! 
**The monthly giveaway series has started and the first giveaway is up in a few days! Check the post out here and be sure to enter!!