Southern Living

Well, now that we've had a few months to settle in and get our feet under us, it is time for the grand unveiling of the parts of our house that are in good order.  Which is to say, the doors to the back bedroom remained closed.

This is our porch.  I have been reading a lot of Southern Living lately, and I absolutely love the porches.  I feel like I've not yet arrived at all the glory that the porch will be at some point in the future, but my lovely Sam has put in a fan and that makes life luxurious at our house.   Let me address your number one concern first--yes there are twinkle lights not here pictured.  Second, I am aware that there is a big pile of dirt in this picture, but that just captures the daily struggle between me and one little plant who keeps trying to leap off the bench to freedom.

Sam and I thought long and hard before buying these red chairs.  Sam has PTSD from moving most of our things from Atlanta by himself, so he was of the mind that we never needed to buy anything again.  Plus, he thinks (crazy guy) that it is better to buy high quality things that last.  I (being from a non-profit background) think that pretty red cheap things are always a good idea.   While I completely agree that Sam's way is better, the siren song of the red chairs eventually became too loud for me to bear, and you can see the result.

Our living room is my favorite right now, though it, too, is a work in progress.  If you walked through the front door, slid to the ground and looked up at a cock-eyed angle, this is what you would see:

The other half of the room is all about bookshelves and my big, happy chair.

As you can see, I'm experimenting with covering over the pink checkered print cushion.  That green and light pink combination was a complete matter of circumstances beyond my control, but I believe I have been straining the limits of shabby chic by letting it continue on for so long.  Mismatched pillows can only do so much to hide the hard truth.  The fabric I'm using here is cotton that Sam bought in Africa.  I was so ready to name drop about my African cloth.  How exotic it was before I dumped all my coffee on it and my legs this morning.  Pride goes before you spill your coffee, friends.

Right around the corner is the kitchen.  This is Sam's favorite place.  In Atlanta, our kitchen really had room enough for one, but now Sam can sit at the table and read me things from interesting articles while I cook which turns out well for all.

Please note, that the theme in our kitchen is cows.  It doesn't exactly hit you over the head, but if you pay attention, you will see it.  Sam rarely puts his foot down on any matters related to decorating, but he needs to have non-cute cows in the kitchen.

For me, I love to wake up every morning to these little buddies on my windowsill.  They pre-date me in the house and I wouldn't move them for anything.

One of my favorite things in our kitchen is this shelf that Sam made.  I was so pleased with the red color he chose and how nicely it highlights our non-cute cow pictures.

And as always, we have to have the chalkboard.  We've had gratitude written up there for a long time, but it is always good to remember to be grateful.

My hope is that seeing all this loveliness will inspire you to come on over.  We would be thrilled for you to invite yourself to dinner, or to come and stay from out of town.  Just give us about half an hour head start to move the boxes out of the back bedroom.