Model home

Our home is 1 day closer to looking like a model home. The leaf has been removed from the dining room table. The antique swag lamp I found on eBay has been taken down and a shiny modern 3-light chandelier has been hung. Rob bought a swag kit and converted it today. Looks great over the table.

We took down the family portrait taken on a California beach and replaced it with a GINORMOUS (50 inches across!) print of an Italian street scene. Very Mediterranean colors and warm earthy tones, so it is really pretty in the living room.

I added a little tray with 4 votive candle holders and a glass oil infuser bottle with a vanilla scent to the bathroom shelf.

I bought a snap-top plastic tote for my beloved label maker so that I can recycle the shoe box it used to live in.

Tomorrow I will purchase a few more scrapbook snap-top boxes (thank you, Michaels, for the 25% off your entire purchase coupon) and haul some more stuff to the storage unit.

The antique floral-print settee I got from my great uncle Henry will go to storage as well, and Garrett's twin bed will get put away, too. He'll move (gladly, I might add) to the basement family room, where the oak day bed Rob built a few years ago is. Some flannel sheets and the gas fireplace will keep him cozy while we try to demonstrate to people how unutterably lovely it is to live in this home.

I sound snarky; I don't mean to. It actually HAS been lovely to live here. My home is warm and cozy. It is a true reflection of me and has been the place I love to come to to unwind, relax, and feel peaceful. Lately, with 3 growing boys, one of whom will cross the threshold into the world of teenagerhood in a few short months, it has become apparent we need more bedroom space, in particular. Of course, it doesn't help that my stuff requires a room of its own, rendering our 3 bedroom into a 2 bedroom. We either had to remodel a basement office into a legal bedroom or look for more space.

Our storage unit will be full soon. And somehow the house doesn't look empty. Guess we really do need the space.

But I have poured my heart and soul into the decorating of this house, and I will miss it, even as I recreate some of it in a new place.