everyday essentials for our home

 

I love being home. It is truly my favorite place to be. Isn’t it for us all?

When I think of home, I think of comfort. Home is often the place we feel most comfortable to be ourselves and most often where we all yearn to be. Especially with what is going on in this world, we are all spending more time at home than our “usual.”

When at home, it is important for me to feel comfortable and for my guests to feel comfortable. That comfort can come from the help of Alexa (Amazon Echo), the yummiest espresso, the ease of cooking, or even the ability to remove a stain from spilled wine and/or quickly kill that pesky fly. Over the years, we have slowly collected items for our home that we now consider to be our everyday essentials in helping us and our guests to feel comfortable and content.

be our guest

When choosing a home, we wanted a place that felt inviting. A home that felt comfortable. And a home that felt like home to our guests. I believe one way to make a guest feel at home is (of course) a home cooked meal or a freshly brewed cup of coffee! So when remodeling our 1930’s home, I wanted our connecting kitchen and dining room to reflect a sense of coziness and comfort while spending as little as possible!

staying in

i am so excited for today’s blog post! though i am posting this five days later than i hoped to (i worked all week so that we could leave for vacation today!), it is my hope you find these nine “must have” décor times to be inspiring for keeping your home cozy and ready to host your future guests!

the comfort of home

When dreaming of what our house could be I knew I wanted a home that felt inviting to others, giving them a sense of comfort and coziness. I have spent years finding the perfect piece for the perfect place, collecting decor for every room in our home (even when we did not own our home). One thing I know for sure. . . you do not need to spend a lot of money to make your home “Pinterest worthy.” Instead, your home should be however you wish it be, having the most important pieces being ones that mean something to you!

Out with the Old & in with the New! DIY Bathroom Remodel

When looking for a home after moving to Kansas, we had a “want” list that included many things – a garage, three to four bedrooms, lots of windows, at least two bathrooms including a master bathroom, and a great room for entertaining guests. Did we get all of those items? No. Did those “missing wants” get replaced with even better features? Yes! No, we didn’t get a master bathroom. But instead we got a gorgeously huge sunroom attached to a beautiful back deck. What our home lacked in more modern style homes, our home gained with beautiful features only an older home could possess.

DIY Sliding Door

Owning a home built in the 1930’s comes with so much character (it was a huge selling point for us) but lacks in the modern appeal of master bathrooms and larger closet space! It is a good thing I was (and still am) in love with our sunroom and back deck, that having practically zero closet space and the smallest second story bathroom didn’t matter in the end to us!

Once receiving the keys to our home, we took an entire evening to walk around our home and dream up what our home could look like . . . what we could do to make it our own.

I knew something had to change about our second story bathroom!

Staircase Remodel

One of our final projects for our first and second floor home remodel was our gorgeous staircase! Growing up, I have lived in two primary homes that did not have a second floor; therefore, having a staircase in our home has been such a fun addition for me! We even have two (the second to be remodeled at a later date with the basement)! 

Our Entryway Remodel

I love sharing a place with my best friend who we can call together, “our home.”

Over the many months of renovation, we have worked hard on creating a place we could feel comfortable in that fit our style/needs. As my bare blog clearly shows, our home renovation came with many hiccups which caused many more months of remodel than we originally expected. One of the “easiest” and smallest areas of our home remodel was our front door entryway. When I first saw it during our home buying process, I fell in love with the character of the door, the charm of the mailbox, and the idea of a small area that leads into the rest of our home.

A Year to Remember

Let me tell you, this past year has been one to remember. After much discussion, prayer, and feeling lead in one direction, Brian and I started 2016 by packing up our entire town home and moving a state over to relocate beginning a new adventure in our marriage. Was moving an easy decision? No. Did I spend months and months crying wondering if we made the right move? Yes. Did I trust God and my husband? Yes.

Home “Honey Do’s”

When dating, Brian and I didn’t see ourselves owning a home within five years of marriage. We didn’t see ourselves moving back to Kansas. We saw ourselves living overseas. We saw ourselves doing ministry and helping those in third world countries. We prayed for those opportunities. Despite what we wanted, we mostly prayed for God to use us in the way He knew He needed us. We prayed for his guidance and to make any “big” life decision clear and to “go” smoothly. God knew our desires and thoughts for our lives, but in the end, it was His will that won. Today I couldn’t be more thankful.