Oh, The Places We Will Go!

This weekend, we had the pleasure of costumes, hot chili, and many friends in our home. It was the perfect blend of relaxed parents, happy children, and safe fellowship.

One of these dear friends came to my house for the first time from a long distance away. She repeated herself a few times when she said, "I'm not trying to be overly focused on appearances, but you really need to blog about your home." At first, I was a little confused by her words, not exactly sure what she was referring to. Fortunately for me, she is a woman of wisdom and eloquence. She poured genuine kindness on me as she explained that sharing tips on literal home-making here did not have to be arrogant brag-fests, as I was always afraid they might be. I hope you know that my only goal in sharing pictures of my home is to give you ideas - mostly cheap ones - that you might want to try somewhere in your own home. The outside of our home is a very standard subdivision home. I figure that anyone rich enough can design and build their own perfect home, but it's entirely another matter to take the home God has given you and work with it to tell your own story, welcome people with your own personality. I am not a wonderful decorator, I am not here to tell you how to place your furniture, that's for sure! But if you are looking for ways to store toys, organize kid stuff, and still make a room warm and welcoming, I just might have a few tricks up my sleeve.

So, without further ado and much thanks to Rachel for holding my clammy hand, here are some pictures of my favorite room in the house - my son's bedroom. It's a "transportation" room

When I moved here three years ago, I was pregnant with the Little Man and heaved my big belly all over town looking for one-of-a-kind treasures at garage-sale prices. It's still a work in progress - and I figure, when I finally finish with the room, he'll ask me to make it Star Wars and I"ll have to take it all down. But here's where our Ticking Time Bomb sleeps, plays, and wreaks general havoc.The map on the wall is an actual, old-school pull-down map I found on e-bay. It is old enough that many of the countries do not exist anymore, so if my son's geography facts are off when he's twenty, he can totally blame it on me.


Looking left, a hand-me-down bed of the best kind from the Little Man's very own grandpa. Snoopy was Real Gil's bedtime favorite and even has a missing nose to show for it.


This antique ice chest works as a storage bin for all of our son's trains, and it also doubles as a stool next to the bed so Little Man can climb up into bed (...or climb down, doggone it!). I scored it at a garage sale for $5!


At the bottom of the bed, I hung an antique clothespin storage receptacle and we keep all the Hot Wheels in the pockets. Also, there is a toolbox I found at a thrift store that keeps books and bouncy balls in place.




Cross stitch "transportation" pictures sewn by the Little Man's now-deceased great-grandmother. For years, these hung in my grandparents' home, and then, they lay unused under my mom's bed until she stumbled upon them this year and passed them to me.

Framing these was too expensive and after I tacked them to the wall just like they were, I realized I liked them without frames.


The desk below was handmade by my husband's grandfather. Most everything on the shelf are family hand-me-downs, toys from my husband or father-in-law's childhood.


Perhaps my favorite aspect to the room is this wall of old maps. After my little sister found an old Atlas at a garage sale (I'm not the only one in the family who likes to hunt for bargains!), I ripped out the pages and tacked them to the wall. I love the texture, the colors, and the blocks of pattern all over this wall.



So that's it. Our son's bedroom. My new favorite room in the house, probably because I finally painted it. If you come over to visit, my son will take you by the hand and show you how high he can jump on his bed. And you can ask him geography questions if you'd like to watch me squirm.

That's all. Tour's over. See you tomorrow.

Resting in Him,
Karen