friends, I don't have a glamorous living room to show you today. I have a room full of mismatched woods, some objects masquerading as furniture and olive green couches with cream trim. oh, the silly five year ago me who decided those were a great purchase. although I'd like to shake her, I love that girl and her under confident self who wasn't quite sure of her style and wasn't sure if she was allowed to express it. I love that girl who was just trying to make her house a home for her new husband and was enamored to own real furniture for more than four people for the first time. but this room makes me happy! it's the room our family lives in 95% of the minutes of the day. in our family, our bedrooms are for sleeping and changing clothes. we live in the middle. together. toys happen here. entertaining happens here. jimmy fallon and pints of ice cream after bedtime happen here. you're not suppose to love it. we are. and it took me a reaaaally long time to be okay with that. (who are we kidding. I secretly still care what you think. but i'm working on it.)
I need to tell you a little story about my favorite thing in this room: those bright, royal blue curtains. i've said it before, i'll say it again, my favorite things in this house continue to be the ones where we've risked the most. biggest risk, biggest payout. my first attempt at curtains was yellow. I love yellow! it's a happy color that makes me feel brighter on the inside. the giant amazon box showed up on my doorstep and I ripped it open only to find, not yellow curtains, but honey. muted, subtle, and predictable. in fact, they perfectly matched the ribbing on my olive green couches. match made in heaven. except they didn't make us happy. in fact, quite the opposite.
if I had hung those curtains, I would have gotten a lot of compliments. most people would have loved them and told me how "well they go." but I would have felt, like very home before, like we were living in someone else's house. pretty as a picture but so not us. so I put them back in the box, fought every voice in my head that's in love with instant gratification and shipped them back. I pep talked myself for a few days and then I remembered a quote that went something like, "life is to short to have boring hair." if curtains aren't the hair of a house, I don't know what is. and life is too short to live in a house with boring curtains. so, I risked. and the payout? every time I walk into this room, I catch my breath. not just at the blast of happy color that hits you in the face, but at the reminder that life is short. so live it. love the guts out of the ones that are close to you and risk for them. risk for you. buy bright curtains.
if I had hung those curtains, I would have gotten a lot of compliments. most people would have loved them and told me how "well they go." but I would have felt, like very home before, like we were living in someone else's house. pretty as a picture but so not us. so I put them back in the box, fought every voice in my head that's in love with instant gratification and shipped them back. I pep talked myself for a few days and then I remembered a quote that went something like, "life is to short to have boring hair." if curtains aren't the hair of a house, I don't know what is. and life is too short to live in a house with boring curtains. so, I risked. and the payout? every time I walk into this room, I catch my breath. not just at the blast of happy color that hits you in the face, but at the reminder that life is short. so live it. love the guts out of the ones that are close to you and risk for them. risk for you. buy bright curtains.
(lamp)
(rocking chair - vintage)
this house has been such a personal improvement project! here I thought I was building a home, when really, the thing most under construction was myself. there have been so many moments where I've had to battle out who I am and what we stand for. where is the right balance of spending to make a comfortable and playful place for our family turn into buying just one more Threshold item that I'm sure I need? I'm so grateful for the experience of coming together as a family and deciding what was important to us in a space, how to create an inviting atmosphere and what was okay to leave out. this room is by no means done. and, I sort of hope it never is. there are so many empty walls that I want to fill with revolving and evolving family photos. so many nooks I can't wait to fill with seasonal and holiday decorations. but this is our blank canvas for life. where it's okay to play, okay to relax, okay to have serious conversations. this isn't the room that looks great when the queen comes over, but since she keeps taking a rain check anyway, we created the room we need. in this season of life, today. and I love it.
this room has been such a fun project and such a labor of love. I had the pleasure of working with some of the best in the biz! I am so thankful and grateful to these fabulous shops who contributed to items to this reveal. these businesses have the specialist of places in my heart. if you're looking for statement decor items, please start here!
wall art prints
felt balls + art print
giclee stump art print
"monarch"
throw pillows
throw pillows
throw pillows
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