This post has been a long time coming, in more ways than one! I have long wanted to share a tour of my home with you AND I have so much to share with you about what’s happening behind the blog in my life. In this photo I’m in the process of carting all my house plants off to my husband’s office because we’re MOVING!… but we’ll be on the road for the next month!
Here goes…
Life Update
I wanted to do a house tour for you guys after we bought our townhouse a few years ago, but never got around to it. This spring when we put it on the market to sell, it finally looked how I wanted it to look (ironic). I took a bunch of photos, was about to put together a blog post, then I thought better of it. I felt like it would have been too easy to compare the photos with local real estate listings and pinpoint exactly where we live. Having my address on my blog didn’t feel like the safest plan! I wouldn’t describe myself as paranoid, but I’m definitely cautious. Especially with anything regarding my kids. So I shelved the idea.
Well guess, what?! My townhouse just sold!! Literally, we signed the paperwork today. And we are MOVING to a single-family home!!! But we have more than a month between the closings of the two properties so we are going to be a bit nomadic in the meanwhile. That means we have put everything we own into storage (even most of our clothes!) and we will be staying with friends and family along the way. I set up a temporary work station at my husband’s office so I can have access to a little more of my closet and a dedicated space for blog-writing.
It also a safe spot for my plants, check out that light!
Back to the townhouse. When we bought it a few years ago, we thought we might be able to make it work for about five years before we outgrew it. However after 2+ years of our three kids sharing a room, we decided it was time to move on!
Before I get too far, a little back story.
We moved to Portland in January 2015 from Salem, a much smaller town about 50 miles away. We had been there for 6.5 years, had our three kids there, and were raising them in a home we bought before they were born. A home we thought we’d live in for their entire lives. It was a beautiful 1900’s home, lovingly kept and maintained, in a fun, transitional neighborhood in the heart of town.
After contently living in Salem for a handful of years, my husband decided to transition out of his full-time military job back to private-sector work. It was a much needed change for him professionally, and for our family, but it proved harder than either of us anticipated. Eventually in the summer of 2013 he secured a job with a marketing firm in Portland. We were so thankful. But it also came with a hefty commute or high-cost of living. To make things harder, we took a 50% pay cut when we went from full time military work to private sector. But we both felt it was a necessary sacrifice to transition his career in the direction he wanted it to go.
After a year and a half of commuting, we realized Portland was the hub for this career shift and we needed to move to have less drive time and more family time. This meant selling our Salem home and moving from a low-priced real estate market to a high-priced, fast-moving big city market. We couldn’t afford to buy and ended up renting a tiny apartment in the heart of the city.
That was four years and seven months ago. In those years we’ve lived in a few different apartments, and then finally our townhouse, which is lovely, but small and yard-less. This time has made me realize how many things I used to take for granted: space to host friends and family, a backyard, a driveway, parking near my front door, parking for my guests, non-shared walls, etc.
It’s been hard, humbling and endurance-building. We have learned to live well in small spaces and to let go of unnecessary possessions and stop buying so darn much.
So what’s next? Are we finally getting our single-family home that we’ve worked so hard for? That’s the hope. We’re under contract on a house not too far from where we used to live, but the closing date is still more than a month out and we are still working through the details. Fingers crossed!
Home Tour
Now that’s you’ve had the update, let’s take a little home tour, shall we??
Plants make my heart happy! From L to R: Rubber Plant from Trader Joe’s, Prayer Plant from Pistils Nursery (on an Eric Trine plant stand), Snake Plant from Home Depot (these are VERY hearty, this was my first plant I bought a few years back), hanging Pothos from Portland Nursery, and I’m not sure of the last one, it’s from a cutting of one of my mom’s houseplants!
Cactus, inherited when a friend moved away. Fiddle Leaf Fig from Fred Meyer (it was much smaller when I bought it) and Pilea from Trader Joe’s. (Don’t mind my cuties on the couch! I needed a TV babysitter while taking these photos.) This couch is the first item of furniture we will replace when it’s financially in the cards. We’ve had it for more than a decade and it shows. Not to mention our taste has changed a lot. The chest is something my husband had when I met him. He bought it from Goodwill for $5. We’ve always used it as our coffee table and it holds board games inside! The rug is from West Elm, but it sheds like a full-sized dog! It’s pretty to look at but I would never recommend it. Pillows are from Ikea and Room & Board.
I worked so hard to style those shelves, how’d I do?! If you look closely you can see the crystal door knob from our very first home. (It was leftover after a home repair.) I love decor that is both beautiful and has a story. The bins on the bottom are from the Container Store and they (sort of) hide my kids’ craft supplies.
You might recognize this area, I take a lot of my blog photos here. Shelves are from Ikea and the art is c/o Spacey Studios.
Two-different angles of the dining area and a look at my beautiful Monstera plant. A friend gave that to me when she moved to NY, and he’s one of my favorites! When we listed our house we downsized our dining table to showcase the space better. I found this cute table on Offer Up, and the chairs are from Target. While they look cute, they show every fingerprint from my kids and I am constantly wiping them down. The pictures on the wall are from trips Mr. Seasons and I took abroad before kids.
You might recognize this spot too, I used to take photos in here. The lighting is good, but the context always felt off to me. Last spring we put in these slab quartz counter tops and we love them! Though the light color does make us a little paranoid about stains.
Our humble music corner. My husband has a very musical background, he played piano and trombone for years and his dad was a band teacher. Sometimes my hubby will sit at the keyboard and play pop tunes by ear. My oldest daughter has been taking piano lessons for the last four years and I love listening to her play. My hope is to someday upgrade to a real piano! In my dream life I’d have a living room big enough for a baby grand!
Next up is my kiddos’ room. Our daughters are aged: 10 and 7, and our son is 5. We did everything we could to make this space functional and inviting for all three of them. Most of the time it works. However, bedtime has always been tricky.
Note the vintage Star Wars poster from my husband’s childhood.
You can spy Raggedy Ann and Andy from my childhood in the upper right corner. Bookshelves are from Ikea, and the anchor is from Etsy. I wish I could remember the name of this paint color. It’s my favorite color I’ve ever painted a room. It’s a light, warm-ish, neutral blue. It adds depth to the room without taking over.
Down the hall is our room, which we painted a soft, warm white. You can see my makeshift desk by my side of the bed, which is flanked by ancient, Ikea lamps. Since taking these pictures we upgraded to a white, linen duvet c/o Parachute. I love it so much for the texture and breathability, but I’m always a little afraid of getting it dirty!
These clothing shelves are one of my favorite space hacks of all time. They’re functional and serve as decor.
Hi! Dresser is from Ikea, the wooden bottle is a piece that was in my house growing up, the little wicker stand is thrifted and the alarm clock is from Target.
Can you tell Stella likes to follow me around the house? She’s such a good doggie. Off our bedroom we have access to the jack-and-jill bathroom we shared with the kids. There is a door on the same wall as the sink. In this photo you can see another functional decor item I made – a piece of driftwood with tiny gold hooks for my necklaces and earrings. It’s hung on a nail with a long piece of kitchen twine.
Last shot! This is the powder room downstairs and it came with this fun wallpaper. It kind of makes the bathroom feel like you’re in an infinity room!
If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading. I’ve been feeling a little disconnected from this space over the summer, and that makes me a bit sad. It’s been one heck of a summer, and not in a good way. Between the stress of selling and (hopefully) buying a house and the lack of sunshine, I’ve been a little bummed out.
School starts in two weeks from today, and I look forward to once again having the time to dedicate more of my heart and mind to the blog. It’s one of my very favorite places to hang out. Cheers for now!
Congrats on selling! Best of luck with the transition! (And Happy Home Tour Week – I don’t know if you saw, but I posted mine on Monday!).
Thanks Leah! Your home is lovely, and I’m inspired by your use of baskets and hampers!
Your space is so lovely, Andrea!! Esp love the denim as decor, haha! I have my jeans organized by color too and OMG it makes me so happy! So excited for you and your family as you make this big change, but I can totally understand how stressful it must be! My husband and I have been in five apartments in four years. Jack is in his third apartment in his 2.5 years of life! So crazy. City life is amazing and also hard. My husband and I are both kind of itching to buy a home and settle down somewhere, but we also love Brooklyn so much and our jobs are very much NYC-focused right now. For now, we’re just real estate stalking constantly, and dreaming, which you know is fun too! The whole quality/expense of life thing mixed with what is best professionally and what is best for the kids is all kind of an impossible equation, no? Do you know you’re a true ADULT when you figure it all out? Does ANYONE ever figure it out? It’s certainly challenging, but it sounds like there are really exciting times ahead for you guys. excited for more updates!
You totally get it. I can imagine the tension is even bigger in some place like NYC! What an exciting experience for you guys (and Jack!) living in Brooklyn. Whether you stay or move (eventually) you will be forever shaped by it.
Loved the house tour! I feel you on the house/job/location/finances saga. I really hope you guys get a great home to settle down in soon! My friend actually just closed on a new home today after living in an RV with her 4 kids for a year or so. So I’m in a big house mood, ha! Looking forward to updates and all of that!
Oh wow, that sounds like an adventure! It’s amazing the sacrifices we are willing to make to reach our goals (whether it’s time together, or to save money, etc.). Are you guys more settled with the housing and job situation now?
Ah, what a beautiful home! It looks so warm and inviting, I love the plants and all the personal details. Can’t wait to hear more about your future adventures, good luck Andrea, thank you for taking us along on the ride!
Thanks for coming along Pav! I do love my plants so much, and I will be missing them in the next month!
Congrats on selling the townhouse friend!
Thank you Emily, we are excited!
Congratulations! So funny we also just sold our condo, which we thought we would live in for many more years, and bought a house. It’s exciting and terrifying, as all good things in life should be. Enjoy your nomadic month and good luck with the move and the house!
Your townhome is beautiful. So serene and homey. I can’t wait to get into our new space and start making it a home! (We are staying at the in laws until we can fix up some things)
It’s so nice to have the option to stay with family, isn’t it?? Congratulations to you too on selling and buying a home! Doing it at the same time is a bit of a doozy!! Enjoy your fixing-up adventures
Andrea!! You know how much I’ve been dying for a home tour :) Thank you so much for sharing your home with us, it’s every bit as fresh, inviting and lovely as you! Huge CONGRATS on the upcoming move. I’m so happy for you and your family and can’t wait to see how you make the new space your own. Good luck with the nomadic month, I think it’ll be a great test to see what you miss and what you realize you don’t need after all! xoxo
Ahhh, thanks friend, nicest compliment ever! We are excited. That’s a great point, it will be indeed be interesting to see what we can live without!!
Congratulations! I’m excited for your new home, and hope you get what you want! I just bought my first few plants, and I’m already addicted.
Yes!! I love taking care of my plants, it’s oddly relaxing! Good luck on your green thumb journey.
I’m so happy and excited for your family and the next chapter! Can’t wait to see the new house and be able to have sleepovers!
Also, you guys did a *lovely* job decorating and updating the town home!
Sleepovers, YES!!! Thank you for the kind words, you have always been so good with decorating, so your opinion means a lot!
I am so happy you shared your home with us! It is so beautiful.. I especially love those IKEA shelves! I wonder if they still have brackets like yours. I am sure you will be glad to have this post in the future when you get settled into your new home to look back on! <3
Thank you Lexie! It was a fun post to put together. Agreed, I think it will be fun to look back on too!
I bet Ikea still does! It hasn’t been that long since I bought them!
Where is your giant mirror from? Love it!
It’s from Ikea!
Hi Andrea!
I wish you all the best at this new stage!
I love your appartment!
Thank you so much Alejandra!
Love your home!
Very bright and cosy at the same time.
I understand completely that the summer has been challenging.
Selling and buying a house is always a big event in ones life.
I wish you good luck and hope that everything works out fine with your new house.
Thank you Martine!! I think we are starting to get pretty excited!
Beautiful! Where is the wooden clothing rack in the 2nd photo from? I’m looking for a cool solution to keeping clothes around that I’m currently wearing and not ready for the laundry yet, or for planning a week of outfits and that rack looks perfect for shoes etc!
Hi Tiff, I bought it off Amazon! I am excited to use it in my bedroom when we eventually move. I agree, it’s so nice to have an in-between place for clothes!
I love the light colours and airy feel of your home! Good luck with your move. I just moved into my forever (I hope) home and moving stress is real!
The simplicity of your home makes it feel so easy and inviting. Thanks so much for sharing. You have given me some ideas and inspiration for doing something similar in my small condo. All the best!