I was given a whole pile of past editions of house style magazines the other day. The ones filled with beautifully furnished homes, elegant dining areas, kitchens I would sell one of my kidneys for, and gardens that put the botanical gardens to shame. I sat and flicked through them looking for some inspiration. We moved in to our house a few months ago and it is pretty tired and in need of some freshening up. I want it say “we live here!” as soon as friends and family come to visit.
I want the house to reflect us and be practical for our needs.And as I sat there flicking through these gorgeous magazines, I came across a photo of a room that had been styled perfectly. Gorgeous couch, book shelves and little touches that just tied everything together. It was a photographers gold star kind of photo. You could use your fingers as a photo frame and it just worked. So I looked up and framed my fingers into a square to view our room through. And that’s when reality hit.
Within the frame my fingers had formed, the scene was perfect. Neat and tidy, photo frames, fresh flowers, view of garden. Tick, tick and tick. But outside the frame of my fingers was a completely different picture. Chaos.
It looked like a small tornado had ripped through our house. The one year old had opened the cupboard where we keep the plastic containers and drink bottles and pulled them ALL out. Because apparently you can’t leave anything in the cupboards once you have opened the doors. And you have to then drag and spread them all over the house. He had pulled at least 20 books off the lowest bookshelves. These too had been spread all over the house. The washing was piled up on the couch (and was almost as big as the couch itself) and waiting to be sorted and folded and put away. There was a cricket set on the floor. Jumpers hanging off the banisters to be taken upstairs and put away. And nerf bullets everywhere…
Oh. My. God. No wonder I feel frazzled some days.
Despite creating a small sanctuary for me – my desk, it is still amid this chaos. My little one metre space is between the linen cupboards and the upright freezer. And barricaded by the jogger pram and stroller to keep the border of my zone secure. Stylish. I know.
I am by no means, a slob. I’m the opposite. Think Monica from Friends. But I have kids. And dogs. And a husband.
Our home definitely screams out “we live here!”
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Linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT
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Life, kids and a glass of red 
LOL. I can relate! My work space (dining table) is crammed with glitter, glue and kids craft. My home is “styled” with an eyesore of colours, plastic and kids’ artwork on every wall and surface. I’ve stopped reading those home mags. I live in hope that one day, my house can be ordered again 🙂
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So glad I’m not the only one! Don’t even get me started on the blocks and legos that are strategically placed, (in other words – tipped out of buckets and thrown around), all over the house. There are at least 200 of the crippling landmines that I dodge on a daily basis… Maybe one day I’ll have an ordered house too! 🙂
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I’ve given up! We’ll just have to move and start over if I’m ever to have a clean house😉
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I have decided to only do one big tidy up at the end of each day, because I know that as soon as I tidy up, the kids pull everything out again! Then when I sit down in the evening with a glass of wine, I can enjoy the tidy house with no sign of blocks, cars, dress ups or whatever else they have pulled out. Until it starts again tomorrow…
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I can totally relate to that! I have a 2 and a 3 year old. Both boys. Enough said!
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The joys of boys!
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I’ve truly given up I have to say – 3 kids in 3.5 years and I’m still searching frantically for my sanity and a magazine-style home, one day! Nice to meet you, I love your humour! Can I make a suggestion? If you’re not against photos they are a great way to add another dimension to your fabulous and funny blog posts! P.s do you live in Ireland or am I imagining it?
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Thanks for the suggestion and glad you enjoy my blog! I’m loving yours! I’ve been thinking about adding photos to the blog for that added dimension, but can’t seem to find good generic photos that help convey my message (I don’t want to post photos of my kids). I’ll have to get better at sourcing photos and taking more myself to add 🙂 Will pop on my to do list! I’m not in Ireland, but Australia. I have Irish heritage though if that is maybe where the vibe is coming from? 🙂
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A messy home = a happy home if you ask me. Our house is VERY happy 😉
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Based on what the kids were able to do in the time it took me to hang out the washing, our home was very happy today 🙂
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My craft room can relate but luckily I don’t have any children yet.
Love your blog
Visiting from IBOT
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Thanks for linking up with IBOT 🙂
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I haven’t even got kids (unless you count the man baby,) and still I can’t get our place looking picture perfect. It’s never neat and tidy but it’s always lived in, and lived in with love and I know what I’d rather have. I think homes that scream out “we live here” are homes of the most heartfelt kind!
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“Lived in with love” – I’m going to use this from now on 🙂
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Our home screams ‘we live here too’ in much the same way.
I keep waiting for it to get better but the kids still leave stuff everywhere all the time. It’s frustrating.
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I used to organise the playroom so each bucket or drawer had specific toys in it – cars, play kitchen stuff, trains etc. Now no one knows where anything is as it just gets chucked in anywhere so it’s out of the way and off the floor 🙂
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My kids are grown now but I certainly remember the days of chaos with toys and mess strewn throughout the whole house. Nowadays the chaos is mostly in their rooms and their bathroom – which I still find hard but I don’t miss the toys everywhere! 🙂
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Love the daily dodging of toys on the floor!
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My home screams out “we live here” too. I wish I could live in a pristine house. I really do. But like you I don’t live alone. Is it wrong to want to have my own WHITE apartment with WHITE furniture and a view of a lake that is ALL MINE to escape to from time to time?
Leanne @ Deep Fried Fruit
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White! White would be lovely. Excuse me while I daydream about this for a while…
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My fiance and I bicker every night because I spend my day cleaning then at night he wants to go right to bed. No picking up the trash and dirty clothes and verbally tidying up so I don’t wake up to a mess. It drives me nuts which is why I think he does it lol.
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We’re trying to sell our home. It takes two adults three hours each of non-stop working to undo all the mess from our 6 children. Then, if we have back-to-back showings, it takes another three hours to “spot clean.” I keep telling myself I’ll miss some of it in a few years when they are grown. At least, I hope I’ll be able to miss it!
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I can so relate to this! My home practically screams in the face of anyone who enters it “Small children about, CAUTION!!!”. Some days it feels so pointless to put in so much effort cleaning and tidying when I know it will be destroyed again in 3 seconds flat. But for those 3 seconds it’s so pleasant and calming!
#teamIBOT
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This is totally our house. Our “adult space” has been overrun by “kid space”. There are days that I just give up and figure one big tidy at the end of the day will do !
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Yep, I hear you! I do one big tidy up in the evenings too, otherwise I would be tidying and picking up all day!
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Glad to hear I am not alone. My kids have moved up from pulling dishes out of the cabinet (for the most part) to storing their toys in my cabinets. There are cars currently residing with my Tupperware.
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My home too screams out a two year old and a teenager live here. I had a huge grin of acknowledgement on my face when I read the part about nothing remaining in the cupboard once the door was opened.
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We definetly adhear to the lived in look in our house with a two year old and toddler plus our older kids here often. I had a big grin on my face when reading the part about an open cupboard needing to be emptied.
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