Home Tour { Jess' Living Room }

Welcome to my living room, friends!

This is a combination living area/playroom/extended laundry room/storage room/movie room.  For those of you that live in smaller homes, you understand the need to be creative with space you have!  If you read my recent post HERE, you remember hearing my husband started seminary in the fall.  We chose to live in 'Seminary Housing', and we absolutely LOVE it!  A downside is the opportunity to customize our home.  Fortunately, white walls are easy to work with!  So, here's how we have made an apartment feel like OURS:

Y'all.  We have a wood-burning fireplace!!  And you better believe we used it this winter.  It was a cold one.  We are currently using two pieces of furniture that belong to our bedroom suite in our living room.  (We had NO room for either piece in our bedroom, and we truly needed each of them in our living room! WIN-WIN!)  

The former bedside table is now our 'media console' and holds all our DVDs, controllers, and our beloved Super Nintendo.  Many a date night has included an intense competition of Dr. Mario. 

To even out the height of the TV, I store our ottoman in front of the other window with two suitcases stacked on top.  Though the suitcases may look purely decorative, each serves a fantastic purpose!  The wicker suitcase holds our fireplace tools and firestarters, and the blue suitcase serves as our indoor toolbox.

The chest of drawers is a multi-purpose piece and holds everything from tupperware to canned food.  Our small kitchen doesn't have a pantry so we once again got creative with our space.

(The door you see next to the ottoman leads to our back porch!)

 

Though I am not a huge fan of our denim and white striped couches, I'm happy they add a little pizzazz to our place.  We'll just call them our conversation pieces.  (Y'all I'm pretty sure I saw these couches on Full House... haha.  They're timeless, right??)

Friends, I have a secret.  Our long couch (with the mirror above it) and the side tables are actually pulled out about a foot and a half from the wall.  What's behind them?  The real question is, what's NOT behind them?  We needed some easily accessible storage that's kid-proof, and this has been our best storage solution yet!  You do what you gotta do, peeps.

A sweet friend that shares my taste gave me that AWESOME metal art piece.  Isn't it fantastic??  For now it's mounted straight to the wall, but I have visions of painting it and mounting it to reclaimed wood!

Do you see my LAMP I posted about HERE and HERE?  I still haven't figured out what to do to make me completely happy with it.  {SIGH}  Someday.

Thanks for continuing the tour with us!  We love sharing our homes with you!  Plus, it gives me an excuse to clean up!  You better believe this isn't the everyday look of this room.  Picture crumbs all over EVERYTHING.  Toys and clothes spread across the floor.  Laundry folded (or not) on the couch.  Movie playing in the background.  Y'all, to keep it REAL, I recently found a VERY, VERY, VERY old half-eaten banana under the TV table.  

On that note, I'll let you move on with your day!

Thanks for reading, friends!

-Jess

Getting To Know You { Jess Edition }

Y'all ready for PART II?

Getting to know Sister #2: Jess

Where were you born?

Like my darling older sis, I was also born in California.  Though we love the South and claim it as our home, Cali will always hold a special place in our hearts.

*cue sappy music*

Where are you in the birth order?

I hold the 'happy' position of MIDDLE CHILD.  My sweet sissies enjoyed teaming up against me in our childhood... I had to sit in the middle on car rides in our lovely station wagon, and most mornings I ended up eating breakfast alone.  I'm told I chewed really loud and smelled like old boogers in the mornings... but I don't hold grudges or anything!  :)  OH, I also was a founding member of the 'Middle Children's Club'.  We had a song and everything. 

Where did you meet your spouse?

My handsome guy and I worked together with the youth group at a church.  He and I worked closely together helping plan youth events, going on trips with them, going to youth meetings, and much more!  We either had to love each other or hate each other... as you would guess, we quickly fell in love!  After going on our first date to a Grizzlies game during a Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warning, we dated for three and a half months before getting engaged! 

Brooke Ledbetter Photography

How long have you been married?

After a 5 month engagement, we married in my childhood church.  We've been happily married for almost five and a half years!! 

Do you have kids?

We have two FANTASTIC little ones.  Our son is a persistent, smart, cute, hilarious 4 year old.  Our baby girl is a sassy, sweet, beautiful, dramatic 2 year old.  We feel so, so blessed to be given the task of raising these little people!

Where do you live?

My family lives in the heart of Mississippi!

What do you DO for a living? 

I'm a homemaker and stay-at-home mom!  I'm a part-time blogger and DIYer.  When I'm not wiping snotty noses or fixing endless snacks (My kids are seriously bottomless pits!), I'm dreaming up my next project or finding inspiration on Pinterest! 

What does your spouse do?

After spending 8 years serving in youth ministry, God gave my husband the desire to minister in a slightly different way.  My husband is currently in seminary for Marriage and Family Therapy. He's in the middle of his second of six semesters, and I'm SO stinkin' proud of him.  If anybody is MADE for counseling, it's my guy.  He's a dedicated student, but his desire to help hurting people is even more amazing!  I love hearing him share what he's learning and his excitement to spend time in the clinic.  While being a student, he also works on campus and serves as a youth director at a local church!  Y'all, I'm married to superman.

What are your favorite things to do in your spare time?

I LOVE to shop at thrift stores, scroll through Craigslist, scour my favorite blogs, and dig through my closet to find old things that have a potential to be something STUPENDOUS.  I love Refashioning clothes.  I LOVE sewing (mostly straight lines... haha).  But most of all, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE spending time with my family.  I'm pretty sure I have the best family ever.  If you try to argue with me... I probably wouldn't do anything.. because I hate conflict, I want everyone to be happy, and I don't like people being mad at me... so, just KNOW that my family is great.  And don't argue with me.  Or I might cry.

Any obsessions?

I think my whole family shares an obsession with The Office.  Almost every conversation contains a quote or two from Michael Scott or Dwight Schrute.

I'm also maybe just slightly obsessed with fashion.  Clothes, shoes, jewelry.  I LOVE putting outfits together, getting dressed, choosing accessories... which is probably why our room is always a mess.  I try on numerous outfits before I commit to one... Sorry, babe.

I may also be obsessed with Chick Pea Cookie Dough.  Weird, I know.  My obsession began when I finally realized I could no longer eat loads of sweets without watching the numbers on the scale climb higher and higher.  When the near depression about giving up sweets set in, I began perusing Pinterest for healthy food options.  Along came the recipe for the faux cookie dough, and the obsession was born!  I love feeling like I'm indulging in a special treat, but I'm really getting a good dose of protein! :)

Along, with my desire to eat healthy food, I also took up P90X.  Intense, hard, EFFECTIVE.  It's weird to say I love it.  But starting week 4, I truly do love it!  Ask me again on week 8...

Name the 3 things that matter most to you.

Jesus. Family. Friends.

Sorry, I copied you, Rox.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

In Rox's post you heard about our weekly drives to Nowheresville.

We occasionally took bigger trips to the Redwoods, the beach, and like most families, to climb an active volcano... you've all done that right??

Didn't think so.

So, when we still lived in California, we took a trip to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park.  Though beautiful, this place is intense.  Boiling mudpots, the smell of sulfur, and petrified wood litter the area.  A scenic 5-mile hike to the summit was the highlight of our trip.  Though a very memorable time, I still can't believe at about the ages of 5, 7, and 9, we actually hiked the stinkin' volcano!  I will say it was a rock collector's dream (that would be me as a child..)!  I got numerous collectibles on the trip.  But don't tell anyone... I don't think you're really supposed to take them.

Thanks for reading, y'all!!

Stay tuned to hear about Sister #3 and more from all the sisters with of Dwelling and Dress!

-Jess