nesting at this house apparently means throwing out everything we don’t need,
and spending long hours into the night on craigslist looking for how to fill out house again….

after over a month of searching for the right one, we found us a couch. a white one. that old one was supposed to be a short-term thing since we just needed one fast. before you go all “what? you got a white couch and you have a toddler?” on me, this is the ektorp from ikea that has removable covers. i can wash it, bleach it, and if i need to, replace the whole cover for $50 when i want. which is awesome. i have even heard of people dyeing covers… so don’t be surprised if this couch decides to be mint one day… i don’t know that i could even help it!

i also found the ottoman to match, but it was left at the studio where i use it for shoots…
perhaps i will find another soon for the house…

see, it was disgusting. and owned by a dog-owner before so always covered in hair, even long after we rid if of the dog kind. ew. some college kids came and hauled it out with a smile on… the circle of life on craigslist, right?

alas.

so my mom and i hit up ikea to properly accessorize {my new pillows} when she was here, and i whined hard for her to bring my overstuffed red rocker she’s been storing in her bedroom for a while… and now my family room is starting to look legit!!

after we had the new couch and pop of red, i kept looking at cc’s guitars that were lingering in the window and in every closet… taking up space and not getting the playtime they needed.

i spent hours on pinterest to find an idea, and then my 16-year-old cousin came and said, “you should hang em up high right there… so that’s what we did.

and we found it the perfect opportunity to paint some more too…

so what were we doing the saturday before the baby came?

this.

he even decided to hang his longboard, that he made, by the way,
in the entryway.

it feels so retro-beachy in here now {i just made up that term i think}, and i love that he comes home and pulls a guitar or his ukelele off the wall to play like old times. it reminds of when we were dating and we had time to sit and sing… plus, anyone that comes in asks in seconds who plays guitar. i get to say, “he does, and he’s awesome!” or, “cool longboard!” and i get to say, “he made that!” it’s nice to have a bit of topher in here to represent.

i was frantic that last weekend also trying to come up with something i could have for reese.
even the smallest of decorated corners to say i premeditated it…

i saw a print similar to this rain one with a whale on it somewhere and thought of something we love that starts with R… i had my lab print up my design on white stand-outs, the wall was painted, and the cute fabric R from my shower was prominently hung. it made me happy to have a piece of reese somewhere before she got here…

my prints from her shoot arrived yesterday and we hung her canvas.
done! {well, one wall anyway…. lots more to go to make this shared room look cute!}

i absolutely love it!

i got boss up this morning and he was laying there looking at it,
“look mom, baby reese is up there!”

it’s not much, but it feels nice to know i have prints of both my kids around now.

it feels more official. as if the 5 pounds of concealer i’m sporting or my blown up instafeed wasn’t sign enough of a new baby…