Hey y'all.

I hope you're hankering for lots and lots of deets on how we're living, what we're doing, who we're wearing, etcetera. 'Cause I got all that for ya, and more! Thanks for sticking with us as we took a lovely long summer off, and welcome back!

So, in year(s) past, we've done a quick tour through the house and broken things up by front of the house and back of the house. This year, which will likely (hopefully? sadly?) be our last year in this apartment, I thought I'd take a deeper dive into where we are and where we're headed, and finally (!) update our house tour page in the process. With that in mind, let's take a look at our family room.

Here she is, in all her glory. And there's lots to talk about. But first, I think we ought to take a stroll down memory lane.

Here we are about a month after we moved in. It looks so....empty?This was before we hung the brick wallpaper, and before rug attempts two, three and four and below, five.

Then things got a little dark. I tried out those curtains, and that ottoman/pouf combo.

I thought things were looking pretty good once we went with a white coffee table (round version above subsequently sold and replaced with a kiddie table I found on the sidewalk and shortened) and figured out our gallery wall and some child-friendly bookshelf arrangements. But now, I think things look great.

Mid-century TV credenza and leaning bookshelves

I liked the bookshelves before, but I love these leaning shelves, flanking my favorite thrifted dresser. (Read all about that game of musical shelving units here). It's a little bit nuts how different the whole room looks now. And styling these shelves was, like, the funnest.

From those earlier days, we've evolved to have two sofas (switching the rocking chair into a more natural spot in West's room). One is the mid-century-ish Room and Board couch I got from Craigslist; the other is our pull-out. I'm not super crazy about having both, but it is so darn functional to have another couch here for lounging, and of course to have a bed available for guests.

The light jute rug is awesome; it's light and nubby and textural and incredibly forgiving as far as dirt goes. I used to have a Turkish rug layered over it, but that rug's holding it down in another room, and I find that, at least for summer, I'm digging the lightness of an un-layered rug situation. I also love having another all bookshelf in this corner: It really fills up the little space better than anything I've come up with so far, and it's so functional, holding lots of goodies, like our stereo and plants.

I have a wishlist, which includes, primarily, a new coffee table. Switching out the IKEA chair on the left is a big dream, too. Longer term, I am longing to reupholster our sofa, but we'll wait until kids aren't throwing food at it to do that. In this home, or if we do move, I'd like walls that aren't quiiiiite this dingy shade of "white."

Certainly, things will change in here, but we've reached a point of balance and have kept things largely the same for a bit, which is probably because it works so well. Lots of room for sitting, spots for books and pretty items, space for playing, and landing zones for coffee cups and laptops. When everything works out so well, you can kinda forget that maybe it's not dream couch/rug/layout/what-have-you and just enjoy it.

For fun, a before-and-after:

...and that's the beginning of our house tour! We'll be doing deep dives into all the most important areas of our abode, plus new recipes, attempts and making life smoother, design inspo tours and more. Welcome back!