Good for the Soul

This may sound cheesy, but I can't even explain how good it is for my soul to have my house clean. I am able to work better, I am able to rest better, I am able to play better - it's so good.

Now that my house is clean, I thought I'd take you on a little tour, since I know many of you have never had the chance to visit. First up, The Living Room:

I love, love, love the red in this room. It just pops. This is the room you walk into when you come in the front door (you can't see it in this picture, but it's to the left of the window). The living room has a little corner in the back of it which I like to call The Reading Nook:


Thanks to Susan Bouchard and her mad garage-saleing skills, I was able to get this Pottery Barn chair and ottoman set in almost pristine condition for an outrageously cheap price. A bachelor had it for several years covered with a slipcover, and he almost never used it. His new wife made him sell it because it didn't match any of the rest of their furniture. Somehow, I made it work with the furniture I have. This, by the way, is absolutely my favorite part of the house.

Next, we have The Family Room:

This room is super comfortable, and it's a great place to sit and watch movies, hang out with friends, or, perhaps, have staff meetings. Yup, every Monday morning, this is where we congregate. In the back of this picture, you can see the refrigerator, which leads us to...

The Kitchen:

I spend a lot of time here, because I love to cook. Still, my favorite feature of the kitchen is not my Kitchen-Aid mixer (thanks mom!) or the coffee pot, though both of those come close. My favorite part is the set of paintings above the cabinets. Here's a closer look:

I purchased these last summer while touring Italy with my friend. In Venice, just down the road from our bed-and-breakfast was a shop full of gorgeous paintings like these. The man who owned it was incredibly nice and let me look through tons of canvases until I found these two. He rolled them up in bubble wrap so I could put them in my suitcase, and then I got them framed here. I love them!

Final stop on the tour, The Master Bedroom:

I'm conveniently leaving out the angle of my room with my cluttered desk...

There are two other bedrooms where my two roommates, Amy and Emily, live. Unfortunately, the girls aren't here to give me permission to post pictures, so you'll have to leave that up to your imagination for now.

I almost forgot! To the U of A Navs, my house is affectionately called "The Strudel House". Why, you ask? Because it's plain on the outside, but has a hot, sweet filling. :) I hope you enjoyed the tour!