House #3- The Cabin

Jake was promoted and transferred to another town so, much to my dismay, we decided to find a house to rent in between our jobs. Which means out in the middle of nowhere. Our rental options were pretty slim but we finally decided on The Cabin. Read about our first week in the house HERE.

(Guestroom/Closet- Check out that post HERE)

(Our kitchen- See that post HERE)

(Our little dining room- HERE)

(Basement bar area)

(Our tiny living room- See post HERE)

(See more of the basement Family room/Office HERE)

Moving to the middle of nowhere was definitely an adjustment and so was all the extra driving (Jake drove 43 miles to work one way). The Cabin was homey and had a ton of character, privacy and plenty of room for Layla to roam. She would sometimes roam a little too long for my liking. The lot had been clear cut but we were able to trudge through the snow and cut down our Christmas tree in the backyard. One memory I wouldn't mind forgetting is the Box-elder bug fiasco. They were everywhere! I seriously thought the house and yard were infested and definitely shed some tears over the frustration. We set off multiple bug bombs and that helped for the time being. I have never been happier to see the ground freeze and all the little bugs along with it!

Our stay at house # 3 was again short lived. We were there 6 months before another transfer sent us packing....

Family Room/Office

Remember how I said that living in a small space requires almost every room to multi-task? Well our basement family room is no exception. I showed you the Guest Bedroom/ Closet, the Kitchen/Dining, and the Livingroom, which happens to be one with the kitchen & dining room, so next up is the family room.

Quick Disclaimer:: My camera has taken some really disappointing pictures lately, so bear with me. Try and ignore the blotches and dots.

Let's remember this is the basement, so the lighting is not very good.

Our tv was too large to fit into the built-in entertainment center, so we turned it into a bar.

Here's my little office corner, which works for now. I clearly did not choose the paint colors down there. I considered repainting the basement but decided against it. Which is probably a good thing, seeing how I have no idea how long we will actually be here. This may just be the last you see of our little log home.

Need a good laugh?

So, this is my new thing. Cleaning in a doctor's mask. Why, you ask? Because the upheavel of dust embeds itself into my sinuses and sets my allergies on a mad mission to execute me. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I'm going to say it's crippling. So, this is my new look.

Just thought I would keep it real. No one's home is picture perfect all the time. Certainly not ours, what with the, dog hair, dust, and boxelder bugs climbing about. I will kill every last one of them.

And even funnier, here's a shot of me sporting the mask WITH my glasses on. Everytime I exhaled the left side fogged up on me!

Go ahead, laugh:)



livingroom

First I showed photos of our guest bedroom/closet, then the kitchen/diningroom, now it's time for the livingroom!

Our livingroom is very small. The kitchen, dining, and living rooms are basically all one big room. You can see the corner of the kitchen counter in the above photo. Oh, and ignore the bird on the back of the door--it's a rental, remember?

The stairs leading to the loft and a little sneak peak towards the basement- which is up next!

shoe storage

During my time off work I tackled the shoe storage project I've been planning since moving into our little log house. Upstairs in the loft, which is also our master bedroom, there are three built-in cubbies. I'm not sure what the original plan for these were, but seeing how we have only ONE closet in this house, we needed to make use of every square inch. Jake and I each have our fair share of shoes. We were able to fit the majority of them in the cubbies.

Now of course we have more shoes hidden under the bed, in our closet, and near the front door, but I tend to rotate according to the seasons. We try and keep the shoes looking organized, but I know I'd rather not see them everyday- this happens to be the wall on MY side of the bed!

Using a few 84" black curtains and tension rods that I had from the last rental, I figured I could make some custom curtains to hide the shoes--No sewing required!

I cut the curtains to size, ironed the bottom flap back to create a nice, clean, straight line, and used fabric glue to adhere the jagged flap!

Problem solved!

Rest of the room to come....

Kitchen & Diningroom

First the guestroom/closet reveal, next- Kitchen and Diningroom. My biggest complaint about this house is lack of storage, but we have really "downsized" and "simplified," especially in the kitchen area. And it feels good.

(I spy Layla)

(rock knobs on the cabinets)

(sneak peek of the loft and entrance to the basement)

(our mini diningroom)

(more wildflowers I scrounged up)

Guest Bedroom/Closet

"Be. Our. Guest. Be our guest, put our service to the test..."

Five bucks to anyone who knows where that song is from!

This is our "guest room." Of course, when living in a house this small a few of the rooms are multi-functional.

It is also our closet! If our guests don't want to wake up to the sight of our clothes, I'll have to suggest the couch. But this room has gotten more action than I anticipated. (And I don't mean THAT kind of action:) Mom and Dad are staying tonight.

That little closet on the left is the ONLY closet in the entire house. It's packed with clothes as well. And a hamper, and a broom, and a swiffer. I tell ya, multi-functional. We've gotten a lot of use out of our Sam's Club industrial clothes rack. See it in our previous house HERE. We try to keep the clothes as organized as possible since it's in plain sight, but let's face it- it's not first priority.

Bought this little framed painting for $3. The orange matte is actually real velvet. Love it.

Gotta love how Layla sneaks into about every picture one way or another.

Figured I would get a full body shot. She's everywhere I am. All the time.

Dining Alfresco

Last night the weather was beautiful, so we decided to have dinner outside- alfresco style!

Insert a couple of colorful place mats, cloth napkins, candles, and wildflowers.....

and you have a simple little outdoor diningroom.

Of course Layla's dinner was moved out onto the deck as well.

(She did get some garlic bread but ate it almost as fast as I dropped it in her bowl.)

Insert the dinner. Now people, I am no cook. We had spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad. That's how we do.

During dinner Jake was saying how much I've changed over the last year. I wasn't sure what he was getting at until he said, "A year ago you never would have moved to Beulah!" And you know what? He's right. I wouldn't have moved to Beulah...or enjoyed a simple back deck dinner the way I do now. (Don't get me wrong- the move was not something I was excited about!) But I'm really starting to delight in the little things.

Lately I've been bombarded with bad news-- This couple's divorcing, this couple's going to counseling, this marriage was destroyed by infidelity. I am FAR from perfect, FAR from the ideal wife, but I will say that I am determined to do my best. Despite all of the things that bother me, the quirks I'm learning to live with-- I am blessed.