The hubby and I have lived in 8 homes and three countries since we married 9 years ago. Our current residence is the one we've lived in the longest and the only home our son knows.
So when Michelle Ward brought out Crusade #51: Home Sweet Home I dove straight in. This is not only the hardest I've ever worked on a Crusade, this is the hardest I've ever worked on any blog post here at Studio Mailbox. Michelle's ideas are so terrific, I'm grateful for the inspiration to document our life. Truth be told, I wish I had done this for every residence I've ever lived in.
I hope you enjoy this tour, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know you were here. Or speak up with what you think I should change in this house!
Our first impression when pulling up to look at this rental property was less than enthusiastic. It doesn't look like much from the front, but give it a chance, and c'mon inside...
*Ringing doorbell* Ding-dong*Ding-dong*
When you enter the house, the first room is the dining room. The entire house is staggered half-levels so there are metal bars to give you an open feel but prevent you from tumbling down into other rooms.
Since we've moved so often, we always try to find ways to make our stuff work. Designers might say this is an "ecclectic mix of old and new." I call this several years of slowly upgrading our crappy stuff. Our house has everything from hand-me-downs to Ikea to antiques. Down the first set of stairs is the living room.
Although the ceiling is low because of the house's strange format, the room is huge and bright. My favorite piece of furniture is the coffee table which is actually a World War II Army Ammunitions trunk. I bought it at a Minnesota rummage sale for 10 bucks at least 15 years ago.
This trunk is a big conversation piece having been with me throughout the US, England and now Germany! Oh the stories it could tell...
Y'all might remember my post about acquiring needlework at flea markets. Our living room pillows are made from old framed and forgotten handwork that I've bought over the years. I've disassembled, washed, and blocked them. Using bright Ikea fabrics, they were made into pillows. We love them, and nearly everybody comments on them.
The next shot is our balcony, followed by the view of the living room from the other side, returning back up the short flight of stairs to the dining area.
Here are some images of our kitchen, which in Germany you typically own even if you live in a rental property. We used our kitchen from our old city apartment and had it reinstalled. Germans don't typically like clutter and it's rather unusual to have a hanging pot rack. It fascinates our guests. The funny part is that the ceiling in our old kitchen was so high that my hubby used chunky chains to hang it, which gave the old place a groovy industrial look. Here with the squatty ceilings we get comments like, "wow those pans must be really heavy!" Hah hah. The tile black-splash goes hand-in-hand with the metal Brady Bunch prisoner bars. It's a 1970s rusty variegated brown. I have some yellow accessories just to really mix it all up! I hate my kitchen curtains and have been meaning to change them for years. I have no idea why I haven't or what that says about me.
There is a small guest toilet tucked into the corner of the dining room, which has always grossed me out. The real kicker is the classy ceramic sign on the door and reads, "Lokus." Lokus is a slang term for the toilet. This lovely decoration is basically the equivalent of having something on the door that says, "The John" or "The Pot." At first we tried to determine how to remove it without tearing off half of the wooden door. Over time, we've stopped seeing it and now I sort of love it. I think no matter where I live, I might post signage that clearly labels the bathroom the "Lokus!"
The other honorable mention here (besides the outdated bathrooms themselves) is the fact that a house that's built half-way into the earth seems to get a lot of bugs. Monster spiders invade through the drains and ants come out of the walls in the spring. All that white powder you see along the floor in the Lokus is not cocaine that we were trying to flush down before this tour. That's baking powder which seems to be the only natural deterrent I've found that keeps the ants out.
Well you don't get all these levels without a bunch of stairs! Many times I've felt like I've spent the entire day bringing stuff from downstairs upstairs and then stuff from upstairs downstairs. Let's move to the next level, and if you look down to the right you'll catch a view of the dining and kitchen on your way up...
Next is a shot of my son's room. Too bad I didn't stage a glimpse of the polar fleece covered duvet on his bed! Before you accuse me of horrible Feng Shui, make sure you take a peek at the lower right corner of the photo. That's the 3-story drop down from his room and why we refuse to put the couch under the window and instead tucked it beneath his bed!
I'll never forget when my friend Bakes came to visit, because we had to set up a futon for her kids under the windows in my room. You can imagine how stressful it is to have European windows that open fully to a drop like that. "You will not jump on this bed or you can die!" she told them. Even I was scared! I cannot express how the windows in this joint worry me endlessly.
Next is a peek into our master bedroom.
Funny thing about these hanging houses. I thought I was going mentally insane as I hemmed those curtains. They'd touch the floor in some spots and not in others! I couldn't believe how poorly I had measured. Or was I just sewing unevenly? Turns out, houses built into hills settle and move. They're not square. Lesson learned: don't try and hem curtains to "just brush" the floor...or good luck with that anyway.
Overall, we've done a good job making the best of this place. Here's a little collection of the worst offending tidbits, most especially the yellowed & brittle plastic outlet covers, the funky plastic curtain rods and grungy straps that open and close the external metal shutters that Germans call the "Jalousie." Eww....
There are a lot of different theories about renting. We have the attitude that after changing our environment so often we are no longer willing to throw money at surface stuff that doesn't even belong to us. If you've only rented one place, you're probably more inclined to invest in some upgrades.
For now, I did a little color and texture study as well as a parting shot of the garden gnome that sits out front.
Maybe some of you remember when I smashed my own face with a garden shovel? Well my friends--- this is where I was digging when it happened. I have mad respect for that darned rock!
I walked around with a bruised face for weeks...
Oh well.
There's been more good days than bad at this place. And the important thing is that we know that "HOME" is a relevant term.
Wow I hope y'all leave comments, I feel totally exposed with this post!
Posted by: TJ | May 27, 2011 at 04:43 PM
I'm pretty sure I'd be prepping for this for weeks, heck, months. I've been trying to organize, which lasted for 2 weekends and as result means more boxes left in the middle of the room with crap to donate or sell. Ugh. Enough about me. You have a nice little nook - and I commend you for being so brave!
Posted by: Rebecca | May 27, 2011 at 05:09 PM
Thanks Rebecca, you're too kind!
And sorry everybody for the format problem. I'm irritated with the look, but I spent so many hours in Photoshop, I just don't have the heart or energy right now to go figure out why all the right edges are getting cut off...
Maybe the ants or spiders did this!
Posted by: TJ | May 27, 2011 at 05:14 PM
What a lovely feel your house has, I love it :)
I would need few weeks of cleaning and 'careful arranging' before taking any photos of my house to expose them to the internet world so I might skip this but glad to have brave people like you letting me take a peak into their home :D
Posted by: Veronika | May 27, 2011 at 10:29 PM
Your house is fantastic! It's a real visual feast with the way you've decorated. I remember that I first "met" you when there was an online studio tour and I just loved your style. I esp. love the fact that your son has real stairs to climb on and has to learn that leaning too far out the window isn't a good idea. Here in the US, we've gone CRAZY with all the safety stuff. Kids are being raised in a plastic bubble and they are barely able to function.
I'm curious, what do you mean by "owning" the kitchen? Does that mean you tear everything out and move it with you?
Posted by: Anne | May 28, 2011 at 02:40 AM
Thanks for the great tour of your home! I can't believe the stairs you have to navigate to get around. I can imagine that's nerve wracking with a little kid in the house. Do you have a million child safety gates??
I love the art in your dining room, as well as your living room pillows. Your balcony view looks amazing; I hope you spend lots of time out there. The spiders would make me cringe!!!
I moved nine times in ten years, and have now been in my current home for six years. I was so afraid that I would freak out and need to move because I had not been in one place for so long since I was living with my parents. There are plenty of advantages to getting new places all the time--new opportunities for decorating, and an incentive to keep your belongings a LITTLE reduced. But there is lots to recommend staying put in one spot for a while, too!
Posted by: Andria | May 28, 2011 at 04:34 AM
Wow, thanks for sharing TJ. Love your textures and fancy joining you on that deck with a glass of wine! This looks like it belongs on a design blog the way you have done so much with photoshop - great job!
BethXx
Posted by: beth | May 28, 2011 at 01:46 PM
What an amazing house. I love your balcony, I bet you have amazing views. Love that coffee table!
Posted by: Fiona | May 28, 2011 at 07:41 PM
TJ - love this tour! I can appreciate all the work it took to prepare this post. So fun to see where you reside and to hear the stories connected to this address. Love to hear that you recognize the value of documenting the places we live as the photos conjure up many memories. You will love having this to look back on someday - and as you pointed out, it is the first home your son has known. Bravo girl! Now print these and get them in your journal! THANK YOU for sharing this with the team, and all your readers. So very personal, it feels like we just had a real life visit 'round your table.
Posted by: michelle ward | May 28, 2011 at 08:53 PM
This was such a fun tour. And I got a good laugh over the Lokus sign and the "line of cocaine" in the bathroom! We, too, have a huge problem with ants so I completely understand.
There are so many wonderful touches of creativity in your home. It looks warm and welcoming.
Posted by: Janet | May 28, 2011 at 11:16 PM
What a great tour TJ. Love the love on the kitchen wall! Not lovin' the giant spider though...
I'm fascinated by people owning their own kitchen even in a rental, but can't quite get my head round how that would work.
Thanks for sharing so much of your home life with us.
Posted by: Cath S | May 29, 2011 at 07:04 AM
Thanks for the tour....can imagine how you feel....it's really brave!!!!
But your home is really inspiring, full of textures, colors and creative vibes, I guess it's kind of like publishing in an Style magazine!
Have a great weekend, smiles, Anke ;)
Posted by: Anke | May 29, 2011 at 09:37 AM
What a great tour! I love peeking into peoples homes, especially in other countries. So many oddities. It is why I love to watch house hunters international. I feel sory for any old folks there that live that sort of home with so many stairs. My knees won't even look. LOL
Posted by: viki | May 30, 2011 at 07:12 AM
You gals are so terrific. Thank you for the beautiful and supportive comments!
Guilty confession: most of those images were taken right before a real estate agent was arriving to photograph the place.
Since then, I assure you it's returned to it's normal chaotic, messy, dusty & art supply strewn normality of our "real home!!" xx tj
Posted by: TJ | May 30, 2011 at 12:36 PM
That was a great tour TJ!Congratulations on being featured at Sonya Mac's website with it!!
Posted by: Monica | May 30, 2011 at 06:37 PM
So much to see here--textures and colors and levels of your house and heart! I love the montages you did with the details. And then there are the spiders--Yikes! It sounds like a lot of love is built into your space--and a lot of creativity.
Posted by: QuinnCreative | May 31, 2011 at 02:23 PM
Loved your tour! It is fun to see what an interior can reveal about the people living in it. Though I feel that might not look good on me, right now. I am living in such a shabby place... :-)
Posted by: Jacqueline | June 02, 2011 at 03:28 PM