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Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Home Tour Tuesday - What Our House REALLY Looks Like

These past few months I’ve been taking you on a tour of our lovely home.  The home that Brian and I built as a newly married couple.  The home that we brought our babies to when they were born.  The home that took us years to decorate to reflect our personal style.  I love this house.  And I’ve loved sharing it with you room by room during these last few months. 

However, the house that you’ve seen, those picture perfect spotless rooms, don’t adequately reflect the house that we live in on a daily basis.  Every picture in those posts was taken after each room had been methodically emptied of its clutter, tidied up, and cleaned until it sparkled.  You know, to put our best foot forward so that you could see what the house would look like in an idealistic world. 

The reality is that we don’t live in an idealistic world.  Brian and I both work full time, we have two small babies, and we do not have a housekeeper.  So today is the day to get real and to show you what our house really looks like on a daily basis.  The house of two full-time working parents with two small kids.  Everything may be beautifully decorated, but that certainly doesn’t stop the toys from spreading, the dust from collecting, and the laundry from piling up.

Last week, Brian was teasing me and asking if I was going to “stage” the clutter so it was messy, but “classy” messy.  The answer is no, friends.  This is literally what our house looked like on the random day that I decided to take the pictures.  When preparing for this portion of the tour, I literally walked in the door last Friday on my lunch break and started taking pictures on a whim.  I hadn’t even intended to take the pictures that day… my original plans for lunch had fallen through and I had 30 spare minutes, so I figured it was as good a time as any to get it done so that’s what I did!

Come on in!

On this particular day, I opened the front door and started cracking up.  Not only do you get to see our home in its typical state, you get to see some of the rooms in their worst state ever.  Lol.  The night before taking these pictures I had gone out with my girlfriends for dinner and apparently the kids made a royal mess right in the foyer while I was gone.  It’s like they knew I was going to be taking these pictures.  And fun fact, when I tried to open the door, it wouldn’t even open more than a few inches because there was a Hot Wheels car wedged under it.  #RealLife



The front sitting room now houses Jacob’s Hot Wheels Garage because we don’t have room for it anywhere else, so this room always looks like a Toys R Us exploded in it.  It’s just awful.



The formal dining room is a room that we don’t use very often and we also try to keep the kids out of there because of the breakable items on display, so it stays pretty clean.  There is, however, a thin layer of dust on the table’s surface because I haven’t dusted the house in over a month.  #Woops



The living room is where we spend most of our time and on any given day there are usually shoes and socks that the kids have removed, toys that haven’t been put away, and puzzle pieces strewn everywhere.





The kitchen is also an area that’s used a lot.  We’re usually pretty good about not having too many dirty dishes in the sink just because that’s one thing that really grosses me out, but as you can see, the island is our catch-all for junk and the magnets that should be on the refrigerator are always always on the floor.  #OliviaWuzHere





Our guest bathroom usually stays pretty clean as well, but only because there’s not much room in there for items that shouldn’t be in there.  Some things you didn’t see in the original tour…

1)    Maui’s crate – this is where she sleeps each night and where she spends most of her time during the day when we’re at work.  She has full run of the house, but she prefers to sleep in her cat bed.  And yes, you read that right.  She’s so tiny that she sleeps in a cat bed.
2)    The kids’ stepstool – gotta have some way to wash their hands!
3)    Tiny little potty – gotta have somewhere to potty when they can’t quite reach the big toilet!



Time to head upstairs! 

Oh look, another Toys R us explosion in the playroom!  



The master bedroom…




The kids' bathroom...



Olivia’s bedroom…



And only a sneak peek of Jacob’s bedroom… you didn’t think I was going to show you his big boy room when I haven’t even done the big reveal yet, did you?!



Finally, my office.  The one room that looks exactly the same as it did during the tour.  And why?  Because only I am allowed in there.  No hubs, no kids, no dogs.  Just me.  That way it’s always guaranteed to look the same.  When I clean it, it stays clean and everything stays in its place.  ;o)  And just kidding about Brian… he can go in there if he wants to, but he’s not a fan of scrapbooking or crafting or reading chick lit, so he probably has no reason to.  ;o)



So, this is it!  This is what life is usually like for us.  I do have to say that today’s tour might have been even dirtier than it usually is on a regular day.  Oops.

And if you prefer to see the house in all its clean glory, you can find my original home tour posts below.  But just remember, chances are, there are piles of toys, dirty clothes, and miscellaneous items that hadn’t quite yet made it to their homes just outside of the frames of the pictures.  ;o)  


P.S. The house is still decorated for 4th of July, so clearly I don’t have my act together right now.  ;o) 

*Linking up with Our Pretty Little Girls for Tuesday Talk, and Stang & Co. and Crown Me in Glitter for Talk About It Tuesday.

20 comments:

  1. I love nothing more than someone being totally real so I smiled all the way through this post. THIS is life. It is messy and seldom picture perfect but it is good. P.S. your chick lit comment made me lol.

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  2. Ha ha I loved this!! I actually have a similar post planned! Thanks for showing your house in its lived in state :)

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  3. I love this! My house is never completely clean and out together because we've gotta live there. Thanks for being real!

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  4. Thank you for posting this!! I often always feel like I don't have it together Bc I can't get my home tour pics with spectacular clean rooms! This has inspired me. And I'll be doing a #reallife home tour when I get home from our trip! This is what it's about... Real life! Thanks Lindsay!!

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  5. Haha this is great! Own it, girl! Your house actually looks good for having 2 small kids! I've seen way worse :)
    Sarah at MeetTheShaneyfelts

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  6. This was so much fun! It always makes me feel sooo normal when bloggers share their real life interiors of their homes! Oh and girlfriend - this isn't too bad compared to what happens over here! LOL! On behalf of all mothers, thanks for doing this, girl!!!

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  7. I love these type of outtake posts! As always, I just love your house!

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  8. I love this! Anyone who tells you their house doesn't get like this is so not telling the truth! Life happens!

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  9. I love seeing your house in its normal state too. Makes me feel a bit better about my house always being a mess too!!!

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  10. Oh I love that you did this!! Looks VERY similar to my house, haha!

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  11. Hahahah, I love this real look into life! Such a good idea for a post. I'm home with Ben and our house still is crazy most of time!

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  12. Thank you for sharing this! My house is a disaster too! Except that play room you have is called our family room, toys EVERYWHERE!! I mean every room has toys like yours...my husband calls it Toy Chic...lol. One day we'll get our houses back. There is even a slide in our bedroom...

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  13. OH and I really LOVE your scrapbooking/craft room! I think I want something that looks like that too...gorgeous!

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  14. YES I totally love this! There's a difference between messy and dirty, and messy doesn't bother me when we don't have guests- it makes me feel cozy and like my house is lived it =)

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  15. Haha! NOW you're speaking my language! The only time my house looks perfect is after the kids go to bed. And that lasts for just a mere 8 hours.

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    1. Haha, mine doesn't even look perfect after the kids go to bed... mine only looks perfect right before I host a party... and that only happens a couple of times per year! Lol.

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  16. You are awesome, haha! I love knowing that my house isn't the only one that competes with Babies R Us. :) Also, your office. All the heart eyes!

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    1. Thanks, Brandi!! I love that office so much! I wish I got to spend more time in there!

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  17. This is great! So glad I'm not the only one who sometimes can't get the clutter contained!

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  18. I love your honesty! My favorite kind of blogger is a "real" blogger! One day, our kids will be grown, our house will be spotless and we will miss those days...we'll be tired, but we'll miss the messes. Thanks for sharing!

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