Home tour – sharing the colorful, low cost & casual style

Home tour – sharing the colorful, low cost & casual style

We have a busy week here on the blog, today kicks things off with my Home tour – sharing the colorful, low cost & casual style!

Spring home tour, top home decor bloggers share their home. DIY, craft, low cost and simple decorating.

I am not only sharing my home tour but also linking up with 19 other home decor bloggers. They are sharing their beautiful homes all week! This Hello Spring home tour is filled with  color, patterns, texture and a ton of different home decor styles. There will be a lot of inspiration this week. You can scroll down to the bottom of this post to see who is sharing today and then the rest of the week more homes will be added.

As usual, I will be sharing any tutorials for all of the DIY, furniture redos, and crafts I have done in my home at the bottom of this post. Each year I have more and more DIY in my home and with a full home tour it can get a little confusing to find what you are looking for. So if you are looking for a specific tutorial, scroll to the bottom and find it!

I will also be sharing a source list for the majority of my purchased items. If I could not find the exact item I did my best to find something similar. I am hoping to make this all as easy for you as possible to find what you are looking for and take my (hopeful) inspiration and run with it to decorate your home.

With it finally getting warm here this front porch will see a lot of action. My kids ride their bikes in the street in front of our house, our sidewalk is covered in chalk, we sit here watching the fun or talking with friends that live in the neighborhood. It is a favorite cozy place to relax and also welcome people into our home.

Our house now a home home tour. Filled with coastal, low cost, simple, casual and bold patterns in this home perfect for a young family.

This Home tour – sharing the colorful, low cost & casual style, is the first since my big With the recent furniture rearrangement I am still playing around with what works best where. I am still playing around with a few things and seeing what works. I also changed thins up even a little bit since then. The biggest is I moved the dining room table into the large living room.

bold wall decor

I will explain the hows and whys as we get to those areas in the home tour. My home is a mix of coastal, casual and rustic. This is the epitome of compromise in our marriage. Since this is our family home, and my husband lives here as well I of course take into account his decorating preferences. His preferred decorating is a rustic style home. My preferred decorating is a coastal style home. This DIY console table I made using a live edge barn wood piece, sprinkling in my beachy items is the perfect happy place for our dueling decor styles.

I have a mix of posed pictures of my kids and some casual ones of them in their element. It gives off such a personal touch.

 

The casual style of our home comes out of necessity. We have three kids, two dogs…. and a partridge in a pear tree. We are a loud and chaos filled home, which I adore. Our home needs casual and functional, down to the baskets filled with winter hats and mittens for my crew. Our sofa is slip covered which means it is easily washable. As spill proof as you can get without requiring every person to drink out of a sippy cup, never go outside or anything remotely dirty, which cannot happen. The biggest mix of all in our home is the DIY, low cost and simple decorating ideas. This combo is my specialty.

So I work around my need for a stylish home and create the function where I can. The casual style comes actually from other people describing it as that. I love that people feel my home is casual, it is lived in and real. We want people to feel welcome, put your feet on the coffee table, grab a blanket and get cozy. We live here and we want others to feel just as comfortable.

 

 

This is the home my kids make memories, I want them to be filled with the throw pillows being used as rocks to save them from lava, I want forts made in the living room, art supplies scattered on the table in the middle of creating something. I want there to be cozy corners for reading, enough room for all of us to get our dance on in the living room to really loud music. This is why I focus on home so much, home is where we are simply us. 

 

Which is why I put all of the effort in that I do. Also because it is my “thing” decorating is it for me. I love scheming, planning, organizing, and moving things around until I find the perfect place for them. Some people paint, fish, or do a ton of other hobbies. Mine is decorating and I am OK making that statement.

A little background of our home for any new readers who have stumbled onto this home tour, we actually purchased my husband Dale’s parents home. They purchased it new in 2000, they lived in it and loved it for a while. Then life happened and they needed to sell it. At that same time we were finally ready to purchase a home of our own, it seemed like a great situation to purchase his parents home. We knew the history of it, there was no hidden mold the previous owners knew about. Nothing shady in the deal, and we were able to make the process quick and easy because of the situation.

living room and entryway ideas

We have loved this home and all that is packed into it, but because we went with a solid situation for a first time home buyer over picking exactly what we wanted we both felt the need to make this ours. I also wanted to decorate it beautifully and we were on a tight budget. Being a young family, Dale was just out of college my decorating budget was non existent. I used what I had and we ticked off little projects here and there through the years.

blue living room ideas

Eventually we were able to start tackling bigger projects like the kitchen, adding wood floors and getting more furniture. It has been a long process which we are not done with yet. Because of our situation I was forced to get creative in making my home what I wanted it to be, DIY style! I crafted, upcycled, got furniture from the side of the road, shopped clearance, eventually landing into this style that feels perfect for us.beach home decorations

mixing blues for decor

As I said earlier the sofa is all slip covered, which we wash a lot… because… kids. There is stools that are light and easy to move around for feet to rest on, to sit on and draw at the coffee table, kids to jump off of them, or use as a pretend game for them.

open floorplan living room

Throw pillows in bright colors and bold patterns make the sofa extra comfy while also meeting my needs for a stylish home. When I first started decorating I adored the geometric patterns and the mixing of them that people were bale to do. I was scared to give it a try myself. Over time I began trusting my decorating instincts and went with my love of mixing patterns.

great room

Most importantly I began to think in different terms with my home. This space is ours, so if I wanted to do something that maybe others would not like or do in their home that is fine. Decorating is sooooo subjective, as it should be. This is my oasis, our safe haven. You have that in your home as well. Yes, we have people over and I want them to feel comfortable and welcome but at the end of the day this is ours. Gaining that outlook gave me the freedom to decorate exactly how I wanted to.

bright living room

We all need to find our personal voice in life. Decorating is the same. My first apartment was filled with reds and oranges, with a random European motif. I had no cookware, but I had pictures on the wall and some throw pillows, priorities people.

DIY furniture and decor

When Dale and I moved in together we used what I had and added a few random pieces along the way. When we purchased this home knowing it would be our family home I wanted to go bigger with the decorating. I was mindful of what this house would mean to our children, this became our first home. I felt a lot of pressure to make it our dream home, but also such excitement to get it just right. We also needed more items because this 2,000 square foot home was larger than any other place we had stayed.

Ikea ektorp sofa

We got the basics and have built on those from there on. Many of the same furniture items are still in our home almost a decade later. Some have been painted or repurposed, all have been moved around a ton in our home. But those large furniture staples are still the same.

how to decorate with patterns

The one thing I cannot quit is my love for blue. It started with a lot of white decor (not trusting myself to add more color). Then turquoise was brought into the mix. Gray became a wonderful way to add some drama and warmth to the space. In the last year or so navy blue is coming in strong in my home. I may choose to one day nix this color scheme and go green or maybe red, but for now this feels like home.

blue painted ceiling

Another way I have made my home be exactly what I wanted is by making a lot of the smaller decoration items myself. To me part of what impressed me with those “magazine ready homes” is that they are decorated from top to bottom. Those little knick knacks and chotchkis get pricey!

blue and gray living room

So I use recycled items like cans or jars. Paper, rope, twine, yarn, paint and scrap wood have become my go-to for making those smaller decor pieces. This Home tour – sharing the colorful, low cost & casual style!

blue and white living room

Bringing my love of the coast, specifically Southern California where I was born and raised. Mixing in Dale’s rustic sensibilities he gained growing up in Wisconsin. We have works, chiseled away, given a ton of sweat equity and landed with a home we absolutely adore! Not just adore, but it works for us. Even down to the art supplies that are hidden in these bookshelves in the living room. Our living room which on the surface may look formal is anything but.

Our house now a home home tour. Filled with coastal, low cost, simple, casual and bold patterns in this home perfect for a young family.

My Grandma is all about shells too, where I learned it from of course. So she has given me a lot of blue items and shells. That is what makes our home all the more special with personal touches.

For any “regular” readers have you noticed the new change yet? Our dining room is now one one side of the big and massive living room. So it has become a great room in a sense. This change came about because Gavin (my youngest) laid on some serious Mom guilt. I had moved all of their art supplies into their bedrooms and gotten rid of the art table, and he said he misses it. I am not supporting his creativity anymore. So I wracked my brain trying to come up with a place to sit an art table for my kids in the main living area.

The best place for it has always been in the eat-in part of our kitchen. But with our newly created family room that we love there was no place to move the dining room table, which had been moved into the kitchen. So I begged Dale to help me move the table by the fireplace, to see if it and our furniture would fit. He thought I was crazy but went along with it anyways.

shiplap and fireplace in living room

This room is so massive that all I had to do was scoot down the sofa and two cane chairs. I did have to get rid of the coffee table in here, and have plans to make something else a little smaller than what was here previously. For now the tree trunk ottomans work great. My kids were only concerned with their dancing space. This area by the console table that was sparse before it where we get our dance on. But we are still able to make it happen so all is good in their little world.

simple decor for bookshelf

iris flower

The dining room is now large enough for a bunch of people to crowd around it. We have already put it to the test a few times, we had adults all huddled around it playing cards against humanity, laughing and having a good time. All while kids ran around us with Nerf guns, it was kid tested and adult hanging out approved.

decorating with blue ideas

On a side not, I really wanted to have my dining room chairs painted before this home tour happened, but then all last week I had a sick child at home. I was on Mommy duty and my blogging/decorating alter ego had to take a seat. The plan is to paint the dining room chairs blue, either navy blue or turquoise. I go back and forth on the color so chime in with what you think I should paint them!

casual and coastal home

This kitchen cart just barely fit. Dale and I had a discussion about it, he said it would not fit here on the left side of the fireplace, I said it would. People, we made it fit! There is literally not even an inch of space between the side of this and the rocks of the fireplace. Biggest thing to note from this…. I was right. 🙂

Our house now a home home tour. Filled with coastal, low cost, simple, casual and bold patterns in this home perfect for a young family.

With the kitchen cart being in here it had a dual function, storage, and a coffee spot. I need my coffee in the morning so all coffee stuff is here. Our kids snacks are held here, extra plates, silverware and our cloth napkins are all within grabbing distance.

beach decor

I feel like this little corner of the dining room pulls the space together. There is the working aspect of it, being usable work space for the kitchen which is just around the corner. It brings together decor with the smaller decorative accents, making this part of the large room feel like a legitimate dining room. It is honestly as formal of a dining room as we have ever had. You gotta love a partially open concept house to allow me to move around the dining room into three different living spaces in my home.

kitchen cart decorating ideas

coffee bar ideas

You cannot get more fancy than a big fireplace in the dining room. We have always said we are not “formal dining room” kind of people but now that we have this space we are loving it. Knock knock jokes, giggles fits and homework are all still able to happen here perfectly fine.

dining room with fireplace and coffee bar

I know I mention all of the time about making items to help fill in the decor in your home, but it really how I am able to decorate like I do.

dining room in open concept housedecorating with fake flowers

Those little crafts that seem pointless do add up to cute decorative accents that fill what might be a sparse little corner of a home.

A coastal style home decorate the fireplace mantel with DIY projects and simple crafts. Keeping the decor low cost and full of California casual charm!

home decor blogger dining room

The kitchen cart I had to get creative with because even thought I wanted it to be stylish and decorated, this most important aspect is for it to be functional. I want this as a usable work space if needed, I can pour milk in my kid’s cups here is it is getting crowded in the kitchen. We put any snacks out here when we have people over. So keeping the decor to a minimum and allowing the surface to be usable was key.

simple beach decor

simple tablescape

Most of the items on my dining room table are little things I have made through the years. I keep the decor simple on the table so it can be easily moved and also people can see over it. Nothing worse than seeing a grogeous tablescape but realizing that no one would be able to see the person sitting across from them.


simple table decor ideas

Our house now a home home tour. Filled with coastal, low cost, simple, casual and bold patterns in this home perfect for a young family.

With the living room not having any solid walls to put furniture on it is a tough configuration. We have a fireplace wall, a wall of windows, an entryway and then no other walls because it is open into the family room. I know people are in love with open concept but me, I need a little separation. So I have finally landed on a furniture configuration that works. I do plan adding two larger, big and comfy arm chairs in here to create the best conversation square in a room.

Since there is no TV in here we do a lot of hanging out and talking in here. We are not a big TV family and use it mainly to watch movies on the weekends with the kids. This fact blows my mind because growing up the TV was always on! So the living room is where we do most of our “living”. I want this room to feel as cozy as possible, vaulted ceilings and all. I hope to finalize my plans and then start shopping for furniture in the next few months to get this space done. I also have to organize a rummage sale to cover all of my new purchases!

living room, family room and dining room combo

 

 

large dining room

Within one year I have moved the dining room table into three different rooms, in what is now the family room, it was also in the kitchen and now in the living room as a living room’dining room combo. This is definitely my favorite place for it and I don’t see me moving it for a while. I was concerned it would be feel too squished in here but it does not feel that way at all.

small kitchen ideas

The kitchen in our home is small, fortunately has a ton of storage and cabinets though. The on downside to our kitchen is the small square of it, making the kids hang out in here while we are cooking feel too squished. We also can have only one adult moving around in here without bumping into each other.

how to decorate a small kitchen

The painted cabinets did wonders for the overall feel of the space, but cannot help the actual footprint of the room. They were originally a darker wood color (fake wood) and we went with a mint green color. In the pictures it appears very white in color, but there is a hint of mint.  I have a few long term plans for the kitchen that involve big construction, contractors… and lottery winnings….

DIY kitchen

For years we have never actually used the breakfast bar. I worried about my little ones perching onto the tall stools and falling off. Now that they are 9, 8, and 6 I can trust them to no fall off. Unless they are doing crazy and irresponsible things on them, which at this point is on them. Just last night I was cleaning up after dinner and doing dishes. Nora was able to sit on one of these stools and we talked about school, her friends, her crush and how it makes her heart feel like butterflies in it. This is probably my favorite addition in our kitchen for that very reason. Before we were always telling the kids to scram, get out of the kitchen so we would not literally trip over them. Now we just tell them to sit on one of the stools and chill. It has improved how we use our kitchen as a family so much.

eat in kitchen with breakfast bar

This Ikea cabinet holds a ton of snack foods for my kids, granola bars, dried fruit, nuts… healthy-ish snack options easy for them to grab when it is snack time. It also houses our toaster and my kids school lunch containers and bags. All of that is hidden away and gives me that uncluttered look a small room like this needs.

DIY art table

Here is where the art table has been for years, and for a short few months last year I had gotten rid of it. I assumed that my kids were past the art table phase of their childhood. I was informed I was wrong. This little corner of our house we call the sun room, and is the hub of my kids. The second I put it all back up and organized my kids gravitated towards this. I knew I had made the right decision, they are only little once and I want to encourage them hanging out and being creative as much as possible.

kids art table

It is also adorable and so whimsical in here. Filled with patterns and colors this room screams imagination. We even found a place for all of my kids random art room plaster creations. They are weird looking, some scary but they are all made with my kids little hands and fun minds. They work perfectly on this shelf.

Our house now a home home tour. Filled with coastal, low cost, simple, casual and bold patterns in this home perfect for a young family.

This hodge-podge of colors, characters and drawings form my trio of littles has to be my favorite place in the home. This phase of life is the fun phase for Dale and I, I know it is what we will look back on fondly and this art wall encompasses that so well. Besides our refrigerator can only hold so much.

how to display kids artwork

 

playroom

This is also such a cozy place to relax in the mornings with a cup of coffee.

kids art work

This here, these three flower pots if exactly where we are in life. I know there will come a day when my kids will roll their eyes if I want to help them plant some flowers and then water them. I cherish these moments or blissful childhood, and I also cherish the proof of these times that are all over my home.

kids garden

How our home’s floor plan is there would most likely be one living room, a formal dining room and then a small breakfast table in the kitchen area. What I have been able to do is create a great room with a living room and dining room combination, a family room, and a sun room. My kids eat their breakfast at the breakfast bar, and are able to do homework at the art table.

We cuddle up and have movie night in the family room, listen to music, let my kids practice their instruments or visit with friends in the living room and are able to fit a ton of people around the generous dining room table. All because I got creative with the living spaces and thought outside of the box with the furniture arrangement.

kids homework space

Our newly designated family room! This room was a struggle for years for me. It was a playroom for our tiny ones at first, which was nixed when I opened up the fridge and found a toy. We put the play room in the basement and this became an office. But with three kids crawling and toddling around no one could concentrate when need be. It was a little too open to the rest of the house. For years now it was our dining room.

small family room decorating ideas

It only has one small window in the corner so has always been dark. I wanted a light and bright dining room, so moving that into the sun filled kitchen worked out great. With this now being the TV room the darker room is exactly what it needs to be!

Teddy

Pause this Home tour for an adorable Teddy who is ready for his close-up!

small family room

It is open completely to the living room and entryway which made Dale worried that it would be odd to have two living rooms right next to each other. I have arranged the furniture in a way to visually separate the two rooms. One thing that is important in dealing with a open concept home is to keep the color schemes and decor style similar. This helps with the flow of the home.

bookshelf decorative accents

I decided to change up the living areas in my home one Friday night. We had this sofa in our partially finished basement (which we hope to fully finish eventually). It came from our first apartment together 13 years ago. It is extremely comfy but very slouchy looking. I am not loving the color of it and will probably be selling it in a rummage sale in the spring to help pay for new furniture. My kids told me the sofa fits in with our home because it looks like sand next to the beach stuff. Have I mentioned I love them?!!!

creative book ends

The rest of it I got from other rooms. The TV table from the guest bedroom, I simply took out one top drawer to put our cable box and blue ray player on. The chair was from the living room, the coffee table was a bench use in my bedroom, and the art was already on the wall in this room. If you are wanting to change up the look of your home, change around the furniture and use what you already have. It might be just the change you were hoping for to make your home feel fresh without spending a ton of money.

storage in bookshelves

how to decorate a coffee table

If you are still craving a change for your home painting the walls is a pretty simple update. I painted the ceiling blue in this room. It was my first time painting the ceiling and I am obsessed! I have been looking at the ceilings in the rest of my home, I want to add color, breams or some kind of feature to every room in my home now.

 

Another quick fix to freshen up a room is throw pillows and curtains. Leaving the furniture and staple items the same but giving for a new color or pattern on those easy to change items.beachy decor in family room

Another quick fix to freshen up a room is throw pillows and curtains. Leaving the furniture and staple items the same but giving for a new color or pattern on those easy to change items.

coffee table decor

This home has always been somewhat of a problem for me with the partially open concept. The kitchen and dining room are through two doorways, but the two living rooms and the entryway are all open to each other. Luckily I was able to make two separate living rooms work in our home without feeling too wonky. Dale has said that he loves the idea of having two living spaces.

small family room

We have lego building happening in the living room, music playing and a conversation going on all while someone is curled up in the family room with a book. Having options for that “living” we do in our home is really nice. Also having walls that separate the kitchen from the rest of the house is nice. It hides the mess when we have people over, and walls with vaulted ceilings and wood floors are a good thing, it cuts down on the echoing that three kids and two dogs can make!

furniture redo for TV stand

We also have a too big for the space dog bed in here. But because we are in love with Teddy and Finn the dog bed stays. My kids even curl up here and cuddle with the dogs.

family room ideas

living room and family room combination

This is about as open concept as I could handle it. I need some walls. I like that the kitchen and the sun room is closed off except for two doorways, this allows some of the noise to not be throughout the whole house.

coastal style living room

Here is a great example of how the space is dividedup. Also a great example of the fact that the 90’s were a weird time for home architecture. What exactly is going on with the angled wall in the family room? Anybody? I have never known how to deal with it and eventually want to tackle it to add some kind of wide entry way and craftsman style columns. Just no sure how to get over the angled ceiling issues. But that is a job for future me and right now I am not there yet.

how to decorate open concept home

Coastal gray hallway with DIY ideas and wainscoting.

The hallway in our home is a whole other beast! It is a long and narrow L shape that is in the center of our home. We pass through here to get to the basement, bedrooms, laundry room and the garage. There is a lot going on in here.

Coastal gray hallway with DIY i

There is also zero windows in here and it is always dark. Which is why Dale gave me major side eye when I said I wanted to paint it dark gray. He came around to the idea when I mentioned making DIY wainscoting, the white color of the wainscoting softens the darkness of the gray color on the wall.

Coastal gray hallway with DIY ideas and wainscoting.

I say it all the time, but growing up in Southern California was such a special place for me. Living in Wisconsin works great for our family, we have family here and have made amazing friends in our small town. The community here is amazing and I would not trade it. I do miss my hometown a lot though. We are fortunate enough to make it back every summer for some beach fun, sand between our toes, surfing, boogie boarding and shell hunting.

Coastal gray hallway with DIY ideas and wainscoting.

This coastal shell display and gallery wall holds those shells along with store bought ones and pictures of my favorite local beaches. Just one of those great ways to personalize our home even more!

Remember when I mentioned that I add function wherever I can? I even managed to squeeze it into our hallway!

hallway with DIY wainscoting

I made a big family command center at the end of the hallway. It keeps our family schedule in order, allows my kids to know what is going on without asking us. It also encourages personal responsibility for them because I add when their school library day is, their gym days and the days they need to bring their musical instruments to school. There is no more millions of questions thrown at me every morning, I simply say check the calendar. Boom, Mommy mike drop!

This DIY barn door was also added, because I am in lurve with them! Also to help streamline this squished corner of our home. There is two kids bedroom doors, a bathroom door, closet door and then the laundry room/mudroom, which also happens to be the entrance from the garage. This tiny spot packs a big punch in terms of use and also traffic. Getting rid of a door was a must.

 

Reality required the barn door. I mean, I do not have it together enough to have my laundry room clean all the time. So if someone stops by I can just slide the door shut and ignore the big mess in there. It also cuts down on the noise coming from the washer and dryer. The laundry room is right by my kids bedrooms and when they were little and napped (the good ‘ole days) I did not want it to wake them up.

I have made the mudroom to have a ton of storage here. All of my kids homework for the week, notes from school or anything I have to go through is put here. Keeping the inevitable pile of stuff out of my kitchen. They also keep all of their shoes in here, since they refused to walk the extra steps to put their shoes in their bedrooms. If you can’t beat them, join them!

 

The thing I love most about my hallway is that it feels decorated. With it being so big I did not want to ignore this space. Making the barn door and wainscoting for the hallway really made it feel like a part of the home and not an afterthought.

mudroom in hallway

Here is a small peek at my bedroom, well what it used to look like. I am finishing up a reveal of what my room looks like now. Don’t expect anything crazy in here, no walls were torn down, or even walls painted. I got some new furniture and have rearranged some things. I have not shared it here yet, so this is just showing what my room looked like. Check back for the new bedroom reveal soon!

Simple home office ideas, creating a space in a bedroom. Adding function and style to a work space. simple ways to decorate an office how to have an office in a bedroom

The one place that you have seen a ton I am sure if our master bathroom. No this is not a powder room, there is a shower here. It is hidden by the open door on the right. It is such a small space that in order to get into the shower you have to close the bathroom door. We also somehow magically make our marriage work with only one sink in the bathroom! All of the people from home specific TV shows gasp in horror at this notion.

Since making our bathroom bigger is not an option I did my best to brighten up the space. There is a lot of DIY projectsin here and all of the tutorials can be found at the bottom of this post.

 

Small improvements and low cost solutions is what got this bathroom redo to work out. My plan for it is to get a new tile flooring and remove the drop in shower to replace with tile. The kids bathroom also went through a mini makeover, which I will be sharing soon as well.

Moving on to the kids bedrooms, which were a hot topic last week on the blog. I shared my plans to put all three kids in one room and I got a ton of feedback from everyone! Which I loved hearing, that is what this blog is all about. Hearing what you all had to say has made me alter my plans and do something a little different from what was initially planned.

This is how their bedrooms look right now. Well, to be honest this is not how either of the kids bedrooms look right now. I wish they looked this picked up! Just like other present the best them out to the world and at work, this is my best. This is my picked up, perfect time of day, sun streaming in best my home has to offer.

Girl bedroom

I adore my daughter’s bedroom! It is so perfectly her. She is into drawing, making stories and reading. Her bed is also such a cozy and magical spot to cuddle up and have some girl talk.

homework space in girl bedroom

Most of the picture frames in her bedroom are filled with her art work. I really want to give my kids their own personal space. I work with them on colors and themes. Letting them have a voice in what their room looks like. Personal touches are the best way to let it reflect who they are.

I keep in mind that these bedrooms are where their friends hang out, giggles will happen, first phone calls to a crush, dreams of the future…. so much happens in these four walls and I want it to be amazing memories filled with things that are perfect for them.

little girl bedroom with butterfly theme

 

It would not be a room in my home without DIY projects of course! I customized a lot of the smaller decor items and even painted most of the furniture in her room.

girl bedroom wall decor and DIY ideas

My boy’s bedroom is a whole other saga! We did a ton of DIY furniture build in here, the biggest of them all is their DIY built in bunk beds.  I had not changed up Caleb and Gavin’s bedroom from the time they were tiny babies so it was well overdo. The plan is for these beds to grow with them, they have an extra long mattress and enough head room for Dale and I to sit up straight in them. Which should hold my eventual teenage boys just fine.

boys built in bunk beds

They are such a cool place to sleep! I mean, I have never slept here. But I am pretty envious of them. They even have their own lights and shelf for them to put their personal treasures. Currently Gavin’s is piled high with rocks and other trinkets he has found, he is my collector. Caleb is the organized one of the two and his has some choice items to be displayed.

inside built in bunk beds

 

The rest of the boy bedroom was planned for them to play. I made furniture to work with their needs of being young boys filled with big imaginations and too many toys in their room.

The play table works for Lego building, train tacks, or even drawing pictures. I Also wanted to keep the floor space available for them to spread out and have space to move around.

boy bedroom organization ideas

Toy storage was a must!

kids bedroom toy storage

The newest addition to their room was this reading nook. My boys are in second and first grade and I are just really falling in love with books so this space will need to grow even more in the future. For now these wooden crates are the perfect place to store their books. It also allows me to easily add more as their collection grows.

My one Achilles heel in overbuying is books for my kids. I justify it by them not being toys, and Dale reminds me that it still counts as money when I buy them books. But is it to enrich their minds! Truth be told we have always been big time book worms and the love of reading has been encouraged by us since we had tiny babies we rocked to sleep with a bedtime story. Fortunately they all enjoy reading, and still even let me read to them!

 

Their bedroom is filled with items from Dale’s childhood, old cars, airplanes made by his Grandpa. I loved finding a special place for these items to be in our home. I plan to save these very items to eventually give to my grand kids. Items like this need to be preserved and passed on. The best part is that they have become a part of my sons childhood, so they will hold a special place in their memories too.

Spring home tour, top home decor bloggers share their home. DIY, craft, low cost and simple decorating.

I worry I am have gotten long winded with the Home tour – sharing the colorful, low cost & casual style I realized that I share my home on the daily here with you. However, I have never shared the story behind it, explained my though process behind some of my choices. Of course your story and reasons for decorating your home will be different, and I would love to hear about your home story too!

Spring home tour, top home decor bloggers share their home. DIY, craft, low cost and simple decorating.

Over the years I have filled my home with DIY decor, small crafts, low cost decorations, splurging on bigger furniture staple pieces, and a whole lot of sweat equity. Our home has also been filled with giggles, laughs, cuddles and so many amazing memories. I used to get frustrated with how long it was taking to decorate my home, but now I know that it will never be “done”. It will always be evolving and growing just as our family is.

Our house now a home home tour. Filled with coastal, low cost, simple, casual and bold patterns in this home perfect for a young family.

What works perfectly for our home now with my three small-ish kids would not have worked when we had toddlers and babies. I know it will also not work when we have three teenagers living in this home.Things will have to change, sofas will have to get bigger, and eventually the art table will be no more. Maybe then we will graduate to nicer furniture, more refined colors, less bold patterns and pops of color.

Spring home tour, top home decor bloggers share their home. DIY, craft, low cost and simple decorating.

For now we are bold, loud, active, needing casual and comfortable. So this home, right now for us is the sweet spot to our life. Which is what a home should be all about, regardless of the style it needs to fit for the people living in it. Which is what I hope you took away from this Home tour – sharing the colorful, low cost & casual style! I also hope you find my DIY project list useful as well as the products list I made of the items in my home. Lastly, enjoy this week of home tours! I am so excited to see the lovely homes shared by some amazingly talented home decor bloggers. Great way to start the week off!

 

          


.

**clicking on these links and purchasing from them may result in a small commission paid to Our house now a home**

 

35 Comments

  1. Your home is just lovely! I love so many of the accent pieces you picked out, but that gallery wall is my absolute favorite.

  2. I love your photo wall, I’ve been wanting to reorganize our family photos to do something similar. I am looking for a kitchen cart myself, smaller and different wood, to organize some things.

  3. I love the coastal vibe! The different hues of blue definitely adds an impact to the whole thing. I think it’s perfect and it’s something that I’d use as inspiration if I were to redecorate my home.

  4. Can we just talk about how beautiful your front porch is (well, how beautiful everything is)?! Love that rug and the color scheme you used.

  5. You have such a lovely home. I love all the little special touches you give it to make it inviting and welcoming.

  6. Wow talk about a ton of pretty photos to scroll through and enjoy of all the different ideas to decorate.. If living close or on the beach this would be perfect. I really like the log tables and could use them many places.

  7. It looks like you’re all set for Spring! This looks so lovely and I just love the coastal/nautical theme. It looks so well-coordinated. Definitely an inspiration for those of use who are just gearing up for Spring and Summer.

  8. Your home is beautiful. It’s kinda funny, I live at the beach, and we don’t have any coastal decorations, except for a vase on the center of our table filled with seashells, and the color on our living/dining room walls is a sea foam/greenish/blue color.

  9. The way you decorated this house is such a great idea. It is beautiful it looks open and airy and I love all the photos that you have on the wall. I need to do something like this with my house!

  10. Your home is very warm and inviting. I can see the family love in each room with your decor. Your blues, whites and grays create such a welcoming look. I remember when you redid your daughter’s room and made that gorgeous butterfly wall art. I had to chuckle when you said the bar cart fit in the space but more importantly, you were right!

  11. What a beautiful front porch! I love the colour scheme and really, your entire home is off the hook.

  12. I love that the main living areas are neutral with pops of blue all over. It looks so calming and peaceful.

  13. I am impressed by how clean your home is. I don’t think my house is ever this clean. I love all your decor! I recently brought out some Easter decor, so that’s been fun.

  14. It’s really nice to decorate for the season. This nautical theme is killing me, it’s so beautiful and so lovely to look at. I just love how everything goes so well together. Such an inspiration!

  15. Sorry if you put this somewhere, but my baby just woke up so I wanted to ask before I forget – where did you get that entryway table? We have been looking for something like it.

  16. The colors and theme is so tranquil and beautiful! I think it’s fun to decorate for each season.

  17. What a gorgeous home! I especially love your gallery wall!

  18. I love a great beach theme home decor. Shells and sand are my favorite. I’ve started collecting sand from my trips and putting them in a bottle :). Reminds me of everywhere I’ve been!

  19. I’m loving every detail. You have such a beautiful home and really have an eye for design!

  20. I really like the log furniture you used. It has such a welcoming feel to it.

  21. I honestly need to just hire you. Some of these designs are absolutely amazing.

  22. I think it is a great concept. A nice opportunity to get a peek into how different people have done up the interiors their homes. Will take a few leaves from these creative and wonderful ideas.

  23. I think it is a great concept. A nice opportunity to get a peek into how different people have done up the interiors their homes. Will take a few leaves from these creative and wonderful ideas.

  24. wow and more wow all looks incredible and many beautiful accents. Those turquoise chairs are the bomb I need them in my house. That porch looks so comfy =) and those butterfly pillows oh my gosh so pretty

  25. I can’t wait for it to stop snowing so I can decorate my porch! Thank you for all the inspiration!

  26. It’s so cool how you created an open concept by bringing your dining table into this room. It looks so bright and open!

  27. I find myself attracted to this style more and more over the busy, fancy styles. I like how it still looks like a home, not a hotel!

  28. your porch looks so happy and cheery and i am insanely jealous that you have FLOWERS outside!!!! it’s 30 feels like 20 here and SO windy!

  29. Love all of your pretty touches – and that blue fireplace is definitely one of my favorites! Thanks for joining in the tour.

  30. Beautiful springy touches – I always love the pops of colour in your decor!! Great tour!

  31. I love your colorful, casual, coastal style! And I really love your philosophy of making a house a home with a family focus. Great tour!

  32. Your home is absolutely stunning. It’s not cold and stern feeling, it’s just a warm and cozy homey feeling. I love the pops of color and need to try adding some in my apartment.

  33. Debra Hawkins says:

    I absolutely love those porch chairs! That color of blue is my favorite color!

  34. Love how you’ve combined. your and your husband’s styles so seamlessly! (My husband has no opinions whatsoever about decorating, so this is a talent I haven’t needed to develop ;))

  35. Wow!! Your whole house is ready to roll! Ha and yes, priorities 🙂 love your porch and those vases on your table! Lovely tour!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *