Dear May,

I’m really sorry it’s taken me so long to say goodbye, but we’ve been busy bees over here.  You were a wonderful month, full of really good things like end of school year festivities, home projects, and crafty endevors.  You also brought with you 90 hours of final preparations for VBS which kept me running at a nearly insane pace, but they were hours very well spent.  My favorite part though was when you brought us the start of Summer Vacation.  You were really good to us.

Until next year.

Sincerely,

Heather

Welcome to Home Made Lovely, a special home tour series.

Hello everyone! I’m thrilled to be here today as part of Heather’s Home Made Lovely house tour! My name is Aimee and I blog at My Pink Life. My husband and I live in a small town in the beautiful countryside of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and we have three young children - Avery (7), Jack (4), and Violet (2). 

We live in a 1920 home that we’ve been renovating ever since we moved in 7 years ago. It’s been so much fun seeing how the house has evolved over the years. Our home has been such a wonderful way for me to express my creativity and since I spend most of my days at home with my kids, I’ve had time to develop my style and have discovered that decorating and working on my home is something I love to do. Making pretty things gives me so much joy. I would describe my style as cottage/farmhouse and I’m drawn to light-filled, uncluttered spaces (not that my house is always uncluttered! I have three kids, remember?). Probably 90% of the things in our home are from thrift stores/yard sales, etc. I love buying second-hand and hunting for a great bargain! Welcome! I’m so glad you are here!

We’ll start our tour in the family room…

I created the ocean-inspired painting over the mantel using old barn wood. It is probably my favorite thing in the family room right now. I create signs and paintings using old wood, and I sell them in my shop.

I used a paint pen to write the lettering on the lampshade when I felt it needed a little “something”. I use lots of old books, jars and greenery in my decorating. Especially for the summertime. And the wood sign above the dresser was something I recently created.

Since we don’t have a mud room or any type of entry, I created a little space where we can put our shoes, bags, and coats. I bought three wood crates at a barn sale, painted them white, and my husband hung them on the wall. I found baskets from Michael’s to fit inside and they hold the kids’ shoes. I created the “Beach” sign using old wood and hooks found in the house.

And here is where my kids and I spend a lot of our time - my studio. This is a back part of the house that used to be an efficiency apartment and about two years ago we turned it into a work space for me where I create my paintings and signs.

I used random things to decorate this space - an old map found along the side of the road in a trash can, old blue Mason jars, old frames, an antique fan. All cost very little or were free.

And we’ll move on to my oldest daughter Avery’s room…

I created the canvas with her silhouette and the vinyl lettering above it is from Hobby Lobby. The iron bed is from a yard sale and the antique dresser (below) is from my mother-in-law’s family.

This is Violet’s little room. It is a tiny space that used to just be a place for storage until we turned it into a nursery a few years ago. This was one of my favorite projects. So much fun! I painted the walls in the stripes, used branches from the back yard as curtain rods, found curtains at Goodwill, and painted the wording and tree onto the wall.

The iron bed is an antique crib that I found at a yard sale and turned into a daybed for Violet.

And here is Jack’s nautical-inspired bedroom…

It consists of a bed found at a barn sale, an armoire found for free along the side of the road, a sailboat made from branches and drop cloth, a bench from Goodwill and painted hardwood floors.

When we first moved into our home, we completely renovated the kitchen. My husband did almost all of the work himself, including the countertops, tile floor, drywall…you name it, he can do it! I am a lucky girl! I created the spoon artwork and the cafe sign above the window.

Our home is far from perfect and there are still many projects we would like to work on, but we are so thankful for our imperfect, old house and more importantly for the family that lives inside. I hope that everyone who comes into our home feels welcomed and comfortable and loved.

Welcome to Room Made Lovely, a special part of the Home Made Lovely home tour series.

Hello! I’m Jacci from Woohooie and this is my 21 month old daughter, Lily. I’m really so happy to share her nursery with you all today. Thanks so much, Heather, for featuring her room!

Lily is our fifth and (most likely) last baby. I basically had two personal goals in mind while decorating her nursery… first of all, just to get it done. I had never actually “finished” any of the other children’s nurseries. The first four children were born within 6 years, so… right. I wasn’t really prioritizing décor. I was trying to remember to eat lunch. With this being my last shot, though, I really wanted to get her room to the place where most of what I envisioned actually happened. Lily was over a year old when we made a checkmark next to the last project, but we finished our list!

The second goal was much less task oriented… and much more fun. In some ways you could think of my first goal as the brawn and my second goal as the heart. It’s all tied up in what Heather celebrates here as women share how they make their homes lovely. It was how I wanted this room to feel and how I wanted us to feel in it. I had several words that came to mind, but I knew that I wanted to make Lily’s room, above all, to be about nurturing and cherishing our family… especially Lily.

I wanted it to be a place for her. That sounds so obvious, but I’m not sure it always is in this world of Pinterest and blogs and Instagram. I consciously chose to not style it into oblivion or worry about whether or not it was designed well. I just made a little nest. Full of things my little girl would like. Things to make her feel cheerful, and safe, and cozy, and loved. I wanted this room to be a gift to her.

I’m 37 years old now. Actually, 37 and a half if you count it in kid years. And I feel like I’m at kind of a funny place in my mothering. I’m still with the moms in the trenches, learning my toddler and trying to teach her and train her. My days are long… probably like most of you. But, I’m also skirting closely to those older moms who remember toddlerhood wistfully. Those women who laugh and say things like, “Oh, I’m gonna gobble you up!” when a baby throws her crackers across the room. I’m in it, but with my oldest daughters now in middle school, I’m beyond it too. And I know - even just a little bit - that what all those grandmas in the grocery stores say is true. It really does blur past in an instant. You really do blink and that little girl in the piggy tail buns is asking to shave her legs. It’s just. like. that. Poof. They’re not babies.

That’s the heart that went into this room. A heart set on treasuring up the baby years.

So much of the things in Lily’s room were made by family. Doting grandmas, proud big brothers, her tender Daddy. The quilt I’ll show in a photo in a bit was made by Lily’s great-grandmother and great-great grandmother. Women who passed on before her arrival. There’s a lot of love. I’m so incredibly thankful to have family that is close and as thrilled to have her as we are. They’re treasuring her up, too.

So, I wanted to make a nurturing room for Lily, but also a room to rejoice in how wonderful it is to have a baby in the house! It’s a happy, bright, cheerful room! It’s for enjoying!

Just about every color I can think of is in here. Really. I’ve played the game with myself where I try to name a color and then not find it. With the exception of neons… I can’t think of another single color! They’re all here. It’s kind of crazy, but the neutral walls and all the white were on purpose… to try to balance the patchwork miss mash out :)

And there’s kind of a lot of pattern, too. It’s fun.

This is the great grandma quilt I mentioned before. And the rocking chair sat in my husband’s grandfather’s home office for years and years.

Lily was just a peanut when she was born. She arrived on the day I turned 35 weeks. She was only 4 pounds 10 ounces when we brought her home! Those are her little teensy newborn footprints. And a note her brother wrote for her when she first came home. Things mama hearts hold dear.

Instagrams of when she was little enough to nap beside me in my bed… without bouncing on my neck. There are lots and lots of photos in the room. I like the smiles and the hugs up all around. So, that’s it! Lily’s room :) I love it. I’m thankful for it. I know I’m going to look back at these pictures and this little cutie not too long from now, and just be filled with thankfulness. Life with little ones is hard. It is tiring. It is often overwhelming. But it is so, so worth it. Remember that part. I have a favorite little saying I heard somewhere. It sums up so much of what I’ve shared with you all today. Maybe it will make you smile sometime when a smile is what you need… The days may be long, but the years are short.

And it’s true. Thanks, again, Heather! It’s been so fun.