Making a House a Home

Yesterday G said something that I had been thinking for awhile:  "I just want our house to feel like a home."  I mean, of course it feels like a home in that the three of us are here together, safe and healthy, and blah blah blah. What he meant is that we haven't done a whole heck of a lot to make this place feel like our own since moving in.

On any given day, it can feel just a bit better than a nicely arranged storage unit, on the bad days it can feel like the place where toy boxes throw up and laundry baskets come to die.

Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely house on a lovely street, the rooms are big and bright, and (luckily) it was nicely painted when we moved in (except for Iwan's room, but I'll get to that in a second).  The carpets are new-ish and a nice color, but could definitely use an appointment with the Rug Doctor. We have some nicely arranged photos on the mantle, and have hung two pictures in the living room, but that's pretty much the extent of our decorating up until now.

This is not without reason.  We moved in just before Christmas, and then promptly took off to America for five weeks.  Add to that, a pregnancy, a one-year-old, a husband in full time graduate school, and the state of our house is definitely understandable.

But, poor Iwan.  The kid has been sleeping in a pink bedroom for nearly six months now.  Something has to be done.  (Although, quite frankly, Iwan doesn't seem to mind the pink).

I would like to get the bulk of this house feeling more homey before the new baby arrives.  But I tend to be overambitious in my planning, so I need to prioritize.  Next weekend we are tackling the kids' room (yep, Iwan and the new baby will be sharing for the time being, since we'd rather not lose our guest room).  Paint is picked out, accessories are ready to go.  It should be fairly straightforward.

But there are other, little jobs, that are niggling me.  Take our dining table and chairs.  We bought them second hand from a charity shop, with the plan of repainting the table and making some cute new covers for the chairs.  I have it all worked out in my head, it's the execution (or, rather, finding time for the execution) that's a problem.  In my mind I'm Kirstie Allsopp in her homemade home, in reality I usually end up just going to Ikea.  But in this instance, the table has already been purchased and is just sitting shabbily in the kitchen, waiting for some time and attention to be lavished on it's water rings.

So here we go, the next few weeks will tell the tale of how much of this stuff actually gets done.  Any tips would be welcome, and I promise to update with pictures after we complete any of these tasks!