Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Pride and Prejudice: A Handsome Home Tour

"The rooms were lofty and handsome, and their furniture suitable to the fortune of its proprietor; 
but Elizabeth saw, with admiration of his taste, that it was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine; 
with less of splendour, and more real elegance, than the furniture of Rosings. 
 "And of this place," thought she, "I might have been mistress! 
With these rooms I might now have been familiarly acquainted! Instead of viewing them as a stranger, I might have rejoiced in them as my own, 
and welcomed to them as visitors my uncle and aunt."
~ Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Chapter 43

I recently read an article on the internet wherein the author enumerated the ups and downs of blogging.  She said that blogging has taken a lot of her time, but that her "house has never looked so good."  
Hmmm.
Never looked so good?  Seriously?  Every time I sit down to blog, I steel myself because I know that as soon as I hit "publish" on my post, I will return to a houseful of disasters, from lipstick smeared on the shower, to rolls of Charmin in the toilet, to mysterious pools of liquid in the upstairs hallway.  
And yes, all of the above mentioned surprises have indeed happened here this week.
Miriam and I have been blogging for over a year now, and at times, it seems that our homes have never looked WORSE.  But then again, we're in the thick of this child-rearing/toddler-wrangling stage.  We do our best, but sometimes kids and blogs just don't mix.

This is why I am not going to show you my home today.

(Unless you were REALLY hoping for a visual feast of gym socks, Legos, and smashed pears.)

Instead, I am going to show you a fair-prospect-of-a-model-home that I have taken the opportunity to visit SEVERAL times in the past few months.

It is nothing special from the outside, but as soon as you enter the front door, you can't help but fall in love with its soothing and comfortable living room . . .

and its rich and inviting dining room.
 

I would have never thought to pair satin celadon draperies with this wallpaper.  So daring!  So fun!


The kitchen is clean and sleek, but just traditional and cozy enough that I could see my family gathering here for an after-school snack.




The family room is the perfect fresh and organic complement to the rest of the house.




And who wouldn't love a slightly bohemian master bedroom with a stunning four-poster bed?  (I sometimes like to call my own bedroom "bohemian", but in those cases "bohemian" is really just a code word for "strewn with wrinkled laundry.")


Just writing this post inspires me to make my own house look better than it has ever looked before.  And I promise I'll get to it someday.  But for right now, you'll have to excuse me.  I just spied my toddler drawing on a ceramic centerpiece with a purple crayon.

Sharing at . . .





11 comments:

  1. Oh my....I do love this model house. Really more so because it isn't all white/beige/blah. I love the color. I have been blogging for a few years and it has left my own house a wreck as well :)

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  2. That's a beautiful model home! I wouldn't mind a pic of your home gym socks, Legos, smashed pears and all. It would take me back to the toddler stage, and despite all the crayon marks, and other things found in my outdated shag carpeting, it was a fun time! And, I don't even blog! ;)

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  3. There's nary a toddler in sight around here and you'll still almost never see a photo of an entire room from me! My excuse, a son that moved back home along with his furniture which has to live somewhere and my predelection for projects!

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  4. They know how to make those model homes staged to perfection, don't they? I tend to go for the "lived-in" look. :)

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  5. It's interesting I came across this post today; I only just started blogging (a few months now) and was thinking to myself "at the very least, it has me moving on my home projects and our house has never looked better!!!!" :) I still feel that way, but laughed out loud because what you say is true, as well.

    Although, I think in our household, it's true regardless of blog/no blog. Today I left the room for less than a minute to help my older son out in the bathroom to only come back to the living room to find a whole box of tissues strewn across the room!!! Mysterious puddles of liquid no longer phase me...that is amazing in and of itself! SOOO...maybe it's the blogging, or maybe it's just the age we are at with the children!!!

    Beautiful model home, btw....love that awesome mirror, and it's antiqued look, above the fireplace. Might actually have to pin that one...

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  6. What a fun tour, thanks for taking me on it.

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  7. great tour. really like the chair choices in all the rooms.great colorful fabrics!

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  8. Wonderful tour. I really like all of the fabric choices. So bright, inviting, and comfortable.

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  9. Wow, I love model homes. If only our homes looked like this all the time LOL.
    Jamie ~ somuchbetterwithage.com

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  10. i love the living spaces. that view from the family room into the kitchen? killer.

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  11. Awesome inspiration house for sure! XO, Aimee

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