Where We Live

The house is two story, but we very rarely use the upstairs.  We don't even really use all of the downstairs, but anyway.  This is where we live.  Welcome to "The Robinson's!"

Walk up the front steps and through the front door, this is the first thing you'll see!

Fancy Chalkboard Tutorial

Look to the right and you'll see the "Reading Nook".  Don't tell anybody but the curtain hides a door that I don't really like.  ;) 

Walk straight past the staircase and into "Living Room."

Or, if you're still at the front door you can look the the left and see the "Formal Dining Room."

See the collage of pictures on the wall, toward the right?  If you turn there, it takes you into the kitchen.

At the far end of the kitchen, there's a little table where we sometimes eat.

If you turn left right before the refrigerator, there's a door that takes you to the mudroom.  You can see a door that leads to the outside deck between the house and the garage.  Off the mudroom, to the right, is a half bathroom.

Turn around, and go back out into the kitchen.  You'll see.."The Living Room"

Recognize the chair?!  :)

Vaulted Ceilings...love.  

Our bedroom and the shelves/entertainment stand share a wall.  

This little area has no name.  Straight ahead is a small bathroom, with closets on each side.  To the right is our bedroom and to the left is a room that will one day be a walk in closet.  

"Our Bedroom"

"Our Closet"

"Our Bathroom"

And then, if you go back out into that little hallway, the room that's across from our bedroom that will one day be a closet (and remember the door behind the curtain when we first walked in?)   Don't judge me...but this is what it looks like right now.

Well folks, that concludes the tour of the first floor of our home.  Before you go thinking we're all kinds of loaded with dough or anything, let me tell you that the only things WE own are a sofa (with a cigarette burn in a cushion), a love seat, and two tv's.  All of the furniture pictured in our home belongs to my parents...and if we move out, we don't get to take it with us.  So, there ya have it.  And before you go thinking how lucky we must be to live in such a nice house, fully furnished with lovely things, let me tell you how many times we argue over cleaning this big o' house.  It takes a lot of work to keep their stuff in tip top shape, clean, and the yard looking nice.  It's a lot of work.  But, it's home and we love it here.  =)  It's quiet, peaceful, and we couldn't ask for a better opportunity.  

Oh...and yes, I know how ugly the valances are.  They will be replaced as soon as we can afford it.  =)  

Tobacco Basket

I'm aware that not all of my readers are Southern, bless your yankee hearts.  ;)  Kidding.  You know I love y'all.  So first, a quick Vocabulary Lesson.

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Tobacco Basket-   once the tobacco leaves were dried out, they were bunched and bound together then loaded onto a tobacco basket so that they could be displayed and sold at the market

Pack House-  a barn where the tobacco leaves were hung to dry

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About two months ago, I came into possession of an antique tobacco basket.  This particular tobacco basket came out of my great grandmother's pack house.  They had a lot of tobacco baskets, but there is a really good chance that my grandma, my great aunts, and even my dad have used my tobacco basket.  It even has the name of our town spray painted onto the side.   

How beautiful is she?!  

You might think that tobacco baskets are boys...but they're actually girls.  :)  Or at least this one is.  Because she is gorgeous.  

My great aunt and uncle found this in December and gave it to me, knowing my love for all things vintage and historical.  I have a particularly strong love affair with anything considered a family heirloom or sentimental.  I jumped up and down with excitement when I first saw this tobacco basket.  It is old.  It is quirky.  It is not a typical home decoration.  It is big and chunky.  It is heavy.  It's magnificent.  It represents how far my family has come - from shuckin' tobacco to owning a factory.  After almost two months exactly, I finally found a place for the basket.  I've moved it all around.  It's hung on one wall, leaned against two, and finally...

I hung her up yesterday!  She's hanging in the kitchen, which I love because I get to look at her all the time.

When we moved into this house, the house I grew up in, it was still full of stuff.  All of the walls have nails and hooks and hangers already...the tricky part is finding the right hanger for your project.  I finally found TWO heavy duty hooks that were already in the walls!  They were hiding behind a picture of us that my parents put on the wall while we were on our honeymoon, so we didn't know that what the picture was hung on.  The two heavy duty hooks are perfect for a tobacco basket, which is quite heavy.

Another thing...when I lived here with my parents, they never used their front door.  We always came inside through the mudroom because the garage is connected to it.  They always had their friends come up that way, too.  When Mr. Robinson and I moved in, we decided to put the pretty front door & foyer space to good use.  People rarely come over at all, but when they do we condition them to use the front door.  Sometimes, people still come up to the side door and enter through the mudroom - which I always hated.  BUT... now I won't be hating it as much because when they walk through the door, this is what they'll see: 

  

So, that's how I added a little bit of flair to our home this weekend.  What's your idea of a good, unique way to decorate your home or let your sense of style shine through?  

Thanks for reading! 

Walk-In Closet

My husband I are blessed in the sense that we have somewhat stumbled upon a HUGE house!  We are living in the house my parents built in 1998.  It's enormous and we have plenty of room to grow.  However, I've already lived there.  I lived in a house that my mom decorated, so it's been really difficult for me to think outside the box she created.  I'm running into problems such as...
Books go here.No, the phone book goes in this drawer.That's not where cups and glasses go.This room is a tv room - not an office.
Do you understand why this has been so hard?  I am all about thinking outside the box.  Heck, I live outside the box.  I love everything odd and quirky and weird and different!  So why I am having such a hard time with this is beyond me!  
The closet in the Master Bedroom is amazing.  It's huge.  Hubby has one side, I have the other side, and we still have room for all of our suitcases and a huge gun safe.  But our bedroom just feels so TIGHT.  I hate it.  Beside the master bedroom is a a teeny-tiny bathroom.  Beside the teeny-tiny bathroom is what I have always called "The Den."  My parents used it as an extra TV room and had my dad's PlayStation hooked up in there.  Here's the basic floor plan.

Last night, we were laying in bed and I told my husband that we need to just get rid of the den and make our bedroom HUGE.  He said that would be a great idea.  OR I could just take over the den and make it a walk-in closet!  Famous last words, folks.  My brain immediately went into over drive!  I gave him the Husband of the Year award.  I kissed him.  I was so excited!  He drifted off to dream land and I laid in bed, wide away, for hours.  Day-dreaming and drooling over what I will soon make a reality.  I am SO excited!! It's an idea I never would have thought up on my own because, in my mind, that room is an extra TV room.  Do we use it?  Nope.  Will I now?  Ab-so-lutely.  
SO, I've been on Pinterest.  There are tons of amazing ideas there for walk-in closets.  They key will be finding ideas that I can use in the space I have.  Also, we have no money so we won't be calling in a construction crew to change the build or structure of the house.
Okay, enough yappin'!  Are you ready to see the pins?!?!
You are creating a dressing room for only one person... you. Let your imagination run wild and create the best possible room that is not only practical but suits your personality perfectly.
Wall Color = White

Source: houzz.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Can I pretty please frame my wedding dress & have it displayed in my dream closet?!

Source: ckeventspassionateforweddings.blogspot.com via Kristina on Pinterest

I'll also take a dress form and the biggest mirror ever, please.  :)

Source: restorationhardware.com via Kristina on Pinterest

A wire closet system would probably be my most affordable option.  

Source: google.com via Dana on Pinterest

After doing a ton of research, I think that this is the system that would best suit my room.  It's $99 and I would need two of them.  Click Here to see it on the ClosetMaid website.  

That will take up two of the four walls.  Then another wall will be used for the mirror & dress form.  And The fourth wall for my framed wedding dress or accessory storage?  Can't forget accessory storage!

Source: 6thstreetdesignschool.blogspot.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: shelterness.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: realsimple.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: thisbirdcansing.blogspot.com via Kristina on Pinterest

I also have a black cedar hope chest that I would move into my dressing room.  I would want a chair.  There is a built-in bookshelf type nook thing that I could use for shoe storage.  It current houses books, while I'm SO excited about moving into the living room!  My mom kept books in that little nook, so I put all of our books there.  However, books in the living room = a million times more me!  I'll of course want a chair or a bench in my dressing room.  
I've seen where some people create a vanity and make-up table in their dressing rooms.  I don't think I'll do that.  I make such a mess & our bathroom is huge.  I don't really need my own space for just makeup.  That would completely CLEAN OUT our bathroom.  Haha.  Besides,  I enjoy sharing space with my husband.  I just need more closet space.  We are good on bathroom space.  
SO, what do you think?!  Anybody have any pins or pointers they'd like to share?  Or just compliments?  You know I just looooooove a good compliment.  
Oh.  & I have a brand-new Pinterest board for my closet!  Check it out if you'd like!  
Oh, & I know that I already did a Pin-Party link up today.  I know.  I'm doing ANOTHER one.  This is a post full of pins.  You can't stop me from linking up.  ;)