When your rented house has to be home (aka nosey around our house)

As we get older and everyone around us seems to be buying houses it is easy to feel a little inadequate – that is until I check myself and remember that we have designed our life like this intentionally. We chose to live in this expensive town, to have children young-ish and for me to not go back to a well paid job after having Wilbur. Houses will come later, and that’s ok, actually (despite how certain people have made us feel). The one thing that irks a little though is the limitations that renting puts on what we can do to make the house ours. I’ve become a dab hand with filler and magnolia paint over the years so I’m not too afraid of putting holes in the walls but we’ve never bothered to paint anywhere because we don’t want to have to paint it back when we move out. The house we are in at the moment has an over subscription of woodchip wallpaper (which, will eventually come back into fashion won’t it? Like coloured bathrooms. If I was putting a bathroom in now I’d have a coloured suite. FYI: Pale blue to be precise, with everything else high gloss white) and a slight lack of storage issue.

An interiors expert or photographer I am not, but I want to show you – honestly – some parts of my house. It is never clean enough or tidy enough and there isn’t space for everything but we actually quite like it. We have always gone for location and price over size of house so we’re busting out of the seams a little. Here it is though, perhaps not Pinterest worthy – but worthy none the less. (I do have a lovely house and life on Pinterest though if you’d like to follow me you can here).  When you rent you have to work that little bit harder to make each and every house become a home, an art we are getting better at with each move.

Instagram prints, crochet and very old chair from eBay many years ago. See also lots of washing. The house is always covered in washing … isn’t everyone’s?

Beautiful gifts from my talented sister in law who made these for the children

Some of Chris’s many CDs. I love these shelves. Not sure quite how we’ll make the wall ‘good’ when we move out though. oops.

These cushions are amongst my favourites because I left Chris, Wilbs and Joni in Ikea to choose them – they chose them in that order (l-r)

A corner of our bedroom. We recently bought a bed after being without one for nearly a year. Pure bliss.

My husband’s endless humour on the kitchen cupboards

The beautiful Joni – A print from the original negative straight from the photographer (a gift from my Mum and partner Lennie) and some of Chris’s books. He has this thing where we have to keep our books separate (!)

West Wing campaign poster, which Chris gave me about 7 years ago, and Les Miserables quote in the corner of my kitchen.

The view from the play room into the Kitchen. The playroom is an extension, so the kitchen is small and very dark. I have had ceramic handles and Annie Sloan paint for that dresser for nearly a year … it’s still patiently waiting. 

 

The corner of the kitchen that I hate looking at … all that clutter! But, it’s home – isn’t it?

One of my very favourite quotes – at the top of the stairs so I read it every day.

Instead of having toys scattered through the house we decided to make a play room at the far end of the house. This way, when I sit on the sofa at the end of the day I can’t see the toys – this really helps with relaxation

So there it is, some pictures of our imperfect house. Cars and trains spread around the floor, un-dusted shelves, piles of washing and newspapers everywhere. Despite us not owning it, not being able to rip up the laminate floor, un-woodchip the walls or buy a shower that works it is still a home, for however long, our home.