A Living Space

It has been almost two weeks of our new school year routine.  LK and the Sprouts are established in their new school year routines with a fairly smooth entry.  Lord willing, it will remain that way.

The Sprouts are delighted with their lives at the moment.  Fi because, for the first time in her life, school is a challenge to her brain, and she has started to develop a small group of friends at school that she chose.  Jo is happy because there is a family down the road with four boys.  One of them is two years older than Jo and the two of them want to play together after school EVERY DAY.  They are loud and have more fun in an hour and a half before dinner than I have in a week.

LK is the one with the heavy load right now.  He has full-time teaching, a two+ hour commute each day, and coursework to get done every night.  Since his load is the heaviest the rest of us are working hard to make sure that those three things are all he has to worry about.

I am not working full-time.  So there is a lot of time for me to putter.  Hopefully in a month there will be a lot less puttering time (when teachers start getting colds and flu from their students).  Since I anticipate this slow period won't last, I am trying to make the most of it.

The first project is to get the living room looking and feeling like a living room. 

 

The couch is our first grown-up couch purchase (rather than a hand-me-down).  It was delightful to choose the colour ourselves.  Surprise, surprise, we chose a pretty neutral colour.  I hope to have this couch for at least ten years - so it needs to be able to go through several style phases in my décor.

 

 

The coffee table was a great toy for Jo to spin for hours in the first week.  It works like an old-fashioned piano stool; spinning to go up and down.  Infinitely adjustable for different height preferences, and perfect to turn game boards for family game nights.

 

 

Silver finishes to play up the coffee table trim.  This was my Nan's tray once-upon-a-time.  Now I can think of her when I drink my tea.  Fi has her bird watching guide handy.  We have a bird feeder hanging off the edge of the deck, and today there is a big, bold blue jay who keeps swooping in and shaking the whole feeder.

 

We love our Ikea Poang chair so much we bought a second.  Everyone likes to sit in them and bounce.  They function as our family motion therapy chairs.  I discovered this summer that taking the cushions off to wash works beautifully.  Gotta love Ikea.

 

My plants finally have enough light to be happy.  The patio doors open onto the side deck.  The shamrocks are very happy there.  I am very happy with my plant stool which was a loonie at an estate sale!

 

We haven't found just the right side table for tea and a book beside the couch.  For the time being this outdoor table will do.  I has just enough room to put your teacup with the plant and books.

 

The piano is the key to making our living room feel like home.  We can sit down and play either the guitar or the piano any time we want to - which makes me happier than new shoes.  The Sprouts and I are practicing all their favourite songs regularly - "Let It Go" and "Ten Thousand Reasons" are top of the charts this week.  It also provides a place for LK's globe collection and a bit of seasonal décor. 

The art print is from a Dutch artist, Anneke Kaai.  This is Psalm 150.  Very appropriate for above the music room.