Adam's room

Poor Adam is so the second child, especially when it comes to his room. 

With Micha we were finished with his room by week 34 of my pregnancy, but with Adam things are still not completely done. 

I had a pretty clear plan of how I wanted it to look, and so far I'm quite happy with the result. 

My favorite part of the room is the ceiling and the needlepoint art made by B.'s grandma.

We still need to find some cute curtains and hang them up and I need to frame the prints I now have washi taped onto the wall.

I also want to hang the big cardboard letters that spell his name on one of the walls, I just haven't decided yet how and where (idea's?), and of course once Adam is a bit more mobile we'll need to remove the bunting on his crib, no one wants a choking baby!

So even though it's still definitely a work in progress, I thought it would be fun to share what we have done so far: 

There's definitely some work left to do, but so far I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

Bright, cheery, colorful and simple!

Love, Maria

A toy story (cheesy title, I know..)

Last week I had an epiphany.

I'll tell you what it was, but first a background story leading to said epiphany.

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When I was pregnant with Micha, B. and I swore up and down that our living room would not be taken over by baby paraphernalia and toys. 

We live in a small apartment and we like our living room to be as clear of clutter as it can be.

I had reserved two baskets in the living room for him, one for his books and one for his toys. 

And the toys that we would have would be wooden, aesthetically pleasing, quality toys. 

No plastic, battery needing, noise making junk. 

Yep, that was the plan. (can you tell where this story is heading?)

We had received some plastic toys as gifts, 

but we thought we'd teach Micha to love the wooden ones more. 

I know, we're crazy, hippie, cruel parents, us. Ha!

Then Micha came around, and guess which toys he preferred: the noisy, plastic, battery powered ones. 

Of course...

And as he grew older the more toys (wooden and plastic) we received and bought for him. 

The two baskets just weren't cutting it anymore.  

His toys and books were flowing over and our living room was looking cluttered and messy. 

Not that I mind it that much during the day. It's not like I clean up after Micha constantly. 

That would just be crazy.

But after the little guy goes to bed it's nice to be able to clean up the baby stuff 

and not see it until the next day. 

It just helps me relax a bit more.

So, the baskets weren't cutting it, and I needed something bigger and better to put his toys in. 

I didn't feel like spending a ton of money on a big toy chest and additionally sacrificing precious floor space.

And then I remembered something I had seen on one of my favorite blogs, Young House Love, 

they had used their ottoman to store all the toys. 

And it hit me; we have an ottoman that can be used as storage too! 

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And so their epiphany had become mine. 

It's been such a perfect solution for the clutter problem, 

it stores all of Micha's toys, it doesn't take up any extra space and Micha seems to love it too:

Now, how to keep the ottoman organized?

Haha...

Happy Weekend!

Love, Maria

favorite scenes around the house

Today I'll be taking you on a little tour of my home, at least my favorite/tidiest parts in my home. 

> I'm not showing you my dirty bathroom or my messy laundry room, 

you'll have to come over for a visit to see those. <

Enjoy the tour!

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Entry.

Every time when I walk in through the front door, 

this Katie Daisy print catches my eye. 

B. and I purchased it when we were going through a particularly difficult time in our infertility journey. 

It gave us hope and light in a dark time.

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Kitchen.

My first baby, before the real one arrived, on the counter in our kitchen. 

If you want to see more of our kitchen, hop over to thekitchn.com. 

I won first place in the international division of their Small Cool Kitchens contest 2012. 

Too bad my entry was international, I didn't win anything other than the honor of winning.

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Living/dining room. 

Knickknacks I collected over time, a print gifted by a friend, wedding picture, and my beloved cookbooks 

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Some of many books in this household, wedding photo's, 

 frame collection on the wall above our dining room table

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A sign of a happy home on the living room rug.

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Upstairs.

A cute baby in the cutest bedroom in the house. 

We worked so hard to make his nursery perfect.

We painted the chevron strips on the wall, 

I made the crane bird mobile hanging over his bed, 

and we searched high and low for the perfect toys and accessories to decorate his room.  

yes, we need to lower his crib asap!

my favorite craft I made for the nursery

My old holly hobbie doll, a Beninese doll my parents gifted Micha.
Print gifted by a friend.

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Well, that's all folks.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour.

Have a great weekend.

Love, Maria

linking up with Falling For Friday