I still feel like I’m running, but now it feels more like running out of time. I’m a few weeks away from babyhood showing up and I am still working on schoolwork deadlines (I’ll share more about that later). Meanwhile, we closed on our old house, which to be truthful felt a little disorienting but we are now able to return our attention to this little house and get it ready (we hope!) for winter.  Here the tour continues with our main living space. Previously, we had a very large great room, plus a separate media room, plus an open loft. Now we just have this one room to gather in.  No one gets to escape 🙂

 

 

It looks a little cluttered when you first come in, but there is organization involved. The wood stove flanks the middle of the house, and to the left is the kitchen and to the right is the dining room. I cut the main living room into thirds, with one-third as an entry/fiber workshop.

 

 

Here is my little loom with space in the back for my spinning wheel and baskets of yarn and supplies. A note of interest…see all of the boards on the walls and ceiling? They are old growth timber, very hard and very long. One gentlemen remembered that when this house and the similar neighbor house was built, the men would go up into the mountains to bring back timber, and the women would mill it here on the property.

 

 

On the loom is a baby blanket I’m weaving. I expect it will take a couple more hours to finish.

 

 

Here is the other two-thirds of the room. I like that there is plenty of room for a lot of people to squeeze in; seating on the coach, piano bench, and chairs all around. All of our games and lap blankets are in the trunk (aka “foot rest”). The computer screen is currently where we watch movies; we hope to upgrade that computer and screen really soon. We don’t have a TV, cable, or consoles with video games. I honestly don’t know where we’d have time for any of that. I’d love to have a basket where visitors would turn in their cell phones while here, but I think folks would seriously freak out without them. It’s sort of sad, really. But I digress.

 

 

The chair in the corner is next to the corded phone. One of my passions is cultivating an uncluttered and relaxed life, so yes….sit your hiney down to talk on the phone and leave the multi-tasking behind. Plus, no one ever loses the phone. Plus, it will still work if/when the power goes out (common here in the PNW). Plus,  it cuts down on all of the radiation traveling all over the place. Here’s a short article about that sort of thing.

 

 

This is the view from the corner chair. After the kids have cleaned up and I chased them outside so I can take pictures 🙂

 

 

Toys are here and there, just like in our last home. These are *family* rooms, so you’ll find toddler puzzles, blocks, and other toys all around nicely put into baskets. Our babies can easily play here, and it also makes visitors with children more comfortable. No one has to disappear into other unseen rooms for toys. You can see and hear more about how I organize toys here.

 

 

This little table used to be my desk (I’ll show you what I’m using now later). This will be our puzzle table, another place to hang out. Our violins (and viola) are on the wall, along with most of our DVDs. The basket under the table is full of magazines I like and a bunch of library books. If you noticed the cord running down the stars, that’s because we still don’t have power upstairs as we finish up the second bedroom.

 

 

There are lots of nooks and crannies for toys and books. We didn’t waste much space!

 

 

I think what makes a house a home is not only the people in it, but what you have around you. I like homemade and handcrafted things, old things that have history…which means–in a way–the people behind those things are also present. I’ve brought out the autumnal colored quilts I’ve made, along with other handwork pieces. I find slow work to be the best work.

 

 

 

In decorating, I also find it helpful to repeat things. For example, I happen to really like birds. There are a whole lot of birdhouses outside actually in use, but they are inside, too! I made room for this large cage; I just love it. Maybe someday when the children are gone and it’s too quiet,  I’ll put canaries in it. Right now, however, I treasure the quiet when I can get it and the children like playing with the fake birdies in there.

 

 

 

 

 

This is my little spot for handwork and reading and just being with my family. Do you all have a little spot or two of your own?

 

That’s all for now. Tom and I are planning a last podcast on this series of downsizing. My next few weeks will be busy with preparing (and hopefully blessedly having) a new baby, finishing my schoolwork, and completing the indoor work in the house. My “Big Plan” for winter is simply to lay fallow, spend time with my honey to dream and plan for our future, to enjoy the children and cooler weather and woodstove fires and just relax through the holidays. My winter will be, God willing, empty of deadlines and perhaps I can glean from Him more about what He meant when He promised His burdens were light. I hope you’ll join me in seeking that unhurried life.

 

Blessings,