Tip of the Week - Living in REALITY!

So often we look at homes in the magazines and see how perfect they are and wish that our homes could look like that.

Everything is in it's place and perfect... I don't know about you, but I don't live in that world. I live in reality where I have an 18 month old daughter, a newborn, and a husband who works from home.

My husband is in the process of finishing part of our basement so that he can have a private office down there. If you remember pictures of my office from before, it is way out in the open and isn't practical for him to work in with my girls always being so loud.... SO, he has turned our bedroom into his office! What does this mean for me... I don't get ready until 1:00 in the afternoon because my daughter is to noisy to be in there while he is on the phone and she is always where I am.

More of my reality....

This is how my coffee table looks in a perfect world....

This is how it looks in my reality. I finally I had to move everything off because my daughter thought it was fun to climb up on it, sit on the books, and dig her fingernails into the candles!

Here she is climbing on the baskets under my console table.... She usually pushes the baskets off and puts all of her toys on the shelves.

Here are her DVDs stacked up on the console table because she gets inside the baskets and tries to pull the DVDs out of the their cases and breaks them.

Here she pushes all of the buttons on the equipment........

and here are her toys on the floor, (along with my husbands weights).

I took these pictures all within 30 seconds and she ran from place to place to place... this is our life everyday!

And we can't forget all of the newborn items that come with having a baby...... (notice the measuring cup on the floor, Brooklyn loves to get into all of my drawers and pull out my cooking items.

This is my reality everyday! I try to keep my house as clean as possible, and at night, I make sure that it is clean and I can feel good about it. But everyday, my house has toys on the floors and pillows in piles.... and you know what, I wouldn't change it for the world.

This house is lived in, which means it is loved in! It may not be perfect for a magazine cover, but it is perfect for me and my lifestyle. I have kids and that is shown in my house, you don't question that when you come in, and that is OK!

I hope that you guys don't look at your house and wish that you could change all of these things about it. Make it the best that you can for the situation and lifestyle you have and be happy with it. That is sometimes easier said than done, I know.

You may not have toddlers like I do, or even have kids. Maybe you have pets or a family member in a wheelchair. These are all things that shape our home and how it is lived in. Design it to what works with your lifestyle and what is perfect for you.... Don't compare it to what others have, they don't have your life and circumstances!

BE HAPPY! :)