The Malson Family

The first photo is the view from our entryway. We had the rug in our old house and I just

love it. It has all the colors I love: sage green, crimson red and dark purple. I don't know what the "rules" are for putting a rug over carpet, but I like how it looks. Plus, I don't want to have all of our new carpet exposed. I like the color, but it's still pretty light. And I have small children: enough said.

This is the hub's corner. It has his recliner and his basket (and table) with 

all his cattle magazines. The girls love the rocker too. I usually sit in it when I'm feeding J. I would like to hang a long horizontal shelf along the left wall and a short one behind the chair to display photos. After patching so many holes, I'm a little hammer shy. That's why there is only one frame hanging up right now. The framed art is a little high, but that was the one nail I left in the wall. I know it's in a stud and that picture is heavy. Didn't want to take any chances. The chair is an extra from the dining room. It's been good seating too. I was going to put a ladder shelf there for some vertical shelving, but now with a new baby who will eventually be crawling, I think I'll take up more horizontal space with a floating shelf. Probably a safer option.

I love my red wall. I painted a couple walls red in our old house and just loved it. It was in the dining room and it more of an apple color. This is a darker though--Chianti from Behr at Home Depot. The rest of the walls are Hillsborough Beige from Benjamin Moore. It's the color my aunt has in her entry way. She gave me the paint chip when I was still in college and I held onto it ever since. I just knew I wanted to use that color in my house someday. We used in the living room, entry and down the hall. I went one shade lighter in the dining room, then one more lighter in the kitchen. It's a subtle difference and I love how it turned out. One of the first things we purchased was the flat screen. We already had all the furniture. I had hoped for a nice armoire to house the tv, but we started using the coffee table and it worked out just fine. Plus I like having all the open floor space. 

This was my parent's piano and I learned to play on it. M is already looking forward to taking lessons. I still play some, but it's hard when you have two little helpers who also want to play at the same time. We usually pull out the Christmas books during the holidays and they will let me play while the three of us sing.

My mom redid this wardrobe for me when I went to college. I had it in my first apartment. I just love it. I never liked dark wood until I had this piece and now I love dark wood the best. This piece means a lot to me. (This picture wound up blurry somehow). The saying above it reads: Life isn't about the breaths we take, its about the moments that take our breath away. The other one is from AtHome America. It's called Words of Endearment, Life's Rules. The six panels say Love your family, Love one another, Keep your faith, Always have hope, Follow your dreams and Cherish your home. 

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our living room. It was kind of fun describing it. Made me think about what things mean to me and why this space is important to us. Our family spends a lot of time in here. Fortunately we have a playroom, so we don't have to have any toys housed here like in the old house. It feels like an "adult" space, but is kid friendly. Lots of room for the girls to practice ballet moves, dance or do gymnastic stretchs. E loves to run around in circles too. Another reason we don't have a coffee table. :) We feel very blessed to have been able to move into this house, make changes to it and turn it into our home.