About a year ago we moved into our new house. It was the easiest move we’ve ever done (and we’ve moved a lot!) despite having 3 little ones ages 4 and under. The trick to making a move “easy”? Buy a house less then two miles from your current one, recruit help from family members, and have one parent take the 3 kids out of town while the other parent moves everything from the old house to the new house. 🙂 While the kids and I were in Colorado for several weeks last summer, my hubby packed all of our belongings into boxes. Load by load he moved everything over to our new house using his old beat up Chevy truck. Oh yeah and this was after he painted the entire house and installed new floors a few weeks prior while the kids and I were in Chicago. Have I mentioned how much I love that man!?!

So we returned from our trips to a freshly painted house full of boxes to unpack. Thankfully I am pretty good at organizing. In fact I kind of enjoy it. 🙂 I am however terrible when it comes to decorating. TERRIBLE! I cannot make a decorating decision to save my life! Plus I don’t like shopping (with the exception of thrifting). Additionally I attempt to keep our space as kid-friendly as possible; in other words displaying nothing I truly worry about getting accidentally spilled on, peed on, trampled on, or broken. The result is that a year later my house still looks like we *just* moved in. There are no pictures on the wall or any personal artifacts displayed that give you a sense of who we are. Besides the bold paint on the walls, there are no splashes of color that pop out at you. There are no soft elements that invite you in. In a word it feels kind of generic to me. Yikes! Did I just call my house generic? Yep! I’m ready to start transforming our house into a home.

I recently visited a friend of a friend’s home that was completely lovely! It wasn’t fancy. It wasn’t straight out of a decorating magazine with perfectly matching accessories. It wasn’t designed to impress anyone. It was merely a reflection of the homeowner’s interests and passions. Walking into the tiny house (I love small spaces by the way!) was a complete breath of fresh air as it was over-flowing with LIFE! The furniture in the home and the decorations were random, eclectic pieces that somehow all worked together beautifully. The home conveyed a peaceful and joyful energy because it was filled with things that you could tell the homeowner truly loved and cherished. It was as though there was a story waiting to be told wherever you looked. I didn’t see Target sales ads in the decor; instead I saw whimsical expressions of exotic travels both near and far. It was all so personal and intimate. And I thought to myself “THIS is what I want my home to become”…

So I asked Mom’s Milk Boutique Fans to share photos of their favorite spaces for some inspiration. I know there was a mix-up with posting the wrong email address, so I sincerely apologize if you emailed me a photo and it’s not included here.

Here is Emily’s favorite space in her home; her son Henery’s nursery. I was really hoping someone would send in a nursery picture because that is usually when our nesting instinct is at its peak. During pregnancy our hearts are filled with a strong desire to create a beautiful space for the life we carry within. I simply relish the creative energy of pregnant women!

Lorrie was super excited to share her favorite room with us. It’s her family’s homeschooling room! Looking at these photos, I am guessing Lorrie was a teacher in her former life?! What a fantastic space to learn with her little ones. Here’s what she shared about this room, “This is my first year homeschooling- our oldest has started kindergarten!  Feels like just yesterday I was holding her for the first time, and we were learning how to nurse! Anyhow, all three “babies” and I look forward to the start of each day in our School Room. Thanks for letting me share it!”. Lorrie, I thank YOU for sharing these photos with us! I too am gearing up for our first official year as a homeschooling family so I have a extra special appreciation for the lovely learning evironment you have created for your children!

This next picture was sent in by Megan (co-author of Top 10 Tips for Successful Pumping). This room holds a special place in her heart because she waited a whole year for her husband (a.k.a. my brother) to heal from a serious bike injury to finish remodeling their kitchen. She was also pregnant at the time but that didn’t stop her from helping her dad tear up the floors. The end result was well worth the wait as it turned out beautiful. I mean check out that backsplash…it’s gorgeous!

My own favorite place in my home would be my kitchen. Probably because I spend a great deal of time there. I have put a lot of thought into organizing it into a functional space to ease the process of food preparation. Sometimes it looks like this:

But more often it looks like this:

And here’s what my kidlets are doing while I am busy in the kitchen…ransacking, er I mean enjoying their favorite space, their playroom! I contemplated posting a nice, clean photo of their playroom…but let’s face it THIS is what is looks like 95% of the time. 😉

Thanks to everyone who participated and again my apologies for the email error. This week’s winner of 25 Milk Miles is Lorrie with her lovely homeschooling room! Wishing you a wonderful year of discovery with your children. 🙂

Okay mamas, ready for next week’s Fan Photo Assignment? Now that summer is closing in to an end and every one is in back to school mode, how about we share photos from our Summer Family Vacations? I would love to see where your family explored this summer. Bonus points for babywearing photos because we all know babywearing is the only way to travel with baby! Email your Summer Family Vacation to sarah@momsmilkboutique.com byThursday, August 23 midnight CST. All photos received by then will be shared on Friday, August 24. Don’t forget the winner gets 25 Milk Miles!