The Dining Room and Other Ways We’re In Sync.

I figured a month was long enough to have my toilet paper obsession have center stage.

Actually, to be honest, I’ve been too busy even to think about blogging. It’s all good, though. I’m in the thick of LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER CHICAGO season (13 days until the show! Need tickets? Go here.), work is gearing up to Level: Crazytown (#BlogHer17 is only two months away! Need a ticket? Go here.), and Jim and I are busily working on our new house in Knoxville.

The house thing? It’s been awesome. As unhappy as I was when Jim and I were hanging in that special kind of limbo that occurs when one spouse is states away working while the other one stays behind to sell a house, I’m the other-end-of-the-spectrum happy now that we’re back together and setting up this house that we feel so lucky to have nabbed, in exactly the way we want it.

Your mountain is waiting dining room detail
Metal sign by Jimmy Don, repurposed tin container that used to hang on my porch, and wood flowers (with scent!) from HomeGoods.

One of my favorite things is how in sync we are regarding how we’re decorating. The colors, the furniture, the decorations, we’re almost completely on the same page, all the time.

It hasn’t always been this easy. Jim is color blind and he literally does not see things the way I do. I’m a control freak and I don’t always want to see things the way he does. I still remember when, right before we moved into our last house at the end of 2000, we went shopping for a couch and he was extremely insistent on this huge, overstuffed, cream-colored piece. I liked the style but wanted a gray one because it wouldn’t show as much dirt: we had two young boys and a dog. The idea of a cream-colored couch made me feel a little ill. It was for our living room though, not the family room where we would be spending most of our time, and I ended up giving in. It was FINE, by the way.

In that house I’m certain there were things we each wanted to do with the decor that the other just nodded about because it was easier, and it didn’t matter much in the grand scheme.

Here, it’s different for some reason. We intentionally picked out a cream-colored couch together, for the main living room, which we decided would have a theme I’m calling “Comfy Industrial”. When we were selecting a living room rug, we both loved the same one. Patio furniture? We both pointed at the same set upon walking into Lowe’s. I’m creating a Chicago-themed office and a beach-themed guest room, but the living room has bicycle accents in it, for him. Dare I say it’s a little romantic?

On the rare occasions when we disagree on a design strategy, we dump it entirely. We each liked a different TV cabinet so we looked for a third one that we both liked so much more. When I asked him what he thought about hanging a metal threesome of hearts in the dining room and he said “I’m not feeling it,” I said, “Okay!” and put them aside.

Speaking of the dining room, while he cursed Joanna Gaines up and down while he installed the orb light she inspired me to purchase, he’s super happy with how the room turned out. (I am, too!) It’s a great space and for two people who have mostly eaten meals on the couch for years but now have a cream-colored couch AND a lovely dining room, it sure is a peaceful place to spend time together, eating and talking.

Dining room
I call this the Magnolia room. Two more chairs will be arriving next week.

My office and that guest room are upstairs and therefore further down on the list, but as we get the main floor living spaces closer to complete I get a sense of not ever wanting to leave this house because I love it so much.

Come visit!

2 Comments