If you love Australian design, check out http://www.desiretoinspire.net/. I’m always blown away by how stylish and cool their houses are!

You have a lot of people’s dream kitchen, Dana. :-) My mother also rang a dinner bell, a hand-held one that looked as if it belonged on the teacher’s desk in a one-room school. We wandered far and wide by foot and bike and could hear that thing for blocks. Even if we couldn’t, others could; everyone knew it was our family “come home” bell and they’d alert us. Highly recommend for effectiveness and warm memories. (Great T-shirt on Mabrey, and good luck with the tiling!)

do you have a link for your blazer?

Dana,
Has anyone ever told you that you look like Evangeline Lily from the tv show ‘Lost’?

H&M! They have THE BEST inexpensive, well-fitting blazers.

http://www.hm.com/us/subdepartment/LADIES?Nr=4294926803

No but she is my #1 girl crush!!!

Love Desire to Inspire!

Oh, the memories. I lived in a rural, mountain town as well and we had a ship’s bell mounted on our deck. You can hear that thing for miles I’m sure. We also had various hand held bell if everyone was inside.

Love the outtakes!

Man Mabrey is tall, she looks much taller than my 80% 2 year old. And totally loving her shirt!

When I was young my dad lived in a house that used to be an school house. When he moved, he kept the old bell and that’s what we too would come running to on his 40 acre farm. I LOVE the idea of keeping up the tradition!

Love the “spot the IKEA” game! Will have to check out H&M now. Mabrey is just the bees-knees. I grew up on 6 acres of land which belonged to my grandparents – my parents built a log home, from a kit, on 3/4 of an acre on that land, and that is where my younger brother and I spent our youth, running in the tall grass in the front field, or playing hide and seek in the forest my grandfather planted with my great-grandfather out back. I have many fond memories of spending ALL DAY outside in the summer. I can’t wait for warmer weather, it’s been rough up here in New England! Have a wonderful weekend Dana.

Agreed! I’ve always thought Dana looks like Evangeline Lily :)

I love that kitchen. Can we both have it?

Dinner triangle is fine, but please, avoid the windchimes for your neighbors’ sake. My only close neighbor has NINE windchimes on her porch and a dinner triangle . . . I think there may even be a bell, too. People say you get used to them and wont even hear them anymore–it’s been three years; I can STILL hear them.

I wish I could post a pic with my comment, because I would show you our wall-mounted dinner bell. It’s loud, and drives my husband crazy, but it does it’s job, and I love it. I yell “dinner’s ready” and ring our dinnerbell… no need to yell “dinner’s ready, come sit down!” five times anymore.

FYI – I can’t stand wind chimes. I’m a wind chime party pooper.

All of my kids are tall for their ages! They didn’t get the tall gene from me.

That t-shirt is fabulous! Hope next week is more good than bad.

I have a similar jacket that I have never paired with a gray shirt. Love the look and the contrast–and the inspiration! Hope you and the family have a wonderful weekend and all goes well with tiling!

Oh Mabrey is too precious. She just gets cuter and cuter!

Genevieve is my favorite too… her sneak peeks on instagram are killin me!

I can’t wait to see Genevieve’s place too! Gosh, her daughter is adorable as well.

Mabrey CAN NOT be 2 already!? WOW! How time flies. She is such a cutie!

We’re celebrating my daughter’s second birthday this weekend. Happy Birthday to your kids too!

I made a dinner triangle in Summer camp years ago. I loved ringing that thing in the summer for dinner!

Where do you find your comfy gray tees?

I know that readers of your blog only see a very small sliver of your daily life, but I just wanted to say that you are awesome! I don’t have kids and find it difficult to connect to a lot of the more “mommy”-centric/home improvement blogs, but you strike a fantastic balance that always feels down to earth and relatable. It seems like you are a great mom with an awesome sense of humor and perspective. I especially love that you are so enthusiastic about downsizing and prioritizing what is important for you and your family (and would love more posts on that topic)!

What a cutie. She’s gotten so big! How old is she now?

Also, I didn’t realize how big your window seat/bench is. Without a person for size referencing I thought the space was much, much smaller. I had the same surprise with your laundry area too. It’s much bigger than I expected!

Mabrey turns 2 this weekend!

I had a hard time finding an off-the-shelf bench to fit this little nook. They were too small to fill the space. On the other hand, I looked at chaises and daybeds and they were just a tad too large. So, I had the bench custom made to fit the area below the window. It works perfectly.

I KNOW! Can’t wait to see all the lil’ hints put together in the bigger picture.

Happy birthday, Mabrey!

I remember when you broke the news about your pregnancy. Hard to believe she’s 2 already. Time flies!

Tres cool paper towel holder.

And yes, living in Australia is pretty rad. You’re welcome anytime.

Love Genevieve. She’s one of my absolute favs. I love her apt and I cant wait to see the transformation of the combined units. I just know its gonna be fabulous. I also love the diy paper towel holder. Its totally genius. Ive been dying to get to Australia. Im just afraid I may never want to come back.

I know you mentioned several times that you guys are pretty much a no shoes in the house family. I’m curious what you do or how do you handle shoe wearing company that comes over. Also do you have a cleaning schedule that you stick to? I love walking around in bare feet but the second I step on a crumb then I have to get out the vacuum!

I think you actually look like Soliel Moon Fry…Punky!!! I love her house too!

We ask the kids’ friends to remove their shoes. We don’t ask adult guests to remove their shoes. Older guests almost always leave their shoes on. I don’t say anything. I think they feel more comfortable in shoes. Most visitors remove their shoes, though. I think it’s something they do in their own homes or they notice we don’t have shoes on.

I secretly wish everyone would remove their shoes. And not so much because of the dirt…it’s really gross and unhealthy to wear outdoor shoes inside if you think about it. You don’t know where those things have been!

I love Genevieve! She was always my favorite too. Beautiful, sweet & talented. Definite girl crush

P.S. I will be making that paper towel holder! P.P.S. I feel the pain of not wanting shoes wore in my home :/ P.P.P.S. I am 99% done redoing my kitchen with IKEA. :) Loving it!!!

Hi Dana! I actually ran across this fun quiz from Apartment Therapy the other day that is kind of like an I SPY IKEA! Hope you enjoy! http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/take-the-quiz-spot-the-ikea-194587

P.S. I about fell out when I saw Mabrey is already two… I started following along around the time you announced you were pregnant, and I can’t believe that’s been almost three years! Happy Birthday to the Baby Girl!! :)

I know! I’m happy-sad.