House tour - Our evolving dot on the map

As soon as we moved to Missoula I started sort of joking that I wanted to run for city council. I say "sort of" because like all of my great ideas, if there was an easy way to accomplish this (an open seat on the board, I keep an eye on that), I would. There are a lot of small issues here that a new resident might notice right away. The big one - we can't recycle glass. I didn't realize how many wine bottles we went through in a two week period until I saw that they had all been carefully picked out of our recycling bin, and placed in a neat line on my back lawn. Shame. Shame. Other gripes include a lack of stop or yield signs at the major cross streets in my neighborhood, the City refusing to build curbs or extend sidewalks to the street, and requiring any resident who wants to build a ADU (me) to pave their alley at their own cost. Oh yeah, you're probably thinking - you are a home owner now! And really complaining like a crabby one. That's probably true. Every town has its quirks, of course. While I have to shut my eyes every time I throw a glass kombucha bottle in the trash can, there is lots to love about this dot on the map. Specifically, our house.

Home, sweet home! This photo was taken in October, when the leaves were changing and the flowers were still hanging on. Notice the two gold pumpkins that we planned to make into "Trumpkins," but then became lazy and disillusioned, letting them sit like gaudy announcements to the neighborhood - we're here! 

Welcome inside our front entry way! We sometimes keep items that we need to return by the front door (like these canned beans that are going back to Coscto). Originally, this area was a porch, but the previous owners walled it off so it could be part of the house. We don't really know what to do with it, but that's fine for now. 

Our formal (very formal) dining room. We made that table! Well, to be specific - a man in Missoula (a professional wood worker) made the top out of some locally sourced wood and Spencer built the rest of it. He did a great job, as he does with all home projects. The table runner is from a market in San Cristobal de las Casas, in Mexico.  

Here is our living room, which feels pretty complete. Rug, couch, lamp, healthy plants, a book chronicling this history of Pantones - I can't think of anything else you'd need. 

Ok, well, you need a book shelf, obviously. One of my favorite features about my house in Boulder was the library of books in the back room. It sort of feels like a combination of a trophy case and a selection of memories. Home is where the books are. 

Spencer's favorite room in the house! And it's always this clean, 100% of the time. Never a mess on those counter tops. Not ever. It always looks exactly like this. 

Watch out - men at work! 

Guess who got to decorate this entire room? It was me. For some reason, I was most excited to put together a guest bedroom at our new house. When you come to visit, this is where you will stay. Just give us one day advanced notice so I can fold the couch down and fluff up your pillow. 

Here we have the guest bathroom. There is even a shower in here! When we first bought this house I couldn't get over having a dish washer and an extra bathroom with a shower. Major luxury, sometimes I still wonder if it's real. Given a choice, I would have designed this bathroom exactly as it is. But all we had to do was buy a bathroom rug to match. 

This is where I go to work every morning. I put this room together quickly, because I didn't want to get stuck working on the couch. Having a specific place to work is really amazing, and it helps keep me focused and productive. 

Guess what? I made these shelves for my office! You spend enough time cruising around on Pinterest, and before you know it, you've just made some wall shelves out of old barn wood and a vintage stain. Not picture here: the giant picture frame I found in the alley behind our house, which will soon become a loom for my next project. 

I'm not the only person in this household that finds inspiration on Pinterest. 

So that's the tour to date! We have a lot of work to do in the backyard in the next few years (long term planning - a new concept) so that Spencer can have a garden and I can have a hammock set up. It's fun to have a project to work on, and a place to call our own. Having a house makes travel more exciting, because it feels like a break. But it makes returning home more exciting as well, because we have so much to look forward to in our new town. 

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