The Perspective Makeover – Messy House Tour 2016

Since the last messy house tour I posted got so much love from you guys, I figured now was the perfect reminder that our home doesn’t actually have fresh bouquets of flowers and perfectly styled vignettes at every turn. I mean… maybe it’s all perfectly styled by the 3 year-old’s standards.

I love a beautifully clean house, but I wouldn’t feel right letting y’all think our house actually looks how it did in our summer home tour all summer long.

Amidst traveling to a blog conference, working on several home projects, and preparing for two family vacations, I looked around at our reality one day and thought, “This needs to be documented.”

So I grabbed my camera and trekked from room to room because, as much as I want you guys to feel inspired by this blog, I also want y’all to know that the real life, non-magaziney shots can still be beautiful too.

Like our dining room that still has remnants of misplaced items from our kitchen makeover…

Our entryway usually becomes our drop zone…

…which is why that pile of curtains from our living room refresh was sitting on the bench waiting for their buyer to pick them up.

Our living room is easy to clean quickly since we have a pretty good organization system.

But it looks like this “after” most of the time since Olivia is apparently personally offended by throw pillows. I don’t know what they ever did to her.

We’ve been loving our new kitchen and it gets a regular workout now that we’re able to cook again.

To be fair, when I snapped this shot of our kitchen, it was on the clean side. But after several days of leftover dead flowers, I finally got around to tossing them in the trash. Our dishes often pile up in a blink.

One of my favorite things is to create pretty tablescapes just for fun, but it’s so not the norm for our daily lives.

There’s pretty much always some remnant of an afternoon snack, Play-doh bits, and an arts and crafts project on our kitchen table.

And up the stairs is our still very non-decorated playroom waiting for its makeover.

It usually has toy piles and stacks of laundry… and this office chair that now randomly has a home here since Olivia likes to spin around in it like maniac.

Can we just not talk about this laundry room? Close the door and walk away. Laundry duty between summer vacations is not for the faint of heart.

Olivia’s bedroom usually has bedtime story books on her rug…

…along with all of her dress-up clothes.

And even though Olivia’s bathroom is clean most of the time…

…there is usually toothpaste around the sink and clothes on the floor.

Robert has been a pro with keeping his office tidy though… I think it’s still in the post-makeover honeymoon phase.

And as much as I love fresh flowers and breakfasts in bed…

lazy Saturdays really call for unmade beds just because.

 We’re just one project away from this bedroom being finished.

Whenever we’re in mid-project mode, our tools pop up in random places. And since our sliding barn doors are next on the list, our power drill has been sitting on our dresser for a few days.

It sort of hurts to show y’all a photo of our master bathroom in real life…

…but here it is, exploding makeup bag and all.

Oh, and Olivia’s bubble bath central…

I swear to you, I walked in and Princess Anna was already positioned in this rather un-princesslike pose. Get a hold of yourself, girl!

And this is my messy bed-headed bunch who I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Can I tell you a little secret?

Before I know it, in the midst of scrolling through Pinterest and flipping through the latest issues of Better Homes and Gardens, insecurity starts to creep in. The comparison game gets real, and there are days I begin to question myself as a wife and as a mom.

But do you know the best makeover that is truly the most beautiful of any of those perfectly styled rooms? Our rooms are loved and they are lived in. They just need a dose of perspective.

Because it’s the dirty dishes piled in the sink that can tell you you are blessed with mouths to feed.

It’s the stacks of laundry pulled out of suitcases that tell you you have had great adventures.

It’s the toys and books tossed randomly on the floor that tell you little minds are growing and learning.

It’s the unmade beds that tell you sometimes the chores can wait because Saturday morning snuggles are much more important.

When you find yourself wishing for a perfectly styled home that isn’t strewn with the daily chaos, remember to tell yourself, “You are enough.” And one day you will wish the messes and the little pattering feet lasted a bit longer.