made: home ♥

Our mantle has been nice but a little sparse since we moved in here last May:

I liked it, but I had had a dream... When we moved in almost a year ago, I drew this picture:

And last week I finally made that happen:

It made the whole room feel different. Steve said it suddenly felt much more "homey" which is exactly what I was going for.

Befores and Afters for you....

Before!

After!

And some more...

Before...

After!!! (Also after a good naptime cleanup*... cheating a little.)

*There may be more toys in the first one, but the second one is not devoid of kid stuff either, I realized after picking up. Sippy cup on the lower left, a Peter Rabbit book by the fireplace, and Charlie's Boppy peeking out from under the black side table... Foiled again!!

I also reorganized our bookcase. Before:

After:

And finally came up with somewhere for Steve to put his phone and such when he gets home:

All that's left for this room is to get some photos (including the beachy wedding one from over the mantle) up over the couch. I am really happy with this room, and how our house is feeling more and more like ours. I have a lot of fun planning out how to make each room feel like us--all our bedrooms are fun and the kids' are feeling almost-complete. :)