So, some of you have let it be known that you want to see the object of my house-love affection. I can understand this. It is, after all, the Charmer. I haven't really posted pictures previously because I don't have any "perfect" pictures - you know, the ones where there aren't toys scattered or dirty dishes in the background. I'd love to be able to post pictures of my darling in "show" condition... but that's just not reality around here. I have two toddlers that leave a wake akin to that of a category 5 hurricane and, well, I'm a stay-at-home mom, not a housewife. In my mind at least, there is a HUGE difference. I think of a housewife as someone who stays home to keep the house neat and tidy, bakes pies, wears pearls. I am decidedly not that person. My daily activities are much more kid-entertainment-education-centric with a large side of coffee, friends, Facebook, minor errands, etc. I try to do a sweep of the house at least once a day to put everything back in their places but I've been pretty lazy about even that lately. ANYWAY - my point is this: I'm posting pictures and they are not perfect shots. And they're only of the rooms on the main level (there's also upstairs and the family room downstairs in the finished basement). I'll post more pictures as I get it together (which will be... ?). I've also decided that it's not wise to post pictures of the outside of the house in case I were to get some sort of crazy blog stalker. Conceited? Oh, probably. Likely? Oh, probably not. But I'm erring on the side of caution. So here we go - tour of the main level of the Charmer:

Standing just inside the front door, looking down the living room (left side of the house). The red couch in the background will be disappearing, but we haven't gotten around to that yet. Eventually, I'd love a piano back there. The stairs are just to the right of this picture and you can see up them from the front door. That's the sun porch/play room at the end. There are glass French doors between the living room and play room, but they're open so you can't see them.

Sun porch/play room - there's a big cradle to the left filled with stuffed animals, some bins of blocks, etc., that didn't make this frame. And you can see out to the back deck and back yard. There's a pink dogwood that comes up through the deck. It is GORGEOUS when it blooms, and it just drops crap the other 11 months of the year.

Okay, turning back around and looking the other way down the living room. You can see the stairs on the left now. See that second step where the stairs curve around? That's the Time Out spot - a very important landmark in our household.

Details of the stairs - I have visions of the girls sneaking down to see if Santa has arrived...

This is the library. Standing at the front door, this is the front-right corner of the house (note the front door in the background). This room was brown before we painted it lavender. 

Standing the other way in the library and looking down the right side of the house, toward the dining room and kitchen. There are glass pocket doors (the kind with a bunch of little windows) that slide out between the library and dining room.

Dining room - this room was blood red. Now it's pea soup! To the right of this picture is the double doorway into the far end of the living room. It's got a circular flow, see? The girls run laps. That doorway also has a pocket door, but instead of glass, it's a heavy, solid wood door. To the left of this picture are 4 tall windows that look out onto the driveway and our neighbor's house. The girls give a running commentary on the comings and goings of our neighbors.

Here's the kitchen from the doorway of the dining room. The kitchen was a soft green color. I painted it tangerine so it will be cheery even when we are in the throes of Portland gray outside. There are more cupboards, a small counter and the fridge to the left of this picture. And see that closed door on the left? Go through there and down three steps and you're in a little hallway. Turn right to go out the back door or turn left to go down more steps into the laundry room and the finished basement/family room + full bath beyond that.

And that's it! Upstairs is a full bath, a sitting area that is totally empty at the moment, Dude's office, our bedroom, the girls' bedroom, some closets, blah, blah. Maybe I'll do an upstairs tour once we get Dude's office redone. Or maybe you will be so completely bored after this post that you will beg me to not do any more tours...