My Plans For Our Island Home

With all of the decor round-ups and inspiring house tours lately, I think it's been pretty obvious that I have home on the brain right now. Maybe it's the fact that I'm learning to redefine exactly what that word means as we adjust to life thousands of miles away from our family and friends or maybe it's because we're sill weeks away from a shipment of everything we packed to bring along for the journey but I'm definitely in an interior-centric frame of mind.

In case you're not completely sick of hearing about our new digs already, I'll fill you in some more. We've recently picked up, moved to a tropical island and taken up residence in government supplied housing. While the experience is all kinds of cool, our 1950s era cinder block walls and minimal space leave a lot to be desired. I'm eager to make a mark on the home and fill it with things that say something about our tastes but only time will tell when the barge of our household goods might arrive. In the meantime, I've been busy making moodboards and thinking of all the ways to personalize.

The pros: I love that our new house is a clean, bright, white blank canvas that's just waiting to house our memories and curiosities. I like that most of the houses on our island are the same... taking a lot of the competition for the coolest house on the block and the guess work of designing a space out of the equation. You get what you get and you can't throw a fit here... it's a nice change from the pressure to keep up with the Jones' back home. I'm into the split level layout (living spaces on bottom and bedrooms upstairs), the fact that we're a block away from the market and that Lorelai will be able to walk to first grade solo in the Fall.

The cons: Since we don't own this space we can't make any big changes. The rules are a bit fuzzy on things like painting but since I love white walls anyway, I haven't worried too much. Before flying out we were given a weight limit of 2100lbs for our things. This means that a lot of our bigger furniture pieces had to be either sold or left behind and traded in for government issued furniture (not to worry... we were able to bring our bed and my favorite green velvet sofa). We'll be borrowing things like dressers, lounge chairs, Lorelai's bed and kitchen appliances for the duration of our time out here. While some of the pieces are cool (think beach-y rattan), others just aren't my fave. It's gonna be all about making due.

Although it's always fun to pin images of my dream interiors (see those here), the things I've been saving for our own personal home inspiration have been a little more attainable. One of the best parts of moving is settling in but until our things arrive, making plans is about as close as I can get to nesting right now and I'm eating it up. I thought you might be interested in seeing what's on my mind...

LIVING ROOM

Our living space is the hub of our home and the room we spend most of our time in. Since the layout of this house is a bit more open than our last, I need everything downstairs (living room, dining room, laundry room and kitchen) to flow. Luckily, our couch has pretty clean lines and I'm thinking I'll use it to divide the space up a little. That means pulling it away from the wall and possibly floating it in between the living and dining spaces. Hopefully I'll be able to bring in a lot of plant life and play up the mid-century modern look with our marble coffee table and Eames inspired chairs. I'll count on our small decor items to lend some character as well. Where we had a pretty large gallery wall of family and travel photos in our last house, I'll probably split up our art and keep the walls minimal. Hopefully sporadic frames everywhere will help remind us of home.

KITCHEN

Although they aren't my favorite, the dark wood cabinets in our kitchen aren't bad. It's a long, white, galley style room with a decent amount of counter space for storing nick-knacks and prepping meals. The skinny layout makes our Moroccan runner the perfect rug for the space and it'll be nice to add a pop of rich color here. I'm looking to the images above for inspiration and functionality. I think keeping things less "staged" and more lived-in is the way to go!

BEDROOM

Luckily, we were able to fit our slate gray upholstered headboard and brand new comfy mattress in with our shipment... I have a feeling that'll make all the difference as we attempt to make this bedroom our new oasis. I'm so excited to finally get a hold of all those little things that make a space feel homey. I always knew I was heavily influenced by my environment but this move made me realize that so much of my mood and sense of productivity comes from my surroundings. I love how the rooms up top have little collections of personal things without feeling too cramped.

OUTDOOR

Part of the fun of our new locale is the weather (hot all year round!) and everyone's propensity to hang around outside. We're got miles to go until our backyard is a fun place to hang but we're hoping to build some kind of shady structure with room for a lot of seating and chilling space. I LOVE the idea of hanging chairs or creating a palette sofa for meals al fresco or Game of Thrones projector nights!