Pride and Prejudice: A Handsome Home Tour @ Automotive World

"The rooms were lofty and handsome, and their furniture suitable to the fortune of its proprietor; 

but Elizabeth saw, with admiration of his taste, that it was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine; 

with less of splendour, and more real elegance, than the furniture of Rosings. 

 "And of this place," thought she, "I might have been mistress! 

With these rooms I might now have been familiarly acquainted! Instead of viewing them as a stranger, I might have rejoiced in them as my own, 

and welcomed to them as visitors my uncle and aunt."

~ Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Chapter 43

I recently read an article on the internet wherein the author enumerated the ups and downs of blogging.  She said that blogging has taken a lot of her time, but that her "house has never looked so good."  

Hmmm.

Never looked so good?  Seriously?  Every time I sit down to blog, I steel myself because I know that as soon as I hit "publish" on my post, I will return to a houseful of disasters, from lipstick smeared on the shower, to rolls of Charmin in the toilet, to mysterious pools of liquid in the upstairs hallway.  

And yes, all of the above mentioned surprises have indeed happened here this week.

Miriam and I have been blogging for over a year now, and at times, it seems that our homes have never looked WORSE.  But then again, we're in the thick of this child-rearing/toddler-wrangling stage.  We do our best, but sometimes kids and blogs just don't mix.

This is why I am not going to show you my home today.

(Unless you were REALLY hoping for a visual feast of gym socks, Legos, and smashed pears.)

Instead, I am going to show you a fair-prospect-of-a-model-home that I have taken the opportunity to visit SEVERAL times in the past few months.

It is nothing special from the outside, but as soon as you enter the front door, you can't help but fall in love with its soothing and comfortable living room . . .

and its rich and inviting dining room.

 

I would have never thought to pair satin celadon draperies with this wallpaper.  So daring!  So fun!

The kitchen is clean and sleek, but just traditional and cozy enough that I could see my family gathering here for an after-school snack.

The family room is the perfect fresh and organic complement to the rest of the house.

And who wouldn't love a slightly bohemian master bedroom with a stunning four-poster bed?  (I sometimes like to call my own bedroom "bohemian", but in those cases "bohemian" is really just a code word for "strewn with wrinkled laundry.")

Just writing this post inspires me to make my own house look better than it has ever looked before.  And I promise I'll get to it someday.  But for right now, you'll have to excuse me.  I just spied my toddler drawing on a ceramic centerpiece with a purple crayon.

Sharing at . . .

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Between Naps on the Porch 
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Homestories A to Z
Jennifer Rizzo
StoneGable 
No Minimalist Here
Common Ground
From My Front Porch to Yours   
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At the Picket Fence
Stuff and Nonsense   
Savvy Southern Style 
It's Overflowing