A House Divided

Tonight I have the pleasure of posting some shots of the living room and dining room area of our little rabbit hole after we nestled in.  I was a little thrown off by the excessive length of this main living space–it made our home look more like a rancher than a cottage–and to me, there is nothing jolly about a rancher.

I decided to split up the room with this cubby-style shelving unit.  I bought this piece for next to nothing from a friend at a moving sale just after we were married.  We painted it the same color as the walls in the living room.

This little nook contains most of my favorite books, arranged in the order I read them, starting with late middle school, ending with last month.  I love books.  I love words and writing and reading, and the sheer beauty of books.  Here is my small antique collection, started when I was in high school.

Another method we employed to divide the room was painting the dining area a different color.  In this case we chose a nice buttery yellow.

Here you mainly see the living room, where we are currently assembling an Alice in Wonderland puzzle.  Alice is Jesse’s favorite name, because Alice in Wonderland is one of his favorite books, which is the kind of thing that makes me love him.  It’s also my paternal grandmother’s first name, making it a serious contender for one of our future little rabbits.

The other portion of the room is where we eat and play games, two of our favorite activities.  I’m currently creaming Jesse in an ongoing Boggle tournament.

And this–this is where the magic happens.

So many of my favorite things are featured in this set of photos.  All the instruments are special; the banjo was a graduation present for Jesse from my parents, the cello is the one I learned on in high school, and the mandolin was purchased for me by my dad when I was fourteen, right when my family started homeschooling, so that we could have a family band.  We were called the Home Grown String Band, and we played mostly old folk songs and Trio covers.  We were pretty hard core.

Then you see the bench, which I bought at an antique store during the time I was reading Cranford, which was definitely the inspiration for buying such a piece.  I felt like I could sit on it and have afternoon tea with Miss Mattie.  On the bench are two more treasures:  a blanket made by a lovely family member from the wool of my uncles’ sheep, and a hand-etched leather album depicting The Three Graces, purchased in Florence on a trip with aforesaid uncles.

And then there’s this tiny chair, which serves no purpose whatsoever, and did not come from Florence but a thrift store in glamorous Knoxville.  I love it.

And, of course, the things in these photos closest to my heart:  Butter Bean and Uncle Andrew, fat old man dog and crippled cat, respectively.  Light of my life.

That’s it for tonight.  If you’d like to pay me money to make your house look this happy, please, be my guest.  Livestock not included.

Love from the rabbit hole,

Mary Ann