A Day in Our Cozy Life #5 – Bungalow Dollhouse, Vintage Linens, 1936 Noah Webster Calendar and More

It has been far too long since I’ve done a post like this. I thought today would be a good day to take a peek at some little things around our home. None of them are spectacular, but they are the little things that make a home unique. I’ve written often about our home’s atmosphere, the beauty in our lives, and how the things we surround ourselves with tell a story. They are how we can express who and what is important to us. At the end of this post I’ll link to some of the other posts I’ve written about these topics.

In A Day in Our Cozy Life #3, I shared pictures of a bungalow dollhouse David was going to put together for Caroline and me. We chose it because it looks so much like the house in one of our favorite picture books, Bunny Bungalow. He has made excellent progress on it and I’ve been meaning to share pictures.

The outside is mostly done.

Next will be making decisions about the inside.

The “problem” is where we are going to put it. It is quite large and our house is rather small. I’m really not sure what we are going to do with it when it is done. But David thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating it and I think Caroline and I will have fun finishing the inside. In many ways, it is just as much about the creative process as it is the finished product.

I mentioned in Simple Living This Week #54 that I went through all of the antique and passed-down-to-me linens I had in the house. Rather than keeping them packed away and safe, I decided to use them. Here’s a few of them.

This is a pretty little one stitched by one of my grandmothers.

I forgot to ask my mom which grandmother this came from. (She’ll probably see this and tell me and then I’ll update the post!) The details are lovely.

I wasn’t sure where to use it, so I put it on the bottom of my nightstand where I see it multiple times each day. It makes me happy.

I also put a few things in my kitchen.

The scarf I’m pretty sure is from my maternal grandmother and I’m thinking it came from Sweden. I could be wrong. I’ve always liked the colors and design, but was careful with it. I decided I would rather enjoy it every day.

The colors are so pretty!

The vintage little dress was made by my dad’s mom. There was an entire series of these little things to crochet. (I thought I shared a link about it with a picture of dozens of them at one time, but can’t find it at the moment.) Again, it’s so cute so why keep it packed away for safe keeping? Why not enjoy it every day?

Except at Christmastime, this hangs on the front door doorknob. Giving thanks is always in season.

When we spruced up the half bath, I purposefully went with pretty taupe walls that gave me flexibility to switch out decor with the seasons and holidays. The countertop is dark green. The cabinet and woodwork are white. The floor is a pretty, warm oak. It gives me a great neutral palette to work with all year.

We added this on the large wall opposite the mirror. Does it look and sound familiar? It isn’t just something I say on my website. It really is a core Scripture to how I live my life.

This little antique calendar also hangs in the half bath. I found it years ago when we were doing antiquing for fun. The rest of the wall décor switches out with the season or holiday.

These are the books on my desk right now.

You’ll notice a lot of overlap with My Reading Tickler List.

• Educating the WholeHearted Child
• The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
• Mother Culture
• A Book That Takes Its Time
• Company of One
• Zero Hour for Gen X
• Fool’s Talk
• Staying at Home God’s Way
• Carpe Diem Redeemed
• Run With the Horses
• The Common Rule
• The Jesus of the Gospel
• “Salvation” by Grace or by Merit? (out of print pamphlet)
• Faith That Does Not Falter
• Gifts From My Home
• Helping Your Child with Language Based Learning Difficulties
• Social Justice Goes to Church
• Another Gospel?
• The Constitution of the United States and The Declaration of Independence
• For More Than  Diamond
• Curious Unschoolers
• NIV Journal the Word Bible
• The Wiersbe Bible Study Series – Proverbs

And now today I’ll start planning for another week of homeschooling using one of my own editable homeschool planners.

And speaking of planning… For the longest time I looked at these in Hobby Lobby, but could never quite convince myself I needed one since I don’t do nearly as much crafting as I did in the past. However, after I switched to a large corner desk, I had plenty of room to put one on my desk for regular office and homeschool work.

This was a great purchase and a great decision.

I hope you enjoyed this peek into our cozy home!

If you’d like to read more about creating your home’s atmosphere, here are some favorite posts.

• The Cozy Life in America (and Why I Prefer It To the Danish Hygge)
• Why I Reject Minimalism
• Life is Too Short for Ugly Stuff
• Creating Your Family’s Homeschool Atmosphere
• Seeking God’s Beauty in a Sordid Culture
• Creating a Cozy Life – Getting Started