That sound you hear, that sad, bleating cry, would be me, crossing the Atlantic today (and not in the good direction). Oui, mes amies, we are on our way back to the states today and I am most displeased. The trip was AMAZING and I have so many photos to share with you. In the meantime, the delightful Sue from A Nomadic Abode is here to share her London home (the color palate is gorgeous!).

firstly, thank you so much erin for inviting me to hang out with you here for the day! what girl doesn’t like a party invite, right!?!

& being asked to discuss my favourite topic {my home} is just the cherry on top!

there are many words i could use to describe what my home means to me: it’s my sanctuary, my workshop, my decompression chamber from the world outside…

but it’s what my home isn’t that can be summed up so much more succinctly: my home isn’t defined by the bricks & mortar from which it’s built…

for me, home is very much a feeling, not a place…

&, perhaps as a by-product of having moved house so much in my life, i’ve become pretty adept at invoking that feeling wherever i am by simply surrounding myself by the people i love & the things that hold meaning or memories…

here’s a little peak into the london home i share with my boyfriend of nearly ten years…

in our dining nook sits one of my favourite pieces of art, an etching picked up on a girly weekend in venice: what i remember most about that weekend was my friend & i lugging her baby pram up & down many, many steps as we chaperoned her infant daughter around this city of bridges {there was a lot of laughter that weekend}…

while the white porcelain cockatoo reminds me of those yellow-crested fellas that swoop & squawk around my parents’ house at dusk each & every day, plucking the ripening fruit from their orchard & unleashing mayhem in their wake…

taking pride of place in our lounge room is a screen-printed bus blind from home: on it are listed some of the suburbs that served as the backdrop to our budding relationship all those years ago…

& vintage photos found at a flea market in cuba, a silver teapot from dubai & an antique key from my boyfriend’s parents’ village in italy bring back memories of our travels together…

& finally…

flowers are a permanent fixture in our home & never more so than in the bedroom…

i use a lot of floral motifs, alongside the real {& faux} thing, as not only do they add a sense of colour & movement but they also remind me of a childhood spent amongst the blooms {both of my parents were keen gardeners}…

our bedroom is also where i display my jewellery collection {especially the sentimental pieces that have been gifted to me}, some of my favourite books & a selection of much-loved pictures, including a print depicting a simple mantra: LOVE!

everywhere throughout our home there are tell-tale pieces like these that speak of my partner & i, our friends, families & the journeys that have gotten us to where we are today…

& that is precisely what makes this, & every house i live in, feel like my home…

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Isn’t her home beautiful? I love the garland above the tufted bedframe. And all the little bits Sue picked up on her travels…those are wonderful souvenirs! Thank you so much, Sue!

Today is our last full day in Paris, which we’re just going to ignore because that seemingly small fact is sending me into an existential crisis. While we’re making the most of the day, I’m happy to bring you another guest-post. Today I’m beyond lucky to have my twinsy extraordinaire, Christine from The Plumed Nest, sharing her wonderful west coast home with us. Check out that faux-wallpaper! 

Hi! I am Christine from The Plumed Nest and I am really excited to be here today at like/want/need to fill in for the lovely Erin while she is in Paris taking pictures for us. Today I will be sharing photos and talking a little bit about my home.

My home is in Portland, Oregon and while I have lived in other places, traversed a few spots around the globe and obsessively dream about moving abroad someday, Portland is a beautiful and creative city and I love living here. I live in a community of townhomes that were built in the 1930’s. There is so much I love about my place, it has beautiful wood floors, a wall of windows, huge gardens and lots of vintage charm.

My personal design taste is not limited. One day I might be dreaming of a shabby chic cottage, the next a mid-century ranch, and a few days after that an industrial loft. So with my love of so many different design styles I try to keep myself in check by decorating in a way that works with the style of my home. Additionally, as a renter, I am always looking for ways to make changes that don’t include knocking down walls or changing out cabinetry. Would I love to have a giant farmhouse kitchen? Sure I would. But I embrace the sweet vintage charm of mine with my 1950’s stove being one of my favorite things in my home. I try to look at the parts of my home I love as starting points to design around and augment them. I have changed out hardware on my cabinets, the light switch-plates, added window treatments and have done a lot of painting in every room!

A favorite place in my house is my dining and living area. I have three children, work from home and am by nature a homebody, so we spend a lot of time in this communal area. I recently painted this main living space all white to bring more light into my house, but in my innate need for a feeling of coziness I added some patterned interest to my dining wall. I love the vintage feel of it and how it helps define the space. The best secret behind it is that it’s actually shelf liner! Another great option for renters who can’t put up wallpaper.

Again, constantly balancing my role between mother and a person who works from home with my blog and my Etsy shop, we end up spending all our time in a shared space. It’s great because I can be many things at once and switch back and forth as needed, but it also means I am constantly on a mission to keep it light, bright and airy. It’s important to me that we can feel cozy and relaxed as a family and also feel the space is open enough for our minds to be focused and creative. My exception to this is books, I have several bookcases and books on top of books stacked in each of them. I love the feeling of being surrounded by books. It’s really important for me that my home to reflect all parts of me, the parts I am striving to be – like more organized (always trying to be more organized!) and the parts that are firmly rooted like my love of books, my family and art.

Thanks so much for having me Erin! I can’t wait to see all those fabulous pictures from Paris!

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I can’t get over how impeccibly clean her house is for having three kids! She certainly puts me to shame :) I’m so jealous of all that sunlight, too, and that vintage desk (Christine said it was her grandparents’)! Thank you so much, Christine!