Today, I’m going to share another behind the scenes look at Robb Restyle. This month’s behind the blog theme is Behind the Photos.
So, instead of sharing how to take great pics (because there are plenty of photographers that are better at taking pictures than me) I’m going to share some real photos of what my home and work areas look like when we are renovating, making stuff and getting ready for markets.
Guess what? It’s not always blog worthy. [womp, womp]
If you’ve visited me, this isn’t news. I’m just like everyone else… trying to balance work, home, family and a million other things that I voluntarily add to my plate. My house may be cutely decorated, but it still gets messy.
I also like being busy and and I really don’t like cleaning my house. So there’s that.
I mean, I do what needs to be done, but if I’m creatively inspired or busy making signs at the dining room table, there’s plenty of clutter around the house that’s going to be ignored for a few days.
Let’s begin our messy house tour.
Do you have a drop zone in your house? In other words, a place that everyone drops the mail, school papers, things they don’t want to put away yet, etc.? Our kitchen table seems to be the landing pad for all things important (and not so important). If it enters the house, it usually takes a pit stop on the tabletop.
To find out more about our renovation to this space, check out my retro kitchen decor post.
Sometimes I think we would eat at the table more if it were clear. LOL. (Yea, eating in front of the TV happens occasionally in this household too.)
I do most of my crafting in the dining room. This old house doesn’t have an office, so the dining room functions as a place to eat, work and create.
I love my farmhouse table workspace and I can keep an eye on the kiddos while they are working on homework and having snacks after school while I’m making things in this space. This picture was taken when I was creating my DIY vintage-inspired spring vases.
Even the dog crate serves as a tabletop sometimes. It’s just another way to maximize my surface space and our labrador doesn’t mind helping me out. 😉
I even squeezed a little sewing area in this room. I like to have all my maker tools (scissors, paint, glue sticks, etc.) easily accessible. These boards (in the ugly box) are being prepped for hand-painted signs.
When a project is finished, we usually store it in our basement workshop area. I have it set up like a retail space so I can take pictures for Etsy listings and stay organized. Plus, it allows friends and family members to shop the space when they visit.
We are always on hunting for projects to upcycle and curating vintage decor for our markets. The finds we don’t use around the house are stored here. We are pretty lucky to have this added space for hoarding stuff storing goods and working on projects.
Oh yea, I paint a lot of furniture (see examples here, here and here)… so I paint when and where I can. If the weather is decent, you’ll find me in the driveway painting away on Saturday and Sunday. In the winter, I make some space in my basement/workshop to paint. This past weekend, it was kind of warm so I made a little space on the deck for our bedroom project.
Speaking of bedroom renovations (check out the design inspiration here)… this next picture is from our sunroom upstairs, just off the family room. And this is the carnage leftover from moving stuff out of the way, rearranging toys, swapping furniture and more. I like to think of it as our staging area, since it sees more blog action than exercise. LOL.
Think of this little messy tour as the before to next month’s Behind the Blog house tour… yippee! It’s like a true before and after… and I promise it gets better. Don’t forget to come back in April!
As for keeping it real, I like to think of my blog as my personal house magazine. You wouldn’t want to see this mess all of the time, nor would you pick up a magazine that wasn’t filled with inspiring photos of home decor. And that’s what I try to do here… inspire others.
Thanks for stopping by this behind the scenes photo tour of life at the Robb Restyle house.
Be sure to visit the other Behind the Blog bloggers today… many of them are sharing fantastic tips for taking the best photos.
Loved seeing this behind the scenes look. My crafts often take over our dining area too. Maybe that’s why we eat in the living room so much. LOL!
Oh, and how fun it would be to shop that “retail” space. 🙂
Thanks Jennifer!
I’m loving your behind-the-scenes photos! I always love seeing snippets like this… and they always make me feel a little bit better because my house is equally messy. My photos are just a small snapshot of the entire thing, so it’s comforting that other bloggers are the same way!