A Room of Whose Own?

When we built our house nine years ago, we chose a floor plan that was fluid and adaptable, so that we could easily make functional changes as our children grew up. No. That's not quite right. We chose a floor plan that we could afford. In the process, we ended up with a house that could "grow with us." Today, as I was walking through the chambers, collecting laundry and Nerf bullets, I realized that many of our rooms must shed the descriptor of "traditional."

If you choose to visit the Kramer residence, you might find behind the plain vanilla exterior, an unconventional living space inside.  Oh no - not of the George and Judy Jetson mold (I wish!), but a home of a seeming increasing lack of logic. One room might boast a tread mill, a Nerf gun arsenal and a picture of New York City.  Apparently this space is dedicated for basic training and mission planning. Another room fuses elements of an office, a tropical bedroom and a leg massager to give you that Apple Store in a spa feel. (I'll admit, the ambience isn't quite there yet.) The laundry room - my most interesting place - now boldly houses a refrigerator and a gigantic safe. (You'll never find the safe. It's in a fairly hard-to reach closet.) We most recently rid ourselves of that extra toilet in favor of the fridge. Talk about a fluid floor plan. Don't think the wash room is lacking of decor! Doug just asked me, "Why do we have a cafe latte picture in our laundry room anyway?"

The most disturbing area in the house, hands down, is the great room in the basement. I doubt my writing skills can possibly describe the level of disorganization. It's not even chic. It's just cheeky. I had Alex go downstairs and start yelling things she saw. Here's what she came up with:

Christmas trees. Antique dresser. A book shelf with overflowing children's books (time to donate). Broken easel (time to toss). Alphabet cards - strung across the wall (I think they got it now). Floral couch (UGLY). Baby blankets (ahhh, will keep forever and ever). TV the size of a small car. Workout videos (an exercise room!) Guitars. Piano. (a music room!) Laptop setting on a card table. (a Facebook room!)  Jedi toys. Jedi toys. Jedi toys.  Okay, it's really just a room to duel with light sabers. George Lucas wins again.

When it comes right down to it, I love our messy, eclectic and wonderfully simple house...because we Kramer's have certainly made it our own.

One of our more traditional rooms-notice light saber?

My dream room- currently sold at the IKEA store.