To keep me humble

I browse a lot of home improvement and home decoration blogs. I enjoy the ideas and the gorgeous work people do in their homes. While I aspire to have one of those model, photograph-able homes at any moment… sigh… I’m not even close. The last year of my life has been a very intense one where I can barely keep up on life, much less get ahead (I’m pretty sure I just get more behind).  To keep me honest and humble, here’s an area we need to find a workable real life solution for:

The entry way.

Yes, that’s a dozen pairs of shoes strewn everywhere. That’s a big bag of flour I haven’t put away. And my gardening bag full of garden tools that I used for weeding last weekend. On the hanging shelf, you can see candles from our last power outage, keys, and the dog’s bike leashes hanging there ready for the next ride. And look! A new rug! Isn’t that cute?  Yeah, new rug aside, we need a better solution for the shoes. I keep thinking we should each keep a pair or two of shoes there by the door and everyone else should just keep the rest in their bedrooms. But I know I am the worst offender! I have my tennis shoes, my work shoes, my slippers, my yard shoes, my dress shoes, and a pair of winter boots in that stack. Ugh.

So I’m dreaming of a mudroom:

And pretty entry ways…

And pondering solutions….
…. while still tripping over shoes. 

See? Real life at the Homestead. And still looking for Real Life Solutions. #umeb