I’m sitting in this porch this morning, amid laundry and legos and one very (half dressed) happy guy.

Welcome! There’s charm all around this house – french doors with beautiful windows, wood work and hardware.

Yes that is High School Musical 2 on the TV. We like to keep our theatrics PG and Disney in this house.

So, there’s a yard here. Like a real fenced-in yard. With actual grass. Our last place had a “yard” that was the parking lot for all the cars of the tenants. (No grass.)

When it’s not raining or the weather outside doesn’t feel like a steam room (humidity much?) we’ve been enjoying this:

Although I don’t have a full garden this year I do have some hardy herbs that stayed alive through the last 12 months. Mint!

But the real charm of this place? The stuff that was left behind. Seriously. I think I could make a living out of finding the purpose in the forgotten.

First, there’s an entire room of storage with shelves. Like a canning persons dream, if I were a canning person. For now I’m just going to basque in the delight of a room with NO REAL PURPOSE that I can put stuff in.

but then there’s this:

The Workshop? But I see a kitchen island refab and those makeshift shelves on the side?

Have you not seen Pinterest and it’s glory? THE IDEAS!

I might be asking permission to use a few of these things from the landlords. But as renters in a home and learning how to be a permanent fixture in a temporary situation: I finally have ideas on how to make someone else’s house our home.

Cue: Collective twilight zone hazy lighting yet mental clarity.

It’s about time.