I was going through some old photos from 2003, when we first moved into this house - trying to find an old baby picture of lil Pablo, who is now four years old. I found some DARLING pictures of him, but what I really noticed in the pictures was how awesome our family room looked!! The babies were just brand spankin' new then, and our house was as well. We had our family room all decked out with rustico furniture, with iron candleholders and masks and stuff on the walls, and a chiminea in the corner, and a trunk with a Mexican blanket draped over it, and a tall, narrow chest of drawers made out of that knotty pine, with the rusty iron drawer pulls. I know I'm making it sound like something straight out of a Phoenix dental office, but no. It was all SO pretty.

We still have most of that, but it looks completely different, considering we had to remove the chiminea and the drawer tower, so the kids wouldn't pull them over on top of their heads. We replaced those items with a giant Little Tikes playhouse, a plastic table and chairs, and approximately eighty thousand toys. It's just not quite the same effect.

I've been obsessed with restoring some order to our home since I saw those pictures, too. The kids are almost old enough that we can start bringing back in some of our more fragile items. (I think?) I really love elegant metal wall hangings and I've been looking for something pretty for one wall. We have a big spot next to our big window that has NOTHING on it. I keep thinking I'll hang up a collage of pictures of our kids in that spot, but maybe not. I really love some of this divine wall decor, and I absolutely love this piece, with the curly-Qs. So pretty.

I'm thinking about taking some of that theme of decorating into our master bedroom as well. If you saw my new comforter a few posts back, you may have noticed the metal candle sconces I have above our bed. I want more stuff like that! It's funny how decorating your home with stuff you didn't buy at Wal-Mart just makes you feel like a grown up! I definitely don't want to wish away these childhood years, but I sure am looking forward to having pretty, fragile stuff sitting around again one day!