I love looking in people's windows. In winter the sun sets so early that people often leave their curtains open after dark. One of my greatest pleasures has always been catching glimpses of ther homes and their lives through the brightly lit glass. Nothing seedy or creepy, just good old fashioned nosiness.
At some point every day, I am grateful for finding this house. While I loved the old place, the size and space of our new home is nothing short of a miracle. Spaces for each of us, places to put things...simple things, but huge luxuries when we lived without for so long.
Perhaps the greatest luxury is to have a space like this just for the children...just for play. They love having their own room and I love that I am not tripping over lego all the time (just most of the time). Some of my favourite bits are:
- the dress up clothes hung up on a clothes line with birdie pegs Grammy 'Merica brought over on her last visit.
- the wee gallery wall stickers around the changing mat
- the enormous display area that houses the pirate ship and castle (the unit used to be our TV cabinet).
Without a wide angle lens (*cough* birthday *cough*), its hard to get a sense of the space, but there is a closet, a fireplace an two bay windows in the room. I knew from the moment that we looked at the house that this would make a killer play space. It was previously the dining room, which seemed like too great a luxury in a house with 3 young children. 
If there was one toy that I had to take with us in a fire, it would be our play tent from Habitat. It was a gift from my family when Georgia was born, but we had to take it down in the old house when G moved into Ellis' bedroom. Now it is out all the time and used every day, even if just for sulking in.
On the toy front, I've really pared back the amount of toys we keep out. I recently even went so far as packing away the wooden train set. I hit the limit when I realised that friends would come over, tip out every box, but they would still only play with the Lego, the cars and the pirate ship.
Georgia isn't one to play with any toys. She just wanders around all day long, occasionally carrying something, most often not. I used to wonder if it was an age thing, but then I remembered that by 1 year old Ellis was train OBSESSED. Georgia's favourite game is destroying what ever her big brother is doing...a valid, but sadly dangerous, occupation.
Theo also gets his own space. We've never had a playpen or a travel cot, but we realised in within weeks of Theo's arrival that if he was going to survive to the age of one, he'd need some protection from his over enthusiastic sister. Sure the occasional lego/doll/silicone muffin pan still gets dropped in, but at least potential damage is limited. (Bunting was a baby gift from a friend)
Other than the wee gallery stickers and the kite, we are still lacking on wall art. We have a Nick Sharratt print from the Illustrators exhibition and a felt piece by Kev's colleague Silvia Woodford that are waiting to be framed. Overall, though, it feels "done". Its possibly my favourite room in the house...which may or may not be linked to the fact that its currently the cleanest.
All of this said, of course toys still get dragged everywhere, but at the end of the day, if nothing else, I can toss all the mess in and close the door. A welcom change in our new home.
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Doll house was made by Kev's Dad and Stepmother. Totally amazing, right???