The Sticky Beak Series Part 2 - Welcome to the house!

I like this house - it really seems to me to have a welcoming entrance.

Every home and decorating magazine I have read suggests making your entry somewhere that people don't just pass through. I like the front paved area, because it has room for a nice chair (we often sit here to wait for Daddy to come home). The timber shutters (louvres as we Aussies call them), make it feel 'warmer' and a bit different to any other house on the block. And then there is my triumphant pot of lavender (which is actually a bit too far left to have made it into this shot!).

I am sure you are too polite to even glance at the very dead pot of basil and parsley in the front right of the picture.

But inside the front door lurked a trap for unwary visitors. Enter at your own risk! The pile of shoes inside the front door was getting ridiculous. I hesitated to take a 'before' photo, in case you began to think that Sweet Hubby is akin to Imelda Marcos (was it 6000 pairs of shoes she owned??). Yes, they were mostly his (I will confess to 2 pairs).

So today we tidied them. The pairs that are rarely worn went back into our walk-in cupboard. The regularly used pairs went into this plastic tub, just inside the door. This is only a temporary measure, but at least the trip hazard has been removed, and I can now sweep the floor!

The Sticky Beak Series - Part 1 - My Sewing Room

I love posts where people open up a part of their homes to their readers. It always makes me feel connected - like, it's ok that my kitchen benches are sticky from spilled juice, because other people have little kids too!

So I have decided to do a "Sticky Beak" series, where you all get to see into the wonderful world of this Small Town Mamma, and her family. And because I spend so much time sewing, thinking about sewing, yearning for delicious fabrics, playing with crafty things etc..... I have decided to start with the Sewing Room / Office.

This is the first house we have lived in that I can really say I have a room to keep all my craft and sewing together in. I still do most of my cutting out on the dining table, because as you can see, there is no large workspace here. And yes, those are packing boxes holding up the shelf, and the end of my sewing table. They are full of books. If I feel the urge to read one, I have to dismantle the shelf!

I love this room. If we owned the house, I would have the walls covered in hooks, to display cross-stitch and quilts. As it is, I have been very naughty and put some hooks in under the wall shelf, to hold up the organiser. The pockets make a great place to keep all my mailing things together - customs labels, envelopes, thank-you cards, airmail stickers etc. It is actually an over-door shoe holder thing that I got at Howards Storage World.

And because this is the room where I create all the lovely things for sale over at Sasha Sews, here is a pic of the new little purse that I have designed. I call it the "Naomi Purse". Ironically, I got the design finished and bag sewed on a day she was at her Family Daycare house! But I did think fondly of her, when it was finished!!

Feel free to indulge my nosiness and show us a room of your house! If you do, leave me a link in the comments so that I can come and visit your place -- I will bring home-baked muffins, I promise!