Sweet little Table and Chairs, and Everything Nice, is what this Post is Made of... {Home}

We have the sweetest addition to our living space -- for zero dollars.

There are these incredibly special moments in life, and I think if we watch closely, we can spot them daily. I experienced one of these goosebumps-all-over moments on Sunday...

It came in the form of this sweet blue children's table and chair set.

After being overly disappointed over a lost opportunity - a wooden children's set sold right down the street at a garage sale that I may have missed by less than an hour - I was re-inspired to check Kijiji.ca and noticed this blue Ikea set for $20 (posted just 1 hour before).

This kind Dutch handyman was less than enthused to part with $20, due to this pricey season we are in, but sent this thrifty girl on her way to the seller's home.

Almost instantly regretting going to a stranger's home by herself, it was a wonderful, pleasant, happy surprise to recognize the seller - a woman from church. After a quick flushed explanation as to why we're hunting for a sweet little children's set, she waived the price, and sent this girl skipping home.

It has a bit of wear from the seller's 9- and 13-year-old children, from when they were young, but it's almost unnoticeable... plus, a little wear fits right in with this worn and imperfect couple. My handy-guy just tightened some of the screws and it feels solid and as good as new.

So, out of this city of 350,000, I went to this familiar home and was tremendously blessed and encouraged by the seller. 

I'm blown away, over and over, with how God doesn't cease to find the most unique ways to provide and show His grace... that yes, all of these things are important to Him too... and He's just eagerly waiting for another opportunity to give a gift. Even to this silly girl with her quirky escapades to create this meaningful home. A deep, beautiful reminder that nothing is unnoticed by Him.

Afters stowing the table and chair set in my SUV, the seller mentioned this old toy I may like to bring to our sweet 3- and 4-year-old. She said it was "old"... and I just love old toys from past generations. So I scooped up this Tinker Toy construction set too for no expense.

Beyond generous, yes?

I had to keep from speeding home to share with this kind handyman my "God story"... oh, and return his $20.

Here's how our living space is looking these days. One morning I was completely inspired to shift around all the furniture. Previous to this, our living room was quite furniture heavy, and while it worked well for the two of us, I realized quickly it wasn't compatible and accommodating for two little people and a few of their toys.

We have a small home, and no large playroom, so a small "kid zone" in the living room (so that we can all hang out and be preoccupied/stimulated) was just what this living space need.

Here's our living room before the shift:

And after:

We're digging the chaos this new set up... however, it's far from complete. I call it a "mock up" of what I'm looking to do here. For example, you see where the love seat is on the right, I hope to have two cozy accent chairs there. We need a new comfy rug (that's not brown), and include a very small coffee table that can be moved around easily. The side table in the far left corner must go (all furniture which is being moved out will become our basement furniture because it's still great stuff). I'm completely fine with the couch for now (plus, it's just way to expensive to purchase a new couch at this point).

And the biggest update this living room needs is more shelving. We'd love to surround that far window with shelves - perhaps 4-5 on each side. So that mirror will go and those two corner shelves with go. And we'll have wide/deep shelving for anything from toy storage to adult/children's books to decor.

I'm really looking forward to that. And I think it will be another great use of wall space - like we did in our tiny bathroom. We already have the shelving brackets which we purchased months ago from Ikea - so we're just on the hunt for shelving.

One final thought, while I avoid my to-do list for today, did you notice the children's pretend kitchen found a new corner, and has a few little additions... like this pretend food purchased from Amazon and given as a gift:

And this sweet dish towel from Grandma, who even made this girl a matching one for our big kitchen... this miniature dish towel has already dried a ton of clean dishes.

#grandmasrock.



I'm taking pictures of the vanity and toilet today... and hope to show you these updates this week.

But we have the craziest update of our lives happening on Friday - the children come to live with us full-time - so we will be busy-bees this week registering the oldest in school, tidying closets, and the basement, and so much more. So much to do, and it's only Monday, but this week feels terribly short.