The first issue we had was trying to carve out a home office space for me. I had actually tried setting up a desk before, but never ended up using it--partially because it faced the wall in our dining room. So we moved the desk to our bedroom and I’ve been using it as a vanity instead. Then I got a new job that allows me to work from home a lot more often (yay!), and we quickly realized that the sofa or the dining table were not going to be long-term solutions for full work days. So we moved that desk back out of the bedroom, but this time, we put it in the living room in front of the biggest windows we have. I’m optimistic that I’ll like this situation a lot better!

The second issue was that we didn’t have enough seating in our living room, especially comfortable seating. Bringing this loveseat out from the back room solved that…and I have to admit, although it isn’t the prettiest piece of furniture I’ve ever seen, it is quite comfy. And it looks better than I’d expected! I’m glad I held off on putting it on Craigslist, after all.

These updates created some domino effects in the rest of our house, which all turned out really positive as well. We ended up cleaning, reorganizing, and rearranging almost every room of the house! It was long overdue and felt SO GOOD.

I have to admit that I tend to caught up in trying to “curate” the way my house looks, sometimes sacrificing function or comfort in the effort to make our house pretty. But this book really inspired me to remember that it’s our home, not a styled showroom, so function and form have to go hand in hand. A beautiful room is not homey if it fails to function well. And the reverse is also true--a functional room is not homey if it doesn’t reflect your style.

So there you have it--my "inspired room!" If you’d like, you can share your own inspired room for a chance to win a $300 Anthropologie gift card. Get the details here!

It’s November, which means it’s officially socially acceptable to start talking about Christmas! Right? I actually prefer to keep our house decorated for fall until after Thanksgiving, but this year I’m participating in the Michaels Dream Tree Challenge--so I made an exception. We have a small place and not a lot of room to store seasonal decorations, so I resisted buying a bunch of ornaments. Instead, I had the idea to trim our tree with some DIY garlands, made out of various forms of white paper. It turned out really pretty, and each of these garlands is super budget-friendly, easy to make, and uses basic supplies that you likely already have. Ready to see how our tree turned out??

It’s simple, neutral, and a little Scandinavian-inspired. I like it a lot.

We started with this gorgeous 7 ft pre-lit tree from Michaels, which was easy to assemble and made the perfect blank canvas. Our ceilings are only 7 ft tall, so it was just the right size (barely), leaving no room for a tree topper. Psst: You can get get FREE shipping on all 6 ft or taller trees until November 14th on Michaels.com.

To decorate the tree, I used three different types of paper decor: a garland made from unfolded mini white cupcake liners, white tissue paper tassels, and 3D paper snowflakes that I saved from a couple years ago.

They’re all really easy to make, but a little time-consuming--the perfect type of projects for multi-tasking while watching a show. If you look up tissue paper tassels or cupcake liner garlands, you can find plenty of tutorials, and I already did a tutorial for the snowflakes here, so I decided not to shoot any photos of the process. Partially because I made these last week while I was sick, drinking tea, lounging on our sofa, and watching movies. Not exactly the perfect setup for DIY photos. :)

In addition to the paper decorations, I wrapped a wood bead garland around the tree to add a different element that still fit in with the simple, neutral theme. I guess I’ve really been loving neutral decor and wood beads for every holiday lately!

I also gave our mantel a little winter makeover, with these darling ceramic houses, bottle brush trees, and miniature deer (all from Michaels).

And that’s it! Whether you think it’s still too early to decorate for Christmas or not, it’s never too early to start gathering inspiration. So make sure you visit Michaels’ blog, The Glue String, for more dream holiday trees created by the rest of the Michaels Makers! Plus, check out some of their ornament projects and tutorials.

Thanks to Michaels for partnering with me on this post.

Hey guys! Sorry it was such a quiet week here. I’ve had a lingering cold all week long and it’s been draining my energy. But I’m starting to feel a little better now, finally. And I have a number of posts lined up for next week, so hopefully that makes up for it! But first, today I thought I’d share a few of my favorite Instagrams from October. Because the month is basically over, can you believe it??

We came back from vacation at the beginning of October and had a few days to recover, reminisce about our trip, and catch up on sleep before heading back to work--new jobs for both of us.

Fall was in full swing when we got back to Seattle, and the very first weekend we were back, we had a “family fall fun day" complete with pumpkin patching and homemade faschnauts (hot and fresh doughnuts, basically the same as beignets--so good).

Ben and I got some cool new wood watches from JORD. I got this one and Ben got this one. It’s the first watch I’ve owned since high school!

I picked up several new interiors books this month, including The Inspired Room, which officially launches on November 1st! It’s by one of my favorite bloggers (who also happens to be from Seattle), Melissa Michaels.

And of course, you may remember that I got to be part of The Shopkeeper’s Home blog tour--see my post here.

This month, I did all the classic fall things, like jump into a pile of leaves for the sake of a photo...

And take creepy pictures of my neighbor’s cute porch. Wait, that’s a normal fall activity, right?

We also went to Whidbey Island one weekend in October. We’ve done this several times now, where we serve as camp cooks at a high school church retreat. It’s nice because several of our friends who we don’t see that often also go to serve, so we get to catch up with them, stay there for free, and explore the island during our break time.

I really wanted to see a dahlia farm while we were on Whidbey Island, but the best we could find was this cottage with a garden full of dahlias. There was also a farm next door that let us walk around. They had turkeys and chickens, goats, and a barn full of freshly picked corn and pumpkins!

Last but not least, I’ve been doing a lot of crafting this week, getting ready for my next Michaels Makers post! You’ll see the results very soon.

How was your October?? Do you have big plans for this weekend/Halloween?
Wooden Wrist Watch

I’m so excited to be starting the week with a fun giveaway! We Are Knitters is an international knitting brand based in Madrid, Spain. They sell a variety of DIY knitting kits, which make it super easy for you to pick up knitting for the first time or get started with a new project: you just choose a pattern (you can sort by level of difficulty), pick the colors you want, and they take care of the rest. Their supplies are great quality too--beechwood needles and 100% Peruvian wool or Pima cotton in an array of beautiful colors. Today, I’ve teamed up with them to give away a DIY kit to one of you! The winner will get to choose whichever kit he/she wants, up to a $150 value. And I also have a 15% off coupon code (so everyone's a winner!) which you can use until December 1st: ATHOMEWITHWAK. Enjoy :)

You could make yourself a cozy beanie...

A chunky scarf...

A soft and snuggly blanket...

Matching sweaters for you and your bestie...

Or a cute pillow (oh la la!)

Ready to win? Enter using the Rafflecopter below, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to We Are Knitters for partnering with me on this post.