At Home With Jessica Kraus

Our next room tour guest is Jessica Kraus, from House of Habit. She is here to share her boys' room with us!

"We

live in a two story Spanish track home inside a new community aimed at

younger families with school-aged children. The house we are in now is

not what we would call our 'dream home' (or location), but it is a great

neighborhood seeing that it has a few really nice parks, a pool and

clubhouse. And it hosts all kinds of fun family events and holiday

gatherings that enforce an old school sense of community sharing that so

many neighborhoods seem to be lacking these days. It's the best part

about where we live, and for that we feel entirely grateful. Plus, we are

close to both sides of our family, and with three boys we need all the

help we can get!"

"My

favorite part of their room would have to be the wood/pipe shelving

unit my husband built and designed to offer up enough space for toys,

books, crafts, and homework for the boys to enjoy. The wood planks are

handpicked from an old building renovation in downtown L.A., where he was

working at the time. The wood and pipe were all free, so we decided to

make the most of it seeing that it cost us almost nothing in material.

The planks are a good tone, aged and worn to perfection, so we

experimented with quite a few sealers beforehand to ensure the original

tone and texture were not compromised in the sealing process. We wanted

it smooth to the touch, but rugged to the eye. It involved a lot of

sanding and a lot of sealing, but the end result was well worth it. It's

a favorite spot for homework and doodling. It's also it's fun to

decorate with rotating trophies, maps and toys. I tend to switch things

up a lot, so shelves are always a good option."

"We

have lived in this house a little over 6 years. It was a big change for

us to go from the tiny old house we restored as a new couple to a

bigger tract home with a newly expanded family. Initially I felt very

confused as to how to cozy up such a stark space. A track home really

tested my basic decor skills. Took me a long while to feel inspired.

Things that worked and felt effortless in our old house felt odd or out

of place here. I think it forced me to refine my natural (more eclectic)

taste and move towards a slightly more modern aesthetic. Less clutter.

More bold accents and cleaner lines. However, we did rip out most of

the standardized features the house came with, replacing them with some

of what we admire in older homes. Wide wood planked floors, subway tile,

bigger molding, arched doorways, ect. The boy's room is a fair example of our current style—lots of natural reclaimed wood coupled with some basic (affordable) Ikea pieces and lots of vintage accessories to break it up and add personality."

"The

room was originally our master bedroom. When we had our third boy I

started to see that there was really no benefit in us having the larger

space, we don't spend much time in our room, plus I started seeing that

the older they got, the more the boys wanted to be together all of the

time anyway. Separate rooms seemed pointless, and the master bathroom

closet and bathroom attached seemed to make more sense for the three of

them to share than us. After some hard fought convincing on my end, we

moved into a smaller room and started to combine the boy's things,

making sure it felt age appropriate for the three of them (ages 2, 4, 6).

The bunkbed we bought was a cheap buy, so it didn't last long. Until we

decide to build something solid to replace it with, we just tossed the

broken bed frame and pushed a twin mattress underneath as a makeshift

trundle for the time being. It's not the prettiest thing in the world,

but for now it's working. We try to keep things simple and fun for them.

We all hang out in there so comfort over style always wins. The boys

love pulling their bed around the room. I've even seen it serve as a

couch when friends are over watching movies or playing games. I think

they'll actually be disappointed when the time comes for a proper bed

frame. But I'm always up for another project."Thank you, Jessica, for sharing your home with us!  Be sure to stop by Jessica's blog House of Habit and her teepee shop on Etsy!