Thanks to a permanent duty assignment quickly followed by a (long) temporary one, the Lt and I were in temporary housing from November through May, including several weeks on the road driving across the country (and halfway back again), a delayed honeymoon (not, mind you, that I'm complaining about that week!), a month in a hotel on a Marine base in southern California, a trip back to the East Coast for Christmas, and our last living situation but one, a furnished apartment in a little city next to an Army post in southwest Oklahoma.
(for those of you keeping track of this sort of thing, this means that we were in temporary quarters – “perched,” as I like to call it – for seven months out of our first year of marriage!)
Now, to celebrate finally being settled (not just anywhere, either: we were assigned a beautiful house on base, five minutes from (and within view of!) the ocean!), I humbly present a look into some of my temporary homemaking strategies of the last few months.
I've learned that it doesn't take much in the way of things to make pretty much any place (yes, even a dingy hotel room) feel like home. Which is comforting, since while most families won't find themselves “perched” as long as we have, everyone needs a home, and I'm sure we're not the only ones who don't have all the things that we would like.
Please note: not only do we have seven months' worth of stuff packed in this car, but we have a clear view out the back window. Not that I'm bragging. |
We packed up a car's worth of stuff back in Virginia before the movers came to take everything else to storage; this represented everything we thought we'd need for the next seven months. (Luckily, I'd found a rooftop cargo carrier on craigslist; the packing space it added to our little SUV was clutch.)
This impulse runs in our family, I guess: we have to see if we can fit inside! |
Now, much of our packing space was taken up by Marine gear (goodness gracious, do you have any idea how much room umpteen pairs of combat boots and cammies take up? Let's just say the cargo carrier was not big enough for it all). We also needed to bring clothing, of course, and as we'd be encountering all four seasons while we were on the road, we had to bring everything from bathing suits to winter coats. (for the record: this was the one area where, despite my best efforts, I wish I'd packed less. It turns out you really just don't wear as many clothes as you think you will. Or at least we don't!)
My strategy for the rest was to think of each living area of the house, and what we would need to make any generic, inadequate, bland, and/or downright ugly version of that area feel (and, as much as possible, function) like home.
Having gone through this also helped when moving into our new house (while morning sick) to know that all we really needed at first was:
1. A made bed.
2. The wherewithall to cook and eat some dinner (knives and pans; paper plates will do until the real ones are unpacked).
3. A tablecloth on the table and a place to relax in the evening.
And then we could happily live like that until I had the energy to do anything more!
So, here's a sampling of what made it into the car:
1. Our own bedding. Really, everything. Pillows, comforter, mattress pad, sheets… This all smooshes down remarkably well (so it doesn't take up as much space as you think), and helps keep things in the back of the car from rattling over those 3000 miles. Most importantly, though, it replaces the woefully inadequate bedding that one encounters while perching. For instance, here is the bedroom of our Oklahoma apartment (which, you may recall, was furnished) when we moved in:
Does this look like a bed that you want to curl up in for a good night's sleep? Like the “inner sanctum” of a happy home? I don't think so.
Here is the same room with the addition of our own lovely bedclothes:
SO much better, right? I mean, the pillowcases are wrinkled, the dressers are still awful, and I'm clearly not going to win any decorating contests, but it's clean, comfortable, and pretty (the bedskirt just happened to match, which was a nice bonus). Besides, I simply love my duvet cover, and I was already going 7 months without my KitchenAid – there are only so many wonderful wedding gifts a newlywed girl can give up!
(When we spent the month in the hotel, I switched their bedding out for ours as well. The cleaning ladies were a little surprised at first, but soon got used to us.)
Speaking of KitchenAids…
Our Oklahoma kitchen when we first moved in. |
2. My own cooking equipment. Or at least, my pots and pans, knives, and cooking utensils. I love to cook (and eat!), and knew that it wouldn't feel like home for us unless I could fix up all sorts of hearty meals and tasty treats without being foiled at every turn by knives that aren't sharp, pans that burn dinner, and spatulas that bend where they're not supposed to!
It was well worth the space to have good tools to work with – and unlike our clothing, I used absolutely everything I brought (including my springform cake pan, which made it into the car only because the movers randomly decided not to put it in a box, and I couldn't bear to leave it behind). Plus, my bright red teakettle (not, it turns out, the easiest thing to pack, but for a very dedicated tea drinker like myself, a necessity!) makes any stovetop look cheerful.
It brightened up the hotel room's kitchenette as well! The worst part of perching is the feeling of unsettledness, and since we knew we needed to be there for a month, we really moved into that place, which was really little more than a bedroom. We cooked Thanksgiving dinner on that dinky little stovetop, and I even made caramels while we were there, to give as Christmas gifts! I imagine that was a first for that kitchenette. Again, I think the cleaning ladies thought we were cute, but a little crazy!
3. Finally, I tried to bring a few things – mostly textiles, which can be used to pack up other stuff, but also items like the little icon sitting on the stove above – to make our living spaces pretty. For instance, a pretty quilt from my sister-in-law spread over the back of the (frankly, hideous) sofa goes a long way towards making it look acceptable, and is so nice to have on hand when you want to curl up with a good book or movie!
Here's what our dining room looked like when we moved in:
Very bare, beige, brown (beige and brown were the themes of this apartment, for sure), and not particularly attractive. But add a colorful tablecloth and napkins, and poof!
It's a place for a lovely dinner at home! The flowers help, too: the roses are the tail end of a grocery-store bunch of roses, displayed in an empty curry jar – the same curry jar holding those white flowers (picked from the trees outside our apartment) in the picture at the top of the post. The paperwhites (which I love) are growing out of baking dishes.
I made very few purchases while we were in Oklahoma – I was on a strict “no acquisition of stuff” mission (everything had to fit back into our car, after all!). I did, however, buy a few inexpensive lamps at Wal Mart to supplement the harsh overhead lights, and got a small folding table to hold the microwave, thereby freeing up precious counter space in the kitchen. The table stayed with us, but the lamps were left with another perching family when we left.
So there you have it – it's not much, but it certainly helped! And, of course, now we are feeling very blessed (and spoiled) not only to have so much room but to know we are going to be in one place for a good long while. I'm sure that there are wiser and more experienced wives out there who have more and better ideas for making a place quickly feel like home. Do you have any tips to add, for me to store away for our next set of travels?
cindy says
I love how you transformed “blah” into “aaahhhh” – what is the garland over the bed, and then on the wall in the dining room made from? What a simple, but effective, accent piece! Thanks for sharing.
Rosie says
Thank you! I'm actually planning a post on that (very simple indeed) garland and a few other little decorating ideas, so… more on that very soon!
natashamlawler says
Can't wait to read the garland post–those made SUCH a lovely difference!!!
margo says
You're very plucky and cheerful! I like reading about how people make homes. I would add use-up-ables at every turn: flowers (which you did), candles, and pretty food. They don't have to be packed into the car again because you use them up, but while they're extant, they are fragrant, pretty, and homey.
stephanie says
Wow. Your temporary living is more well thought out and prettier than the house we've been in for 8 years! I can see how much you love your husband by making such a lovely home for him.
Rosie says
What a nice compliment! Thank you so much.
I will say that the Lt makes it easy by being an excellent appreciator and affirmer. He will literally notice and praise me for organizing a little corner. I'm a lucky girl!
Carol says
Rosie,
What a timely post for us! The packers arrive tomorrow and then we (my husband and I and our three kids 8, 6, 4) spend five days in little apartment here in Aberdeen, Scotland; fly to Los Angeles to stay with my mom for a week; then drive to the San Francisco Bay area to live in another small furnished apartment for at least a month, probably 6 weeks, until all of our stuff arrives and we can move into our house. Nothing like your 7 months. But, we are living out of suitcases, with one small air shipment sent to our apartment in SF, and you got me thinking about what else I might want to put in that shipment!! We have done this temp living before, when we moved from Calif to London, then when we moved from London to Aberdeen. I don't think I did such a great job of making a house feel like home, but we tried. The good thing is that the long stretch of apartment living comes right before moving into our house so I don't have to worry about not accumulating things (though I have to worry about it for other reasons 🙂 so I can begin to get some of the things that will be in our home (like a kitchen aid mixer!). But, maybe I should put some placemats and an icon in our air shipment….hmmmm I have to think about this during my last few hours before the packers arrive! THanks!
GinnySheller says
I very much loved all your pictures. There is something so fun about “before” and “after!” I am adding a red tea kettle to my want list. Actually I need a new kettle, because my children all want tea whenever I have it now, and my current kettle is too small!
bearing says
Weird. I think I used to live in your Oklahoma apartment, except mine was in Minnesota.
Clare says
I grew up in a military family; Mum always taught us that 'home is where you hang your hat'. We used to move every 2 to three years, but at one stage when my elder brother was very young, they were moved several several times in one year. I always knew wherever we lived was home because the saucepans were OUR saucepans and the linens were OUR linens. I went to boarding school and then university, and friends commented that wherever my room was, it was definately mine – I did it by keeping a box of photos and postcards that I stuck on whichever walls I had that year.
One day your own children will be grateful for your ability to make a home they recognise wherever God takes you all.
Cassandra says
The homiest dorm room [the ultimate in temporary living] I ever saw was one with touches of homemade. A rag rug, a few doilies, a homemade quilt, nice pillows…. Like you said, textiles make the biggest impact! That and a plant or two, they can be picked up cheaply and passed on when moving. I loved the red kettle!
Freckled Hen says
You are so smart and your pictures so inspiring. We have been a military family for 17 or so years and I cringe at my early moving and “perching” memories. I really didn't have a clue! I imagine you are a big inspiration to the other perchers around you. Congrats on the wee one!
My Daily Round says
I've never had to perch anywhere, except college, and that was a long time ago. I love how you use the littlest details, particularly ones of comfort, to turn your “perch” into a home.
Andrea says
Soo needy and inspiring. As a missionary who isn't stablished in a permament house this was perfect! Just pack the essentials, a clean uncluttered space really makes a home. Soon you realize you don't need all the stuff you left behind 🙂
Linda says
Thank you Rosie for this lovely post. You epitomise the the example of a newly married wife, making any abode into a home. Well done. These ideas are very timely for me, because after many, many years of blissful marriage in the one house, we are moving to another town. Our house here will be sold before my husband's transfer commences elsewhere, so we have to live in temporary accommodation for a few months. Your photos, example and words are an inspiration.
Roxie says
I spent many many years living in military housing. My husband a now retired Marine. I learned to use what I had in our homes. Some of the homes we lived it were very strange. In N. Carolina we lived in 'sub standard' housing for 2 years while more base housing was built. No air conditioner, no dishwasher, no dryer….
Anyway I learned to love each home after a while. I took fabric (often brought at thrift stores as clothes) and used liquid starch to stick it to the inside of the kitchen cupboards. (there was a frame around it, I used a razor to cut it to fit…when we had to leave a little soap and water and it came off…I then used the fabric for napkins at our next home.
Congratulations on your news, Hope you have many many wonderful years as a happy Marine wife. I did.
Sharon says
What great ideas you have! That garland is what always caught my eye and made things pop like something out of a designer magazine. Good job!
Rosie says
Thank you, everyone, for your encouraging words! I'm especially impressed that so many of you find yourselves in (or facing) similar “perching” situations – I hope that they go comfortably and quickly!
Glenda Childers says
I love this post. For 18 summer I lived in a tent with my husband and 2 kids (with 90 high school kids in their tents next to us.) I, too learned to make a home anywhere with the essentials for beautiful living. Great job creating a home for your family. And it was not really temporary living but REAL LIVING IN A TEMPORARY SPOT.
FONDLY,
Glenda
Jamie says
Bravo! I actually appreciate you showing how you made humble surroundings warm and welcoming. I think sometimes when looking at great homes and blogs we can forget that it took many many years to get that way. Most of us start out in places like the one you are in and we are looking for ways to make our homes special on small budgets in small spaces. Great job!
Liz says
So fun to see all your little touches! We are in limbo right now, living where we have for 3 years, but getting ready for a move to Costa Rica for a year, and then on to Honduras. Thanks for the thoughts on perching! I am going to need it!
Cinnamon says
I really enjoyed your post. Our oldest son is U.S Marine and just moved his family (one sweet baby) from WA to CA. I love how you've decorated so simply and made your “home” so inviting ~
Blessings on your home as well as your travels 🙂 ~Cinnamon
Mary says
Hi Rosie! So happy that you will be in one place for a while. My husband was a Naval Aviator for 12 years and we moved across country three times and up and down the East Coast 6 times. We never stayed longer than two and a half years. The trick to making a house a home for me was color. In most base housing we could paint the walls. I took full advantage of that in every home we lived in. I also used fabric to brighten furniture that had been bought form flea markets, painted furniture picked up at Goodwill and spent may hours sewing pillows, curtains, baby bedding etc. For me and my family, the kitchen and the main living area were the most important spaces since as an officers wife I entertained regularly. I can't wait to see all of your little touches. Now that we own our one home I am always looking for simple, thrifty colorful ideas that can really enhance our space.
Blessings and grace to you, your LT and beautiful little gift on the way.
Angela says
LOVED this post! What great ideas and inspiration! Thank you!
Pam says
Hi, we've done the perch twice & will be doing it again in a few weeks. We were really not prepared the first time so I took a lot of “decorations”. That box got mixed up w/ a box of books & games. We were astonished that we never missed the knick knacks-everyone was marveling over new wonders-rocks, leaves, flowers, postcards. We use silk flower wreaths, sheets of poster board covered w/ memory-bilia (family photos, letters, holy cardsb'day cards) & icons to personalize our space. We also have collected mini flags, inserted in glass jars. Thanks for your post, I enjoyed your charming ideas!
Sarah says
I loved this post! I haven't yet had to “perch” for the amount of time or reasons that you did, but as a still newish-wife and mother dealing with apartment living and a tiny budget, it's great to be reminded of what simple things go the farthest toward making any space (especially a small one!) into a home. Please let us see the inside of your new house someday, too! I like your style.
Giovanna says
loved this post, and I wish I had been aware that one can make a home with next to nothing when I first started living alone and during our first year(s) of marriage when I sometimes felt discouraged for not being able to decorate and to stay put. Many moons later I know better. Last year, we moved across the ocean and had to wait 3 months for our shipment to arrive (five 20kg suitcases was all we could take with us) and I made sure the children took favorite meaninful light items with them (like a special pillow case); I took some pretty pictures, one table cloth, flower vase, my silver salad serving pieces (we eat green salad every single day after all), the iron (!), our cutlery set and napkin rings, some of our bedding,… My husband first felt that this was weird, but was actually grateful afterward.
Marie Cantu says
Annie Triolo just gave me this link, and I feel so much better about our little apartment now!! Tim and I just moved into our new place, which is a basement-level tiny two bedroom, and I nearly cried when we walked in. It looked so dreary! The first thing I did was take a deep breath, unpack my (also bright red) tea kettle, and put it on the stove. It's slowly, slowly getting there – we're looking for furniture now :). Thanks for writing this, it really helped me put our situation in perspective; we get to be here for at least 6 months, which sounds like a lot now :). God bless, Rosie!
Rosie says
Thank you, I'm so glad! You know when we moved into our first apartment right after our wedding, there were boxes EVERYWHERE, and it was a pretty tablecloth that, if I remember correctly, your mother gave me that went over the table and made it feel like home that first night.
sibyl says
Such a great post. i love before and after pictures. (Why is it my house is still in the before phase?)
I think a tablecloth is the thing that makes my home look civilized. Also, no extra food and kitchen items stored in sight on top of the mounted cabinets — only pretty and useful things that are too big to fit anywhere else. For years my tall husband would store extra boxes of cereal and chips, bags of nuts, mixers, empty reusable beer bottles (homebrew), and other unsightly things up there. It makes the whole kitchen look like a gas station. So a year ago or so I just put my pretty little foot down and stashed them elsewhere, putting up above a large platter that is quite nice and a cheap but sweet breakfast tray up there. Huge difference.
ted says
It looks so good I am coming with two children and staying a week !!
Rosie says
You do realize that we don't live there anymore, right Dad? You all definitely would not have fit into our apartment in Oklahoma… luckily we have more room for you here in CA!
Bernadette says
I love reading all these comments – we have done our share of 'perching'.
The only thing I would add is that I would take a small spray bottle of perfume and spray the light bulbs,
and take some pretty pot pourri sachets to tie on the door knobs, bedhead or wherever, to give the room
a light ambience. Easy to make, light to pack.
And…………a crucifix was always in our hand baggage too, the centre of our home.
Adrianne says
A post i really needed to read. We just moved into a fully furnished 50+ year old home and some of the stuff comes from a timeline I wasnt even born in. It is my husbands grandparents home and while it is fun to sort through some of the older pieces, having to sort through 2 and half bedrooms full of old stuff is going to be a challenge (our room which is mostly clear still has half a dresser and wardrobe full of old linens and who knows what else). Ive struggled to feel like our new home is home because of the overwhelming nature of it all. Thanks for reminding me that any little change, even places some flowers in an old jar can make any place feel more like home 🙂
Lorraine says
I remember that tablecloth!!
Rochelle says
Rosie, What lovely ideas! You did this traveling “perching” time so well!
My husband is currently a student and we were blessed with TWO summer internships this past summer in two separate cities (both a days journey from our own).
We moved out of our old home (basement appartment) in May with a 2 month old and a 2 year old (!!) and moved 7 hours away to a rental (furnished) house that was very dark and even un-holy (sad art and idols) and tried to make that a happy home for 6 weeks. The first thing to go was the art; how I wish I'd thought to bring some of my own linens!! Honestly though, with 4 people, a stroller and all the clothes, plus my husband's dress clothes, there really was very little space. I did bring my Britta filter and french press coffee maker though. 🙂 Thankfully the lady had a fairly well-stocked kitchen.
We then spent 6 weeks with my in-laws which was a lovely blessing and very little of our own was needed, though just having a candle or two and the babies blankets and books made our bedrooms feel more like our own.
I also LOVE your duvet; what pattern/set is that?!?
natalie says
i love your duvet as well! been hunting around for a new one for months and can't find a better pattern than yours! where is it from? i'm sure it's unaviable at this point, but i'd love to know brand all the same:)
_Rosie says
Thanks, Natalie and Rochelle — I love it, too! My husband surprised me with it as a wedding gift after tracking it down when he saw a little picture of the pattern that I had clipped out of a magazine. I don’t know where he got it, exactly, but it’s made by John Robshaw (http://www.johnrobshaw.com). I don’t think that particular pattern is available anymore, but he has all sorts of other linens that are pricey but beeeautiful!
Hollie says
I have been reading your blog and it is so inspiring as I am starting out as a new wife!!! Can I ask where you found such a beautiful duvet cover? We have been looking for a blue one in a similar style and all I see out there is modern, geometric stuff . . .
Rosie says
Thanks, Natalie and Rochelle — I love it, too! My husband surprised me with it as a wedding gift after tracking it down when he saw a little picture of the pattern that I had clipped out of a magazine. I don’t know where he got it, exactly, but it’s made by John Robshaw (www.johnrobshaw.com). I don’t think that particular pattern is available anymore, but he has all sorts of other linens that are pricey but beautiful!
I’d also keep my eyes peeled at TJMaxx/Marshalls/Homegoods. They’re the best for finding pretty things!