I’m slowly collecting awesomely embarrassing stories to remind Jude of when he’s a surly teenager.

Two nights ago, I’m in the bathroom, getting ready for bed. It’s about 10:45 and Jude’s been in bed for a few hours. I hear a creak on the stairs, indicating that someone upstairs is now coming downstairs. “Ugh,” I think to myself. “What is he doing awake?” Then I hear Simon say in a semi-panicked/concerned voice, “Jude, what are you doing?” As I come out of the bathroom, Simon is standing in a puddle in the front entryway, looking bewildered, shoulders shaking from laughter. Apparently our child is now a sleepwalker; he came downstairs and peed a gallon on our entryway rug. Then, he stumbled over to slack-jawed Simon, gave him a sweet hug, and went right back upstairs to his bed.

THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS, Y’ALL.

Kids, man. They just kill me. Life just gets a whole lot messier, you know? I’ve been unscientifically polling all of the mothers of boys that I know, and 100% agree: boys are messy. And keeping the bathrooms presentable is definitely a challenge, especially with boys. So it’s extra important to me that we have at least one bathroom that is always in guest-ready condition. Sometimes this happens, sometimes it doesn’t.  Seeing as how we do actually live in this house, the only bathroom of 3 that this pertains to is the powder bath.

God bless that little sweet powder bathroom.

I LOVE decorating powder baths. You can totally let your inner decorator play with color, print, etc. to your heart’s content. In our first house, I went crazy in our teeny tiny vintage powder bath by painting uber-bold black & white stripes on the walls. It was a total showstopper. And I’m sure eventually I’ll want to do something somewhat dramatic to our current house’s guest bathroom. But in the meantime, I’m loving the color of the wallpaper and the way the light fills up the room. I also love my Grandmother Blanche’s mirror that hangs over the vanity. It adds an extra depth to the room and I remember her every time I see it.

I also want certain rooms in my home to feel like a fabulous 4-star hotel.  It’s the things that make a truly memorable hotel room feel fresh & unspoiled: no clutter, sparsely yet tastefully decorated, fluffy towels, amazing linens, and good lighting. Clearing the clutter might be the biggest hurdle of all, but in the end, it’s worth it.

Are you good at keeping certain rooms of your house guest-ready at any moment? 

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