Today I’m thrilled to introduce you to  Tracey Chalk of Chalkboard Living.  Besides being all around lovely, Tracey is a mom (I mean “mum”) to three little beauties and lives in one of my all time favorite places in the world . . . England.  In fact, we have been chatting about very important British business, like whether the milk goes in before or after the tea?  Having three little ones, I knew Tracey would have no shortage of messes.

Be sure to check out Chalkboard Living which was recently re-designed and has some really beautifully photographed features like, Our House, My Room + Family Hour.  I know you’ll love them.

My lounge. My lounge gets a lot of use and is often the first place the kids go and take their toys. My house is a toy fest. I find animals and characters everywhere, constantly! The kids have a playroom but they like to load up bags and walk around the house playing everywhere. Tonight I intend to find every animal and figure in this room and revert it back to an adult space again. I like sharing the house with the kids. At the moment there is no room they cannot spend time in but i must admit it’s nice when i don’t have to clear out toys from every room so we might consider putting a TV and changing the playroom around in the future to stop them hanging around in here so much! I’d like this room just to be for special film time together.

My lounge bookcase in particular needs a real sort. From a distance it looks ok but when you get up close it needs sorting! We recently painted in here and everything got stacked on the shelves. The magazines really need editing out and stacking neatly as do the books. When we moved in the wall wasn’t flush all the way along and was an odd space to style so we had these bookcases made to fit. They are fab for organising as there is so much room for storage.

The Playroom. I tend to only tidy this once a week and just shut the door on the mess in the mean time. It seems like a fruitless task to do it every day. You tidy and the next second it’s messy again. Once a week seems like a good compromise!

Simple. Love more, worry less. I’m pretty laid basck about things and i think it makes me a happier person. There’s nothing that doesn’t have silver lining to it somewhere.

Want to know more about Tracey’s mess?

LIGHT FIXTURE →  John Lewis 
BIRD PILLOW → Lathams Home ( my favourite local interiors shop)
FAVORITE BOOK ON SHELF → This week i have loved looking at Family Life Style Home by Anita Kashaul + Water Light Time by David Doubilet
TOY ANIMALS →  Schleich +  some were mine as a child.
1920’s VINTAGE CHAIR → was my Great Uncle’s. I have loved it since i was a child. It is my favourite piece of furniture.

What about you lovelies, do you kids drag toys into every room of the house?  Or have you found a way to contain it?  Any tips or tricks you want to share?  I still don’t have the answer on this one.

This week messes are abounding at my house as we are going to do a garage sale.  However,  I think I’m going to try to think on Tracey’s words all week, “Love more, worry less.” So simple yet so wise!

images Tracey Chalk