House Tour: Aunt Sister's small town TX casa

Hello readers!  I'm finally back from my (fattening) Christmas vacation in Texas and ready to get back to 'normal' life and of course back to blogging!  I have lots of great blog posting ideas that I hope to share in the coming weeks, but today I'm really inspired to share one of my favorite homes in the world with you, my Aunt Sister's little Texas retreat.

First of all I must explain the origin of my Aunt's title as 'Aunt Sister'.  She's my father's sister and growing up my sisters and I, hearing our dad refer to her as 'sister', began calling her Aunt Sister and it just stuck :).  So now that we've got that cleared up, let me tell you a little bit about Aunt Sister (AS).

Growing up, with my dad's meager salary as a pastor, clothes for four daughters wasn't really in the budget.  Enter AS.  She and Uncle Russell (UR) were our saviours from a social perspective, keeping us nicely clothed and groomed, so to them we are eternally grateful!! 

AS's homes have always been immaculate, stylish and completely organized!  I have always been inspired by her homes, previously a gorgeous ranch home in San Antonio and now, her 'retirement' home in a small town in the hillcountry of Texas. 

She and UR bought the home about six years ago when it was in a dilapidated and outdated state complete with kelly green carpets and pink wallpaper!  But of course AS has a great eye for potential so they snapped it up and set forth renovating.

And here's how it looks today - all dressed up for the holidays :).

AS is great at setting up little vignettes like this one (below) with a framed pic of my baby girl, a lamp and a vase of potpouri centered on an antique lace doily. 

Here's AS having a tea party with Lily on our recent visit, when these pictures were taken.

I love the 'cottagy' feel of her home, the soft color pallette, white beadboard, etc.  Here in the guest bath she hung vintage pictures alongside a round mirror framed in cork.

The main room in the home includes a living room with fireplace and a dining area.  Instead of utilizing the fireplace as it was intended, she framed out the inside with plyboard and painted it black.  This makes an excellent backdrop for candles, potted plants, or whatever else she feels like displaying.  The picture hanging above the couch was painted by one of her former students (she was a journalism teacher).  And that man sitting on the couch reading is my dad :).

Here's another picture of the main room, looking the other direction.  Don't you just love the original pine floors?!  She added built-in bookshelves to add interest and great storage space without taking up too much room in the small house. 

Here's the kitchen.  It's clean and functional and perfect for the small cottage.  These pictures, by the way, were taken without any prior notice. So she didn't have time to go around cleaning.  This is what it always looks like - immaculate!!

And here's a small dining space in the kitchen.  My mom painted the watercolor picture hanging on the wall.  The table was a 'found' object that my Aunt painted and put to good use.  She's always been great at repurposing and refinishing furniture!!

And here's a (very dark) picture of the master bedroom.  It's actually not dark at all, as you may be able to tell by the sunlight streaming in from the window.  It's a very tranquil and inviting space. 

And here's a picture of my Uncle's domain.  He has his own special room, a 'man cave' if you will, complete with TV, lazy-boy, and all the other necessities :).  He has always had his own room where he can display his trophies (he was a coach and a sport fisherman) and relax while watching football, etc. 

And here it is looking in the opposite direction.  Again, built-in bookshelves were added to create space-saving storage. 

Well, that concludes our home tour today.  I didn't get any pictures of her adorable guest room because my daughter was napping there during my photo shoot, and there are a few other rooms that didn't get included for one reason or another, but I hope the pictures I have included give you some idea of why I love AS's home so much. 

So thank you, AS, for sharing your home and thank you readers for viewing my blog :).  Have a happy day, friends!!