"Hey hun? Where are you??" "I'm in the den!"

We love our house.  It is a very small house but we both feel that it has exactly the right amount of space for us.  We have been here for a year and a half and we have had 6 or 7 different layouts.  True to form, as soon as the new floor was in, the wheels started cranking and I needed an Ikea fix!!  After a very long day at the twins baptism, we packed the kids up and drove an hour to our closest Ikea.  We were about a quarter mile from the exit when we found out that here in DC, due to brush fires, the exit to Route 95 was closed?!?!  Brush fires in DC??  Must be the endtimes.

(Image credit: http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/ikea.jpg)

We could see the glorious blue sign on our left but we JUST...COULDN'T...GET....THERE!!  45 minutes and 2 miles later, we finally hit the motherload.  Did you know that you can get your meal for free this week if you spend over $100?  Swedish Meatballs!!!!!

Anyway, I have been envisioning a way to make our space work better for us.  We needed to get rid of some of our larger furniture pieces and scale down a bit to make the house look bigger.  I also wanted a space for Jason and I to sit and drink coffee while the kids run around like crazy animals.  I envisioned a quiet den with vault-like doors and a lock from the inside.  I envisioned a full coffee/wine/beer bar fully stocked at all times with every homebrew possible.  I envisioned a skylight, complete silence and access to every book every published in the history of earth.

This is close as I got to my vision:

Welcome to our Den!!!

And I LOVE IT!!!  I jumped out of bed this morning just to come down and see it!!  Okay that was a complete lie.  But as soon as I woke up, while being pummeled by 2 wrestling babies, it was the first thing on my mind and I was really looking forward to coming downstairs. 

Hopefully the novelty will wear off for them soon and they will get out of MY SEAT!!! 

Aside: The brush fires were due to some dry grass and super strong winds.  The winds were so strong that when Jason and I tried to wheel our carts to the van, we were pushed clear across the parking lot.  We regained control long enough to make it to the van but we were quickly losing our carts to the wind.

The poor guy and his wife in the car next to us decided to purchase a 6' x 4' painting.  Watching him try to carry the painting from Ikea to his car was like watching a wiffle ball try to stay stationary in a tornado.  After getting blown around like a rag doll he successfully made it to his car only to find out that the painting wouldn't fit!  He returned the painting and went home - thankfully in one piece!!