M is For Mama - where quiver full meets Pinterest

[Anonymousguest]

1 hour ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

Nothing about her decor style is in any way personal. It looks like a magazine photo shoot.  It is completely Pinterest-worthy, but devoid of all those little touches that signal "this" is the family who lives here, "this" is who we are

Which it's made clear by the fact that she would sell the entire contents of the house when she left it. My house is a mess and definitely not Pinterest or Instagram worthy, but almost every item* I have was carefully selected and i LOVE it. 

*I mean art work/decor and all major furniture and rug pieces, not the random stuff that just shows up over the years of many people living in a house. Sometimes I fantasize about just leaving my house and all the clutter behind and starting new, lol. 

[luv2laugh]

Every single photo of the decor in the rooms in the last house she sold for $565k (like 80ish pics?)  is on Zillow. Admins, delete link if listing is not ok but since it's public I will link it:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1699-County-Road-3-5-Jacksonville-TX-75766/112312172_zpid/

Apparently she is also BFFs with Mandy B, the blogger of Biblical Homemaking. She is the curly redhead exercise addict with 7 kids too, who runs in the same circle as Courtney of Women Living Well and Candace Cameron Bure's blogging friends crowd. 

[TuringMachine]

1 hour ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

Totally BEC, but who names their son Honor.  It's a girl's name and an obscure one at that. And what's with this girls and boys dorm room thing fundies do?  So the 12-year old shares a room with his not quite 2 year old brother?

She posted the floor plans here: http://misformama.net/2016/04/our-house-layout.html
It looks like the toddlers have a "nap room" cause I guess toddlers need TWO bedrooms? I'm hoping it actually works out the toddlers just always sleep there.

2 hours ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

Given she's only mid 30s, I expect her to pop out at least 2-4 more children before she's done

Speaking of, she's about due to announce another new blessing.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Jeez. So her house is enormous.

She has 6 bedrooms plus a nursery.

2 laundry rooms. 

3 studies.

5 bathrooms.

2 family rooms.

1 dining room large enough to seat 12 on a regular basis. 

1 eat in kitchen for 7.

1 work shop.

1 sun room.

And many closets.

 

[luv2laugh]

They are blowing cash away and most likely, living above their means unless he inherited money or something. Good luck paying for college tuition for 7+ kids.

Sure, he may make 75k at his "day job" and bring in ~120k at the most (?) from his side gig but that is still not feasible for the lifestyle they are trying to achieve with 7+ kids unless they plan on remaining in rural east texas and not paying for college.

Again, my cousin that is a senior software developer at a hedge fund makes around ~275k in the city and he does not live in a mansion. The people that I know that live in mansions are partners at big firms that are bringing in over 1 mil annually for over a decade. 

I know I'm BEC all over here but I just don't like how fake she is. She's ALL ABOUT throwing in comments like "cheapo lamp I got", "excuse the pile of laundry over here", "styling it up in Goodwill clothes!", "makeshift bench" while capturing it under a picture focusing on one of her chandeliers. She deliberately makes comments like this to justify her thrill of showing off her fancy things. She posts pictures of her with 7 kids, basically everyday, to show off "look at how put together we all are despite our BIG family!".

[Anonymousguest]

1 minute ago, luv2laugh said:

They are blowing cash away and most likely, living above their means. Good luck paying for college tuition for 7+ kids.

My guess is they have no intention of paying college tuition. 

I don't like the layout of the house. Mainly how the entry way is straight into the living room. And the study/office/bedroom downstairs just looks a mess. Also upstairs the kids bedroom is open to the nursery, which goes into the master closet and then master bedroom. I would never want my bedroom open to the kids bedrooms! There is a lot of wasted space upstairs. 

I had kids of a wide age range in a room together because I had no other choice and I really hated it. I'd much rather have several smaller bedrooms. 

 

[Pecansforeveryone]

I second the notion that they have no intention of paying for college, especially not for daughters. She seems to mention everything but a college fund so I assume the silence means there is no such thing. Oh, I was wondering, has she ever mentioned tithing? That would be 10% of their income gone right there. Oh course, the church can't make you, and they very likely might give minimally to their church. Either they are "taking money from their children to give to their church or they are withholding their godly due (according to many fundie churches) from their church." 

[Coy Koi]

Way too much decor with writing on it. "Inspirational" sayings, random words, stupid shit. I counted like three different things that just say "Hello". Like, okay, hi, damn.

Then this long-ass thing way up by the ceiling, that's just stupid. Are people supposed to stand there craning their necks to read it all?

Spoiler

I like some of her decorating but the annoyingness of it is overpowering.

[JillyO]

I agree, I like a lot of the individual pieces in the old house, but there's just WAY TOO MANY of them. It's completely overpowering and makes me kind of dizzy just looking at the pictures. No way would I want to live there.

That said, I think she has been doing much better with their new house. There's still too much going on for my own taste, but she has toned it way down from the old house.

[luv2laugh]

Again, I am going to be honest. I do not like her but I'd hire her for interior decorating. She's extremely talented and I'm surprised interior decorating wasn't her major. I'm very jealous.

I think it's ridiculous that she does not give tips on how to repeat the "look" of the decor. She only takes pictures to show off the decor & designs but does NOT get into advising followers on achieving the same aesthetic. 

[feministxtian]

I can't stand that Pintrest shit. All the shit that we've lugged from house to house and across the damn country are things that MEAN something. I have a couple of paintings that a friend of my mother's did for her, the champagne glasses that my parents used at their wedding and hubs and I used at ours (will be sent to #1 daughter for her upcoming wedding), stuff that I had given my aunt that she treasured and I took back when she went in a nursing home, stuff we've bought together. There's a story behind damn near EVERYTHING in my house. Now, once we move into another HOUSE, some of the furniture will find new homes with other people, but the things that mean something will stay. My kids have already put dibs in for a lot of it and I may give it to them soon. #1 daughter just bought a house so she'll be in one place for a good little while (she swears she will never move or buy another house as long as she lives). #1 son is going to start house shopping later this year, so I'll see what he wants (probably some of my father's stuff) and #2 son is still in the apartment hopping stage of life so I won't be sending him anything until he finally settles down (could be awhile). 

But, all that junk (my grandmother called them "dust collectors") is NOT my thing. I prefer a much more minimalist approach to decorating. Clean lines, lots of open floor and wall space...necessary for my mental health and well being. I'd rather have ONE nice piece of art than all that Hobby Lobby shit. 

[hoipolloi]

Her houses look like a real estate staging company furnished them. Some of the stuff is OK but taken together it just looks fake as hell.

[nastyhobbitses]

I half kinda like the patterns and colors she goes for (I just did a major Ikea haul yesterday and my apartment's aesthetic/color scheme is now firmly settled on "Malibu Barbie calmed the fuck down a little" -- clean lines with pops of bold summery pinks, greens, and blues, decor mainly a combo of Ikea and stuff I've bought while traveling; most of my art is my collection of free tourist maps from different cities I've visited), and half think that it's too much and there's no individuality or anything that suggests that an actual person lives in the house (I also have a moral opposition to Hobby Lobby Word Decor). If you want to see clean lines with maximalist details done really, really fucking well, look at the Apartment Therapy profile of Jerrod Blandino, the founder of Too Faced Cosmetics. 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

22 hours ago, Anonymousguest said:

My guess is they have no intention of paying college tuition

Oh yes x1000. 

Not because they will expect the children to get loans/scholarships and pay for themselves.  Oh No.  My guess is they won't ALLOW the children, not even the boys, to go to college.  Because .... reasons ... and ... and .... Jesus. 

Oh and kids -- pay Absolutely. No. Attention. to the fact both your parents went to college. As well as your grandmother... you know the woman who worked as a teacher all your mother's life and then was your homeschool teacher.

Yep college... bad, bad, very bad. Put it right out of your mind.

[feministxtian]

@nastyhobbitses IKEA is my crack! And...we're moving back down to the part of town where it will be about 15 minutes from us. My online shopping list is running about 5 grand right now. I'm all about the simplicity and clean lines of IKEA furniture. I have their cookware (excellent shit for great prices), dishes, bookcases, tables, chairs and desks right now. When we move out of here (hopefully about mid-August), I'll be unloading most of the crap in this place, keeping only the things that have meaning (hubs would beg to differ on my books but that's an old argument he lost years ago). I want to start over...my tastes have changed over the years and the older I get the more I find I prefer simplicity and minimalist decor. Now, if only I could get that minimalist approach to shoes and bags!!! I do a purge of my closet and dresser about every 6 months and use that as an excuse to be a one woman economic stimulus package...

[nastyhobbitses]

29 minutes ago, feministxtian said:

@nastyhobbitses IKEA is my crack! And...we're moving back down to the part of town where it will be about 15 minutes from us. My online shopping list is running about 5 grand right now. I'm all about the simplicity and clean lines of IKEA furniture. I have their cookware (excellent shit for great prices), dishes, bookcases, tables, chairs and desks right now. When we move out of here (hopefully about mid-August), I'll be unloading most of the crap in this place, keeping only the things that have meaning (hubs would beg to differ on my books but that's an old argument he lost years ago). I want to start over...my tastes have changed over the years and the older I get the more I find I prefer simplicity and minimalist decor. Now, if only I could get that minimalist approach to shoes and bags!!! I do a purge of my closet and dresser about every 6 months and use that as an excuse to be a one woman economic stimulus package...

Haha, I live 15 minutes by bus from IKEA, and it's my favorite place to go on a Saturday when I have nothing to do! Obviously I'm limited by what I can carry onto the bus and lug home unless I buy online, but I've had some pretty fantastic hauls. I love their rugs and storage/organizer stuff, and the one I live near also has a good plants section. I've just added Mark Succulentburg and Warren Peace Lily to my plant-quiver, and now I'm trying to figure out if a KALLAX would look right in my entryway. 

[feministxtian]

@nastyhobbitses I am going to look into their storage solutions after we move...try to put some order into the mess of stuff we've kept but don't have room for in an apartment. I also need something to organize the pantry because it's a disaster right now...but we're not really stocking back up so there's less shit to haul when we move. Once we move I'll take a day to do a monster "stock-up" shopping trip (and after it cools off because my ass ain't driving across town in desert summer heat). 

I got hooked on IKEA when we lived in Gilbert AZ, there was an IKEA in Tempe, about 20 minutes from our house. When we lived in VA, the nearest one was in Potomac Mills, near DC, a 3+ hour drive away. The one here opened maybe 2 years ago? It's located right off the beltway that goes around the city so it's REAL convenient! 

I have almost NO self control in IKEA...it's like shoes, only worse. (hubby agrees and won't let me go alone)

[nastyhobbitses]

@feministxtian They have some great plastic containers with pour spouts in the lids that I use for oatmeal, couscous, and lentils (I prefer the OXO popper top containers for sugar and flour), and just general tupperware type containers that I use for my pantry and meal prep. I got a huge pack for 97p (which I guess would be a bit over $1 US). I'm a bit limited in what I can get for storage since my apartment came furnished and I have limited space, but I can't stop buying their plastic storage tubs. I use them both for storing stuff (it's saved a lot of space in my closet) and for sous vide cooking. I think the next storage item I want is a shelving unit to go against a wall in my living room so I can have somewhere nice for my books (the storage unit that came with my apartment is too short to store the books upright, so they're stacked horizontally right now and I hate the look). 

[feministxtian]

5 minutes ago, nastyhobbitses said:

I think the next storage item I want is a shelving unit to go against a wall in my living room so I can have somewhere nice for my books (the storage unit that came with my apartment is too short to store the books upright, so they're stacked horizontally right now and I hate the look). 

I have a bookshelf that is divided into like squares...it's about 6' long (2 meters-ish) and about 7' high. Lemme see if I can find it in the website and I'll post the link for you. It would work up against a wall REALLY well!

This is similar to what I have for books

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00324491/

[Briefly]

16 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

I half kinda like the patterns and colors she goes for (I just did a major Ikea haul yesterday and my apartment's aesthetic/color scheme is now firmly settled on "Malibu Barbie calmed the fuck down a little" 

I love the way you described it!

I have been to IKEA exactly once, when I went to visit my sister last year. She lives in Georgetown, TX (near Austin) and we always shop a lot.  We went to IKEA so she could run in and grab something quickly and I think we were in there about 3 hours.  I wish we had one near us, but then maybe I don't really! If I had been driving and not flying, I would have bought so much!

[hoipolloi]

53 minutes ago, Briefly said:

I have been to IKEA exactly once, when I went to visit my sister last year. She lives in Georgetown, TX (near Austin) and we always shop a lot.  We went to IKEA so she could run in and grab something quickly and I think we were in there about 3 hours.  I wish we had one near us, but then maybe I don't really! If I had been driving and not flying, I would have bought so much!

They don't have a store near me & it's probably a very good thing -- for the reasons cited above.

Re: M for Mama's decorating skills. Had a pedicure today & they always have the Lifetime movie channel on there. Saw this Wayfair ad and all I could think of was M for Mama, swiping her phone & having all that stuff suddenly materialize in the house!

 

[Demonfan]

I don't care for her decorating style, but that's ok. I do feel sad for the children if they will not be able to pursue what careers they wish.

[Anonymousguest]

8 hours ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

Oh yes x1000. 

Not because they will expect the children to get loans/scholarships and pay for themselves.  Oh No.  My guess is they won't ALLOW the children, not even the boys, to go to college.  Because .... reasons ... and ... and .... Jesus. 

Oh and kids -- pay Absolutely. No. Attention. to the fact both your parents went to college. As well as your grandmother... you know the woman who worked as a teacher all your mother's life and then was your homeschool teacher.

Yep college... bad, bad, very bad. Put it right out of your mind.

There are lots of fundies who intend for their children to go to college, they just expect their kids to find alternative ways to pay for it. I hear it all the time in big homeschooling families, who may technically not be fundamentalist. But they just can't afford to pay for their kids college. Some think it's better for the kids pay and just don't feel like it's the parents responsibility. I also know plenty of parents of 1 or 2 kids who also can't afford to send their kids to college, to be fair.

[Pecansforeveryone]

I think there is a little truth to fundies being cautious about college debt. College, truly, isn't for everyone. So no sense, for that personn to possibly accrue college debt.  Same thing, for homeschooling. Some children, due to health issues or bullying, etc do benefit from homeschooling. The issue with fundies is their black and white, one true way of thinking about eeeevvveryyything, friggin everything.  Their superiority complex is the other problem. My way of doing things makes so godly and righteous. Rufus forbid, a mundane activity be done just because you wanted to do it. It's all got to be done for Jesus. Which truthfully, makes Jesus a chore, not a friendship. 

[EowynW]

On 6/3/2018 at 9:43 PM, Anonymousguest said:

There are lots of fundies who intend for their children to go to college, they just expect their kids to find alternative ways to pay for it. I hear it all the time in big homeschooling families, who may technically not be fundamentalist. But they just can't afford to pay for their kids college. Some think it's better for the kids pay and just don't feel like it's the parents responsibility. I also know plenty of parents of 1 or 2 kids who also can't afford to send their kids to college, to be fair.

If a parent can't or won't pay for it, they better damn well make sure their kids start working and saving early for it, and make sure they get on track to try for scholarships, or aide or whatever. A parent still needs to take responsibility for helping their kid get on the right path, whether it's college, trade school, etc.