Living With Kids: Sunshine Burns

It’s probably pretty difficult to be in a horrible mood when your name is Sunshine, don’t you think? It’s probably also next-to-impossible, if your name is as bright as the sun, to have a home that isn’t filled with its warmth. And this is just one reason why Sunshine’s family is a lucky bunch! The others — and there are many! — can be found throughout her interview. She is a gracious hostess and mother who lives near Nashville, Tennessee. It is always good to spend some time with others who are madly in love with their lives, and Sunshine is one of those people. I can’t wait for you to get to know her. (Another bonus to her name: When you email her in the early hours, it’s practically obligatory to begin with “Good morning, Sunshine!” Which makes my day.)

Hello there. My husbandʼs name is Peter, and together we live here with our three children: Bright is seven, Decker John is nearly five, and our baby girl Chapel is two. Then there is a pack of beagles, a few chickens, and our mama cows and their calves. We homeschool, I work out of the house, and my husbandʼs office is here — so our home is really where we spend our days! I am literally living with kids twenty-four, seven!

For those who are curious about my name, I’ve probably been asked the story behind it by half the people I’ve met! Always followed by, “Is that your real name?”

Before I was born, my mom had a quick stint as an Avon saleswoman. There was a model in the catalogue named Sunny who inspired my name. That nickname never stuck and instead I’ve always been called Shine. My name feels unique to me, and itʼs nice that people can usually remember me because of it! There may have been a day or two as a child that I wished for another name, but really I’ve always been fond of names that are a little bit offbeat.

When we were first married, we lived in North Carolina where Peter worked in the corporate world and we fought rush hour traffic every day. We made the tough decision to move to Tennessee, which was home for me, even though it meant leaving his family and the friends we had made in Charlotte.

Moving to Tennessee gave us the opportunity to live a different style of life and, for him, to start a custom home building business. We built our home with the help of my father while we were still living out-of-state. It was a bit tricky building before we had children, trying to imagine what life would be like in the future with kids!

Our property adjoins my parents’ farm so our children have easy access to adventures in the woods, creek, and barns. Being just down the road from my parents is the most valuable thing about living here. Neither my husband nor I grew up with relatives in-state, so having family close by is a blessing for us all!

Since we spend so much time together, it is really important that each of us have spaces of our very own! We donʼt have a designated playroom, so each childʼs bedroom has their own toys, books, a sofa for reading, a place for their art, and other special treasures.

When number three was on the way, we decided to give up our office space to become the nursery instead of having children share bedrooms. We remodeled the master walk-in closet to create a small office, just large enough for a desk and chairs.

Our home is constantly changing and rearranging to keep up with the seasons in our lives. I think itʼs important to be flexible with our spaces. Itʼs about making our house work for us.

We love living near Nashville, which is booming with talent and soul. The food, the language, and the way we dress is all part of Tennessee culture. I have friends who buy hair bows in mass when they visit!

We hunt and fish and do a lot of outdoor living. We have a kennel of hunting dogs, cook, entertain, work on the farm, and play. Itʼs important to pass on these family traditions, and homeschooling gives us the opportunity to really work on these projects together.

Most dear to my heart is hospitality. Having people in our home, feeding them, and visiting is a huge part of our life. I love that hospitality doesn’t necessarily mean throwing a dinner party; it can mean lemonade on the porch swing or soup in the kitchen. We want everyone who enters to feel welcomed and comfortable. Most Sundays we have a full table for lunch after church, and during the week people stop by to say hello and shoot the breeze, or pop in and end up staying for dinner. Itʼs small town living at its finest!

My style has changed so much over the years! After college, I spent time working with an interior designer who followed all the rules. Looking back, her designs were stuffy and boring. But for a period of time while we were building and decorating our house, I was still very aware of those rules and wanted to be sure my selections were appropriate. Now I laugh at that and choose things based on what I love! I am still sort of un-doing and replacing the more traditional and formal selections I made in the past. Our home is evolving all the time.

My post-children style is definitely more fun. Itʼs freer and actually much more of a reflection of who I am and who our family is. My personal style is classic with a lighthearted and casual twist. A formal light fixture painted chartreuse, kids’ art in the guest bath, a huge funky floral painting beside our grandfather clock, picture frames in gaudy gold paint. I want there to be something fun in every room — something unexpected, happy, and personal.

I love color and pattern — polka dots and stripes and animal prints — the more, the merrier! Iʼm slowly changing my walls to neutral whites and blacks, realizing that not only are those colors clean and bright and spacious, but they make my tired furniture pop a little better. The clean and neutral background makes the layers of color and pattern work together.

Iʼm inspired by some great bloggers and designers: Mayme Baker, Jamie Meares, and also Aussie Anna Spiro. I love their happy colorful interiors that are sometimes a little bit crazy. I think the secret to making all the colors and pattern work is choosing things you love. Youʼll be drawn to items with similar themes whether you realize it or not! I donʼt want to take decorating too seriously. And nothing is permanent; I move paintings and furniture around constantly!

Our children are book lovers, and so I love creating special spots for them to snuggle up in a corner with a book. Iʼm crazy about small child-sized chairs. They are all over the house to encourage impromptu reading.

When the tooth fairy visited for the first time, we painted a tiny sparkly fairy door by the baseboard in the corner of our oldestʼs room. We have a big slide behind our yellow couch, cardboard box houses that stay up for weeks at a time…itʼs fun to include special details in the house that are clearly just for them!

My childrenʼs most magical memories will probably be playing in the woods. Itʼs amazing how creative children are with dirt and sticks and bits of grass. There is nothing I can design that comes close to what their imaginations can create!

Children fill the house with laughter and joy, but they also bring a whole lot of stuff! Iʼm constantly editing, and I crave uncluttered spaces. I like to keep collections and displays in hutches and cabinets where they are behind glass doors. We’ve got to have room for living and space for all of the books, papers, toys, and stuff that are a part of our days.

I’ve declared that I am no longer picking up the childrenʼs rooms. Iʼll help them reorganize or sort through their things when we do a major clean-out. But they need to be able to handle the day-to-day pick up themselves. We simplify by keeping only the toys they are currently playing with in their rooms; the rest are stored in the attic for rotation.

When the mess is overwhelming me, Iʼll set the timer for five minutes and shout “five minute clean-up!” Then everyone runs around putting the clutter back where it belongs.

Because we are here all the time there is never a break when the house is clean, quiet, and picked up! Sometimes I long for that day, but I’ve been warned it will come much too quickly!

Our kids are all into pattern mixing, and they’ve been known to come up with some pretty crazy outfits! We joke that Decker John likes to wear as many combinations of stripes as possible. Our daughter, Bright, spends hours each week decorating her dollhouse and actually tears out magazine pages to use as inspiration. The older two are both very specific in how they like their rooms arranged and their closets organized.

I hope that they are learning to take pride in our home and the importance of taking care of the things we’ve been blessed with.

I love the life and energy that kids bring. While the fast pace and unexpected twists they bring to every single situation often ruffles my feathers, it is a wild ride I wouldn’t want to miss!

I miss the sweet baby voices that my older two are already outgrowing, and I do miss that feeling of having everything checked off my to-do list!

I wish someone had told me how to loosen up! Parenting is hard work, and I have to remind myself all the time to relax, let the little things go, and focus on whatʼs really important.

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Thank you, Sunshine, for your joy. It’s contagious. You know how I love when you love the place you live! And I also enjoy that simple reminder at the end of your interview: Parenting is hard work. Loosen up. A giant yes to that!

Friends, are there traditions and customs specific to your area that you’ve loved passing on to your own kids? Or are there some that you completely avoid? I’d love to hear.

P.S. — Take a peek at all the homes in my Living With Kids series here. And if you’d like to share your own home with us, just send me a note! It’s a lot of fun…I promise!

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