California resident, Raya Carlisle balances her life as a professional photographer, blogger, wife, and new mom with the sort of ease and aplomb that is nothing short of inspirational.  We are even further delighted to find that her home is as beautiful as everything else she sets her mind to.  Let's all pay Raya a visit and ask her to spill some of her secrets with us.

You are a photographer by trade and capture wonderful images of children, weddings, and more. You are also a new mom (with an adorable son)... how do you find time to maintain such a beautiful home on top of it all? We want the dirt.

The dirt....the dirt is everywhere! I've actually struggled with keeping up on the house since we had a baby. There are only so many hours in the day between taking care of him & work that sometimes I just look around & want to crumble into a ball on the floor.  It does not always look like the photos, but what I've started doing & what's actually working is making housekeeping part of my every day. Pick up a room here, vacuum there, fold laundry while he's playing, etc...Instead of doing it all at once it's been so much easier to just break it up into little 5 minute cleaning "sessions".  Oh, and I hired a professional cleaning service to come in and do a nice deep clean. Best.decision.ever.  They did in an hour what would take me six.  The house was so clean when they left I was more inspired to keep it up.  I spend a lot of time in the house (my office is just off the living room) so that also motivates me to make it a place I want to be in. 

Many of the pieces in your home are vintage. Where are your favorite places to score new (vintage) finds?

I have scored so many good finds at the little junk/antique shops in my town, Ventura.  Also, Ebay never lets me down.

What is your most treasured object in your home and why?

With all the fires that just happened in California we got to talking about "what we would want to grab if had to get out fast" & I realized that I'm attached to a lot of "things", probably a little too much.  Pictures & all that are safely backed up away from our home, but it's the big pieces that are irreplaceable that I really treasure.  My husband's family has given us a beautiful Mahogany sleigh bed to use as well as a small armoire that is just gorgeous.  Those objects are the most treasured for their history - the bed has been in the family for over 200 years! I also treasure my cluster of mid-century modern chairs that I've collected over the last couple years.  I would do anything I could to get the Bertoia in the trunk : )

What's the next home project you will be working on?

Right now we're getting ready to give our bedroom a major overhaul.  We have totally neglected this room since we bought the house three years ago, so it feels so good to finally make it what we want.  We're not doing anything huge, just paint & new furniture, but it will make a big difference.  A bigger project that we are dreaming about though is creating a breakfast nook in our kitchen. We have a great bench that runs along one wall & we'd like to close in the side door & extend the bench so we can have a little table in the corner.  Who doesn't love a breakfast nook?  I can totally picture our kids eating cereal & making art projects in this space one day. Hopefully it will happen soon!

Has parenting changed you and your husband's design aesthetic at all? If so, in what ways?

We now ask ourselves these questions before we buy anything: 1) Can our baby knock this down? & 2) Can he knock down what's on top of it?  For instance, I really want to buy an arc floor lamp for our living room because we lack space & overhead lighting, but I know it would go down the first day.  Sometimes I get bummed, but Cookie is actually a big inspiration & I love the great family-friendly design they showcase. It gives me hope when sometimes I just want to forget about the house until our kids are like, in high school. 

Describe a typical day in the life of your family:

We usually get up around 7 or so & the first thing we do is put water on for coffee. We weren't big coffee drinkers until we had a baby, but now its the only way to start our day. After that I feed the baby some breakfast, then check email & do a few little work things.  Around 9 or so we go for a walk with the dog around the neighborhood & then I try to get Baker down for his first nap (but he's not the most predictable napper so...)  During naps I'm at the computer working away. With two small businesses there is always something to be doing, plus I still try to blog every day & those posts take time to put together.

In the afternoon I like to get out for a walk or play date with friends & maybe run some errands. Then it's back to the house to hang out, play in the backyard & try to get some more work done if I can. My husband gets home around 5:30 so that's when I start cooking dinner. I really love to cook & try to make homemade meals at least 5 days a week.  After the baby goes to bed we might watch a DVD or a show on the Internet (we are big House fans), but don't get any channels here so we love that it's online.  Sometimes I will stay up & work late night if I need to. I would probably rather just go to bed, but getting three or so hours of uninterrupted time is so great for me & my to-do list. 

Three things you are thankful for:

1.  A healthy, thriving family
2.  That I get to stay at home with my son, but also run a business doing something I love.
3.  Living within driving distance from both our families. I am so, so thankful for that!

Thank you so much Raya!  You can see more of the Carlisle's lovely home here, read Raya's blog, and visit her photography site here.  Check out past Cookie house tours here.