My Home

knock knock..panic rises to my throat and i run to see who it is..if i am going to answer the door..or hide.today when people come we hide .. don’t answer the door the house is a mess! when june cleaver was the norm unannounced guests were treated differently. they were welcomed with freshly baked muffins and coffee. not so much anymore. these days you will find me answering the door in no makeup paint clothes and a messy bun..excuse me while i take the paint brush

WELCOME to our little home…come on IN

i am seriously humbled that heather asked us to share our home. heather – you have been an instrument in the hands of God i kid you not. it was the kick in the pants we needed to start putting the house together. we have been collecting stuff for months. so thank you friend.

keepin it real girls – if you came on any given day right now my house would be a HOT mess! we have been re-creating re-doing re-modeling…just RE-ing since we moved in one year and four months ago. you can read more about how it all started here and let’s just throw one more iron in the fire and run a home business of which takes the majority of my day with little time for cleaning house or making dinner. And i fall into bed with what i wore that day..

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so when at 45 i am creating my first home..at least on the inside. i have never owned a home yet. one day i hope too but for now..this is good practice..and my new mantra is

PRACTICE doesn’t make PERFECT – PRACTICE makes change

..this came to me the other day driving.

i don’t know if i am restoring this home or it is restoring me. i am finding more and more of myself here and as i do feeling more and more of a belonging.

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so here are some peeks at the rooms we are currently working in

GRACE’S ROOM:::

we are blessed to have my mom use Grace’s room to style new curtains for her shop. i implored her help on some fabric i’ve had for 6 months. i told her what i envisioned and she sewed this sweet pair of curtains and added yellow pom’s for texture and color.

grace styles her room all by herself for the most part. we painted yellow stripes on the floor because eventually we are going to buy new carpet and why not have some fun in the wait? it gets quite cold in the girls rooms because it is a converted garage and they didn’t insulate it!! she has a portable heater she uses at night and i swear 5 blankets! she hung curtains in place of her closet door we removed.

we got this fun dresser down at RE where we had our shop before moving the business to our home.

13 year olds spend LOTS of time here. in front of the mirror. she put this little Target desk together all by herself after we all had a meltdown brother included until my son in law came and saved the day. she hung paper lanterns and a little chandelier above her desk and the little collage wall she did. i am happy to see her owning her area by creating her heart in there as well

her little nightstand. she keeps her journal & Jesus Calling there. Jesus Calling is a must have for every person!!

champ. her bear we bought her when she was in competitive gymnastics. for 5 years 30 plus hours of her week was spent at the gym. half days of school and then gym until 8-9pm. can’t believe we..she did that. she still sleeps with him.

LIVING ROOM:::

still have the UGLY chairs..but lots of pretty new pillows. a few we got from Target’s Threshold line and two my mom sewed for us…one from some scrap fabric and another from an old tablecloth that i got at a thrift store. i find JOY in re-purposing don’t YOU?

LOOK at the sweet little bunting that grace surprised me with. she hung old pictures from twine with clothespins and when she ran out of those she used paper clips…i only have a handful of pictures of me when i was younger with my grandma and she hung those plus the all of my 5 kids…i cried. it was so sweetly perfect in every way. i am keeping it on the mantle for the spring. it makes my heart happy. it is what matters.

over christmas we planked either side of the fireplace and covered the mantle with a piece of trim. i want to redo the whole fireplace but what a difference a little paint makes..and some planking right? it is the little things..

DINING:::

we added some wood shelving to hold collections ..

nikki and i fell in love with some bar stools at world market. to expensive at the time. at wal-mart they have these little stools for 25 dollars. we bought one..just one to see if we liked it. we did so then we proceeded to paint it..not sure whether to paint all the same color or each a different so we bought one can of green spray paint. primed it and then painted..and fell in LOVE. now we are going back to buy two more stools and paint them both GREEN.

i wanted a little window cover in the kitchen and picked up some flour sack towels and some cute fabric and yes….pom poms
everything is cuter with pom poms..amen. and asked mom if she could whip me something up…and she did!

KITCHEN:::

LIVING ROOM COLLAGE WALL:::

THIS is what i am excited about the most! our collage wall – i have wanted one for like EVER!
LOVE from so many of my friends…and still more we’ve ordered and has not come yet…
standing here looking at it i just SMILE
BIG
we built the x-console from ana white’s plans and painted it yellow. i have yet to distress it… we bought two UGLY
lamps and spray painted them white and got two shades from Home Goods and wow!!

and i FOUND A MAP!! every home i am in love with has a map and i wanted one SO BAD!! i am
happy
happy
happy

did anyone watch Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday with Brene Brown? Chrissie told me about it and nikki and i watched it a loved it all..we cried when she read this. i printed and framed it..seriously! i am finishing up her book too…

we planked this wall and added a little ledge and hung pictures of the kids that we had printed at staples
i built frames for the pictures by following handmade homes ebook )))

wreath inspired by my sweet friend Jeruselum’s new book The Handmade Year .. a MUST read

BABY GRANDS ROOM:::

very small spare room turned baby grands room for when they stay:) painted it .. RH glacier – added some yellow stripes to an UGLY popcorn ceiling and some playful curtains then comes lighting and decor…maybe a built in of some sort. lots and lots of happy and FUN for sure

DAKOTA’S ROOM:::

planked one wall ( we lurve planking ) and painted. i think we are going to stain it and then hang sconces on either side – a cool light fixture ..some industrial touches..there is that technical word;) we are sketching ideas for his big tv and we are working on turning his small closet into a desk area for studying gaming. he goes off to college next year.
he is a senior
he graduates in may
fourth one down…ONE to go

i am just doing what feels good to me. being inspired by all things and if i don’t like it i can change it. at the end of the day me and the kids live here. we are what matters.

i am carried by so much of YOUR encouragement and love.

there has been a shifting in my heart from SOMEDAY to ACTION by taking baby steps NOW! call it mid life whatever but time is so much more precious. urgent. that if i don’t start making changes that i long to see NOW the story will never be written and the dream won’t be realized.

ACTION is the antidote to despair

MY HOUSE must reflect my soul. not yours or hers or theirs NO MATTER how lovely it is because if it isn’t ME then i am living a second rate version of someone else ( helen keller) so to be truly authentic and real it has to be ME and that is a process for a girl who didn’t know WHO she was because she was so busy trying to please and be what she thought others wanted her to be…so enter the shifting of my heart in FINDING the SACRED connections in the heart home and handmade

alexandra campbell said
“all my life, i’ve never felt as if i’ve belonged anywhere, my harried heart was possessed by a mysterious “holy longing”that never seemed to be satisfied. but here, in the garden of this tiny ivory stone cottage with its huge ancient apple tree, heavily laden with reddening and ripening orbs, i felt that there couldn’t possibly be anyplace else more exquisite–nothing more to be desired”

- - i am moving forward…thank you for stopping in. next time i hope to have something warm from the oven and a pot of hot coffee…that is my pretend world but i really am off to whip up some wheat free paleo double chocolate cakies…that counts for something right;)