Tag Archives: improvement

Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Sharing the Love of Christ

When our children were little, we moved next door to a family that didn't know Jesus. We typically started our homeschooling day with reading the Bible, memorizing a verse and praying together as a family. One morning after realizing that this family did not know Christ, we prayed together that we would be a witness to them.

The next day, their little boy punched our 8 year old daughter in the stomach! I sat down for a minute when she came home with her story and injury and talked to God. I told Him that we had just prayed for this family and look at this!

And the Lord brought this scripture passage to mind:

But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic[a] either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons ofthe Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:27-36

And I had a revelation. I realized that it's easy for us to be an example of love when everything is good. It's when things go wrong, when people are unkind, when there's really a reason to be offended, that people will notice the difference. When we surprise them with love and peace in the face of adversity and offense, they will see Jesus.

We walked over to their house and met with the parents, heard both sides of the story and found out our daughter wasn't blameless, and we asked forgiveness and gave forgiveness. From then on, we had a very good relationship with their family.

One day, about a year later, we lived through Hurricane Opal. Our power went out at 9 pm and we spent a scary night in the basement listening to the multiple tornadoes come up our street and trees crashing all around us, and even one breaking through a window and coming into the house. When we got up in the morning, we had seven hardwood trees down in our backyard, three of them across our roof, and one, like I said, into a window. Our neighborhood was a mess but thankfully, not a single person in our town was injured!

Several neighhbors gathered in another neighbor's yard to cut and remove trees from their driveway. The kids were running all over and enjoying the chaos. Soon, several of the kids rang the doorbell telling us that our 3 year old son was hurt. I ran outside to see blood pouring down his face. When the neighbors realized I was there because he was hurt, all the chain saws stopped and they wanted to make sure he was ok. I asked him what had happened and he told me he wanted to pet the little neighbor dog and that she got a mean look on her face and jumped up and bit him.

She had clipped him right above his eye brow and below his eye and the two tiny wounds were bleeding profusely. I immediately wiped the blood away, saw the small injuries, scooped him up as I spoke gently to him and started to carry him home. The mom of the neighbors we had prayed for ran over to see if he was ok and I smiled and said that it looked minor.

Forever after that, she would tell me whenever she saw me, that she couldn't believe how calm I was. I've thought about that a lot since then. I've wondered what she was used to. She would come and talk to me whenever she had a chance and she would always mention it.

We lived next door to them for five years. We continued to pray for them while we were there. I hope we were a blessing to them and God has brought our prayers, and other's for them, to fruition.

But because of that situation, I've learned to look at adversities as an opportunity to shine in Christ. I look at bad situations completely differently and watch and listen to the Holy Spirit to see how He wants me to use that opportunity. And because I know that 'Jesus is interceding to cause all things to work for good for those who love the Lord' (Romans 8:28) I stay in peace.


love and blessings~




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Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Get Up and Dance

I was at my chiropractor's office yesterday, waiting for my turn to be adjusted, when I saw a sweet elderly lady also getting an adjustment. It was very hard for her to get up on the table. She was very stiff and I discerned that this was her 'state of being' not a recent injury. I began to pray for her in the Spirit and I heard the word 'settle.'

I saw that her sins (thoughts that don't align with the Word of God) had 'settled' into the joints of her body. And the Lord began to impart to me the value of exercise.

Even though we are three parts: Spirit, Soul (mind, will, emotions) and Body - we can not separate these three in reality. What we eat affects us spiritually, what we believe affects us physically, what we do affects us mentally, etc.

If you don't do another constructive thing this summer, I want to encourage you to listen to  Dr. Caroline Leaf. I linked to a message of hers on my last post. She is a Christian neuro-scientist who has proven that 'as a man thinks, so he is.' She teaches that our thoughts have 'mental real estate.' Our thoughts actually create neurons in our brain. When our thoughts are pure and in line with God's Word, they bring Life and health. When they are sinful, they bring sickness, disease and mental illness.

She teaches, in her books and videos, how to renew our mind in the Word and change our health. Even things we are born with are a result of sin. The Bible tells us that the sins of the father are carried to the fifth generation. She teaches through renewing our mind in the Word, we can 'heal' those generational curses.

I have been listening to her teachings every chance I get and I've gotten two of her books to read. The Lord added to this teaching as I was sitting watching this dear lady.

We know that exercise releases endorphins that affect our moods and mental health. What God showed me is that exercise can keep these sinful manifestations from 'settling' into our joints as we get older and causing us to 'stiffen.' All physical ailments are rooted in these truths.

I love to start my day with Praise. Praise is declaring  Who God is. It is declaring that He is perfect in all His ways. I love to declare my love and devotion to Him with music and dance and movement. If you haven't read my post on the Seven Hebrew Words for Praise, please do. You'll see that movement is a very important part of praise.

When I start my day like this, I am incorporating both praise and exercise. I am blessing all my three parts - Spirit, Soul and Body. When I start my day like this, I hear God's voice all day long.

Some people love to commune with God as they walk. This is also a wonderful way to incorporate exercise with worship.

I truly believe that God wants us to understand that exercise is part of His design to keep us healthy Spirit, Soul and Body.

love and blessings~




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Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Get Up and Dance

I was at my chiropractor's office yesterday, waiting for my turn to be adjusted, when I saw a sweet elderly lady also getting an adjustment. It was very hard for her to get up on the table. She was very stiff and I discerned that this was her 'state of being' not a recent injury. I began to pray for her in the Spirit and I heard the word 'settle.'

I saw that her sins (thoughts that don't align with the Word of God) had 'settled' into the joints of her body. And the Lord began to impart to me the value of exercise.

Even though we are three parts: Spirit, Soul (mind, will, emotions) and Body - we can not separate these three in reality. What we eat affects us spiritually, what we believe affects us physically, what we do affects us mentally, etc.

If you don't do another constructive thing this summer, I want to encourage you to listen to  Dr. Caroline Leaf. I linked to a message of hers on my last post. She is a Christian neuro-scientist who has proven that 'as a man thinks, so he is.' She teaches that our thoughts have 'mental real estate.' Our thoughts actually create neurons in our brain. When our thoughts are pure and in line with God's Word, they bring Life and health. When they are sinful, they bring sickness, disease and mental illness.

She teaches, in her books and videos, how to renew our mind in the Word and change our health. Even things we are born with are a result of sin. The Bible tells us that the sins of the father are carried to the fifth generation. She teaches through renewing our mind in the Word, we can 'heal' those generational curses.

I have been listening to her teachings every chance I get and I've gotten two of her books to read. The Lord added to this teaching as I was sitting watching this dear lady.

We know that exercise releases endorphins that affect our moods and mental health. What God showed me is that exercise can keep these sinful manifestations from 'settling' into our joints as we get older and causing us to 'stiffen.' All physical ailments are rooted in these truths.

I love to start my day with Praise. Praise is declaring  Who God is. It is declaring that He is perfect in all His ways. I love to declare my love and devotion to Him with music and dance and movement. If you haven't read my post on the Seven Hebrew Words for Praise, please do. You'll see that movement is a very important part of praise.

When I start my day like this, I am incorporating both praise and exercise. I am blessing all my three parts - Spirit, Soul and Body. When I start my day like this, I hear God's voice all day long.

Some people love to commune with God as they walk. This is also a wonderful way to incorporate exercise with worship.

I truly believe that God wants us to understand that exercise is part of His design to keep us healthy Spirit, Soul and Body.

love and blessings~




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Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Our Guest Room

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

We are in the midst of a master bathroom remodel and are being held up by plumbing issues. Everything is torn out - shower, toilet, tub, vanity, carpet and tile floor - and we are waiting on a plumber. I've taken lots of (ugly) pictures and will share them with you as we get closer to the end.

In the meantime, our guest room is now filled with the overflow from our bathroom. I didn't get all the pictures I would have like to have gotten and now I can't.  But, this is how it looked the day of the photo shoot with Romantic Homes.

Most things in here are the same. I had been on the hunt for a night stand for the left of the bed. I've had this sewing machine table for a long time. I moved it from another room and painted it white. It's a perfect fit and a great height.
Because our house will most likely be published in a Spring issue, I added some faux Spring boughs to the night stand and left all the Spring florals.


I didn't get any pictures of the other side of the room but you can see that we added a chair from the living room because I don't have a good chair for in here right now. You can also glimpse the corner of my desk that's opposite the bed in the photo below. There's a built in shelf above the closet door that runs that length of the room that I've  filled with treasures. Kristen is looking at everything in this photo.
 This chandelier was a garage sale find that I painted with chalk paint and added crystals to.
 I whipped up another pillow to sit on this chair.
The prints on this side of the room are the same.
These lamps were black when I purchased them. I spray painted them an antique white and added crystals. 
They tie-in nicely with the chandelier.  These are the plates you can see sitting on corbels on either side of the window.
It was a lot of fun watching Kristen get into position for 'the shot.' 
The last time I showed you this room there was this sweet baby on the bed.  This sweet baby turned one last week!
Happy birthday, Lucas!
And our Rhynn turned four!
We are so blessed!  Here we are at the double birthday celebration on my daughter's deck. 
Happy Fourth of July from our family to yours!
Me, my husband, grandson Lucas, daughter Laura, grandson Levi, son Matt, granddaughter Rhynn, son Mark, my mom, SIL Ryan
love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12
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Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Our Guest Room

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

We are in the midst of a master bathroom remodel and are being held up by plumbing issues. Everything is torn out - shower, toilet, tub, vanity, carpet and tile floor - and we are waiting on a plumber. I've taken lots of (ugly) pictures and will share them with you as we get closer to the end.

In the meantime, our guest room is now filled with the overflow from our bathroom. I didn't get all the pictures I would have like to have gotten and now I can't.  But, this is how it looked the day of the photo shoot with Romantic Homes.

Most things in here are the same. I had been on the hunt for a night stand for the left of the bed. I've had this sewing machine table for a long time. I moved it from another room and painted it white. It's a perfect fit and a great height.
Because our house will most likely be published in a Spring issue, I added some faux Spring boughs to the night stand and left all the Spring florals.


I didn't get any pictures of the other side of the room but you can see that we added a chair from the living room because I don't have a good chair for in here right now. You can also glimpse the corner of my desk that's opposite the bed in the photo below. There's a built in shelf above the closet door that runs that length of the room that I've  filled with treasures. Kristen is looking at everything in this photo.
 This chandelier was a garage sale find that I painted with chalk paint and added crystals to.
 I whipped up another pillow to sit on this chair.
The prints on this side of the room are the same.
These lamps were black when I purchased them. I spray painted them an antique white and added crystals. 
They tie-in nicely with the chandelier.  These are the plates you can see sitting on corbels on either side of the window.
It was a lot of fun watching Kristen get into position for 'the shot.' 
The last time I showed you this room there was this sweet baby on the bed.  This sweet baby turned one last week!
Happy birthday, Lucas!
And our Rhynn turned four!
We are so blessed!  Here we are at the double birthday celebration on my daughter's deck. 
Happy Fourth of July from our family to yours!
Me, my husband, grandson Lucas, daughter Laura, grandson Levi, son Matt, granddaughter Rhynn, son Mark, my mom, SIL Ryan
love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12
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Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Making Things Beautiful

Hi All!

Sorry that I've been gone for so long! If you read my other blog, Gates of Crystal, you know I've been busy!

I used to wonder if decorating my home was ok with God. I wondered if I was laying up treasure in the wrong place and valuing the wrong things.

I started decorating when I was a kid. I would rearrange my furniture in my bedroom and it was important to me that my room was clean. It was a reflection of 'me' even then. I remember finding out a friend's mom was selling a piece of furniture that I liked and telling my mom. My mom bought it for my room.

When I was in high school, I picked out a new bedspread and had my mom take me to the store for paint. I painted my room by myself on a Friday night. I was an only child and my mom worked full time so I was home alone a lot. I would clean and get things perfect and then enjoy the house. (I never liked to cook!)

When my husband first got his PhD, we moved several times before he got a tenure-track position. We rented homes in two different states we lived in and it was really hard for me that I couldn't paint the rooms. I had learned by then to sew slipcovers so I would match my furniture to the carpet of the house. I also loved garage sales and estate sales and that's when I started finding furniture at prices I could afford. I babysat children from our church so that my kids would have playmates and we would have the extra money.

My family has thought that I was a little obsessed at times. But being a stay-at-home mom for so many years and homeschooling (which requires you to stay at home) it was the thing that kept me sane. I could control my environment.

And that's what brings me to this thought. When we visited The Mises Institute in Auburn in March, I sat in on several of the talks. The Mises Institute is a Libertarian based think-tank and a lot of the people involved are Christian. I love attending the conferences there and often times will hear the Holy Spirit teach me while I'm listening to a lecture.

I was listening to a gentleman give a very informative talk about how our government is causing farmers to not be able to own land and to farm when the Holy Spirit began to enlighten me.

One of the first commands God gave was 'to be fruitful and multiply and take dominion over the Earth.' Without apology, I will say that I don't believe that God's intent was that we take dominion with guns or force but His intent was that we take dominion over evil with love and salvation.

If you read the Old Testament, many of the stories are exactly this: take dominion over the Earth. Obviously, the story of the Children of Israel being set free and taking the Promised Land would be the big one.

I believe we're each given a 'realm of influence.' For some, it may just be their families but for others it may be a Bible study, a neighborhood, a congregation. For some, it will be a world-wide influence. All with the same goal: take dominion, in Jesus' Name, over the Earth.

Where the enemy has brought destruction and chaos, we are to bring healing and love. Where there is lack and loss, we are to bring love and covenant relationship. Where there is ugliness, we are to bring beauty.

Whatever we touch should be better off for having us there. We are the light of the world. Joy, love and beauty should be the fragrance we leave behind when we go.

I believe that ALL people are creative. They ALL were made in the image of God and God is a creator. All children love music, love to move to music and dream of 'making' something. My grandson wants to be an inventor when he grows up and he's always talking about what he's going to invent. (My daughter doesn't have a microwave because of the negative health issues it causes and one day he said he was going to invent something that heated your food real fast! Ha!)

I never want to value the things I own more than God or the people He's put in my life. Therefore, I give a lot of things away. It doesn't bother me one bit. God has asked me before to give away things that were the most dear to me~ my Bible, a banner that I took everywhere and was like an extension of my arm, all my worship dance dresses~ those were the things that were hard to give away. They represent my heart more than my house.

But I believe that God spoke something into us when He told us to take dominion over the Earth and in a lot of us women, we express that with our homes. This is our territory where we express ourselves and want to have a perfect representation of who we are. And God is the creator of color and beauty. God wants our homes to be an oasis in a crazy world.

I ask God when I want a specific piece of furniture and He always brings me the most amazing deals! The Word tells us that when we delight ourselves in the Lord, He brings us the desires of our heart.

love and blessings~



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Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Making Things Beautiful

Hi All!

Sorry that I've been gone for so long! If you read my other blog, Gates of Crystal, you know I've been busy!

I used to wonder if decorating my home was ok with God. I wondered if I was laying up treasure in the wrong place and valuing the wrong things.

I started decorating when I was a kid. I would rearrange my furniture in my bedroom and it was important to me that my room was clean. It was a reflection of 'me' even then. I remember finding out a friend's mom was selling a piece of furniture that I liked and telling my mom. My mom bought it for my room.

When I was in high school, I picked out a new bedspread and had my mom take me to the store for paint. I painted my room by myself on a Friday night. I was an only child and my mom worked full time so I was home alone a lot. I would clean and get things perfect and then enjoy the house. (I never liked to cook!)

When my husband first got his PhD, we moved several times before he got a tenure-track position. We rented homes in two different states we lived in and it was really hard for me that I couldn't paint the rooms. I had learned by then to sew slipcovers so I would match my furniture to the carpet of the house. I also loved garage sales and estate sales and that's when I started finding furniture at prices I could afford. I babysat children from our church so that my kids would have playmates and we would have the extra money.

My family has thought that I was a little obsessed at times. But being a stay-at-home mom for so many years and homeschooling (which requires you to stay at home) it was the thing that kept me sane. I could control my environment.

And that's what brings me to this thought. When we visited The Mises Institute in Auburn in March, I sat in on several of the talks. The Mises Institute is a Libertarian based think-tank and a lot of the people involved are Christian. I love attending the conferences there and often times will hear the Holy Spirit teach me while I'm listening to a lecture.

I was listening to a gentleman give a very informative talk about how our government is causing farmers to not be able to own land and to farm when the Holy Spirit began to enlighten me.

One of the first commands God gave was 'to be fruitful and multiply and take dominion over the Earth.' Without apology, I will say that I don't believe that God's intent was that we take dominion with guns or force but His intent was that we take dominion over evil with love and salvation.

If you read the Old Testament, many of the stories are exactly this: take dominion over the Earth. Obviously, the story of the Children of Israel being set free and taking the Promised Land would be the big one.

I believe we're each given a 'realm of influence.' For some, it may just be their families but for others it may be a Bible study, a neighborhood, a congregation. For some, it will be a world-wide influence. All with the same goal: take dominion, in Jesus' Name, over the Earth.

Where the enemy has brought destruction and chaos, we are to bring healing and love. Where there is lack and loss, we are to bring love and covenant relationship. Where there is ugliness, we are to bring beauty.

Whatever we touch should be better off for having us there. We are the light of the world. Joy, love and beauty should be the fragrance we leave behind when we go.

I believe that ALL people are creative. They ALL were made in the image of God and God is a creator. All children love music, love to move to music and dream of 'making' something. My grandson wants to be an inventor when he grows up and he's always talking about what he's going to invent. (My daughter doesn't have a microwave because of the negative health issues it causes and one day he said he was going to invent something that heated your food real fast! Ha!)

I never want to value the things I own more than God or the people He's put in my life. Therefore, I give a lot of things away. It doesn't bother me one bit. God has asked me before to give away things that were the most dear to me~ my Bible, a banner that I took everywhere and was like an extension of my arm, all my worship dance dresses~ those were the things that were hard to give away. They represent my heart more than my house.

But I believe that God spoke something into us when He told us to take dominion over the Earth and in a lot of us women, we express that with our homes. This is our territory where we express ourselves and want to have a perfect representation of who we are. And God is the creator of color and beauty. God wants our homes to be an oasis in a crazy world.

I ask God when I want a specific piece of furniture and He always brings me the most amazing deals! The Word tells us that when we delight ourselves in the Lord, He brings us the desires of our heart.

love and blessings~



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Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Family Room Tweaks

Our family room got a few 'tweaks' getting ready for the photo shoot with Romantic Homes. When Staci Dumoski, the editor at Romantic Homes, requested that the slip covered ottoman be in the living room, that meant that I had an extra coffee table. I thought that our new table was more 'romantic' than our industrial cart, so I moved it into the family room and put our cart in the basement.
My daughter's always my most observant and honest critic. She said, "I don't know, Dad. This coffee table looks so good in here that I bet the cart doesn't make it back in here!"  (I think she might be right!)  It's surprising how much this small change brightened the room. I'm glad I left the top of the table the original wood tone. It flows well with the other wood in this room.

I had also been thinking about painting the mirror above the fireplace for a while. I reasoned I could always paint it back if I didn't like it but I'm loving it blue! I used a couple of shades of blue chalk paint that I mixed myself and a gold glaze mix on the details. Then I used a chalk paint antiquing wax in the corners.
I love fabric. One of the things that always gets me redecorating is finding a new fabric that I love. I found this linen stripe at warehousefabrics.com and made several pillows out of it. The photos of our house are planned for a Spring 2017 issue of Romantic Homes so I used pastel accents in every room.

My peonies were all gone by the time of the photo shoot. A sweet friend showed up at my door in the morning with all the peonies that were left on her bushes! I combined them with hydrangeas I had gotten at the store for this bouquet on the coffee table.

Behind the couch, I put some faux Spring branches mixed with bird cages and gold candlesticks.
My mercury glass lamps are a constant because we use them in the evenings.

I added some matching gold and mercury glass candlesticks to the mantel.
I moved my one fireplace screen in here for the shoot. I took these pictures before Kristen got here.


I hope you're having a wonderful summer! This is our last week of our grandson's teeball games, my son goes back to Boston tomorrow and our bathroom demo starts on Wednesday.

I'll be back soon with our guest room that I haven't shown you in a while.

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12


I'm joining these linky parties"

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Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Family Room Tweaks

Our family room got a few 'tweaks' getting ready for the photo shoot with Romantic Homes. When Staci Dumoski, the editor at Romantic Homes, requested that the slip covered ottoman be in the living room, that meant that I had an extra coffee table. I thought that our new table was more 'romantic' than our industrial cart, so I moved it into the family room and put our cart in the basement.
My daughter's always my most observant and honest critic. She said, "I don't know, Dad. This coffee table looks so good in here that I bet the cart doesn't make it back in here!"  (I think she might be right!)  It's surprising how much this small change brightened the room. I'm glad I left the top of the table the original wood tone. It flows well with the other wood in this room.

I had also been thinking about painting the mirror above the fireplace for a while. I reasoned I could always paint it back if I didn't like it but I'm loving it blue! I used a couple of shades of blue chalk paint that I mixed myself and a gold glaze mix on the details. Then I used a chalk paint antiquing wax in the corners.
I love fabric. One of the things that always gets me redecorating is finding a new fabric that I love. I found this linen stripe at warehousefabrics.com and made several pillows out of it. The photos of our house are planned for a Spring 2017 issue of Romantic Homes so I used pastel accents in every room.

My peonies were all gone by the time of the photo shoot. A sweet friend showed up at my door in the morning with all the peonies that were left on her bushes! I combined them with hydrangeas I had gotten at the store for this bouquet on the coffee table.

Behind the couch, I put some faux Spring branches mixed with bird cages and gold candlesticks.
My mercury glass lamps are a constant because we use them in the evenings.

I added some matching gold and mercury glass candlesticks to the mantel.
I moved my one fireplace screen in here for the shoot. I took these pictures before Kristen got here.


I hope you're having a wonderful summer! This is our last week of our grandson's teeball games, my son goes back to Boston tomorrow and our bathroom demo starts on Wednesday.

I'll be back soon with our guest room that I haven't shown you in a while.

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12


I'm joining these linky parties"

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Ticking and Toile in the Dining Room

Hi Friends~

My last couple of posts have been sharing all the changes I made while preparing for a photo shoot with Romantic Homes. I've shared the living room and entry with you and today I'm sharing the dining room.

I used a beautiful toile, that I found recently, in the living room, and since the living room and dining room are essentially the same room, I used it in the dining room too.

I made two new slipcovers for the head and foot of the table. I made these slipcovers more fitted than my previous ones made out of drop cloths and added a gentle ruffle. I'm keeping the old slipcovers to use when my sweet (messy) grandchildren eat over. ;)
I had originally covered the cane-backed dining room chairs with the same drop cloth. But after finding this toile and the coordinating ticking, I decided to recover them with ticking. I added a few layers of batting before adding the fabric to make them more comfortable.
 I got these beautiful delphinium from our local florist ~ Megan at This and That. If you live in the Big Rapids area, be sure to visit her beautiful shop! She special~ordered these and had them waiting for me the day before the shoot. I used to have these growing in my yard but they didn't survive one of our cold Michigan winters. They are one of my favorite flower because of beautiful blues.

I still have not found any bar stools that I love at the price I want to spend. I've painted ours an antique white so that they 'disappear' a little.



Sorry for the poor quality of the picture below. It's really hard to get certain angles with all the windows in our house and the glare off the floors.
Kristen had a list of shots that Staci Dumoski, the editor of Romantic Homes, had specifically requested, but she took pictures of everything! Even things I hadn't planned on. I'm sure most of them won't make the magazine but there was no stone left unturned!  You can see her list here on the dining room table.
I'll be back soon with pictures of our family room. I moved our new coffee table that was in the living room to the family room and the industrial cart has a new home in the basement. I did it for the shoot but we all like it so much that I think it's going to stay that way. It really lightened up the room.

Our shower door and claw-foot slipper tub have been delivered. We ordered these from Menards and they shipped within days. A plumber is coming today to see what needs to be done in our master bath for the new tub and vanity. Demo is scheduled for next Wednesday so I am boxing things up and my husband and I are moving to the main floor bathroom. We have another bathroom upstairs but my son uses that, so we'll use the downstairs for a couple of weeks.

As soon as we hear from the plumber, I'll order a vanity. We need to make sure our plumbing comes out of the wall. Our current vanity sits on the floor and the one I'd like has legs.

love and blessings~


"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12

I'm joining these linky parties:
Rattlebridge Farms
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Ticking and Toile in the Dining Room

Hi Friends~

My last couple of posts have been sharing all the changes I made while preparing for a photo shoot with Romantic Homes. I've shared the living room and entry with you and today I'm sharing the dining room.

I used a beautiful toile, that I found recently, in the living room, and since the living room and dining room are essentially the same room, I used it in the dining room too.

I made two new slipcovers for the head and foot of the table. I made these slipcovers more fitted than my previous ones made out of drop cloths and added a gentle ruffle. I'm keeping the old slipcovers to use when my sweet (messy) grandchildren eat over. ;)
I had originally covered the cane-backed dining room chairs with the same drop cloth. But after finding this toile and the coordinating ticking, I decided to recover them with ticking. I added a few layers of batting before adding the fabric to make them more comfortable.
 I got these beautiful delphinium from our local florist ~ Megan at This and That. If you live in the Big Rapids area, be sure to visit her beautiful shop! She special~ordered these and had them waiting for me the day before the shoot. I used to have these growing in my yard but they didn't survive one of our cold Michigan winters. They are one of my favorite flower because of beautiful blues.

I still have not found any bar stools that I love at the price I want to spend. I've painted ours an antique white so that they 'disappear' a little.



Sorry for the poor quality of the picture below. It's really hard to get certain angles with all the windows in our house and the glare off the floors.
Kristen had a list of shots that Staci Dumoski, the editor of Romantic Homes, had specifically requested, but she took pictures of everything! Even things I hadn't planned on. I'm sure most of them won't make the magazine but there was no stone left unturned!  You can see her list here on the dining room table.
I'll be back soon with pictures of our family room. I moved our new coffee table that was in the living room to the family room and the industrial cart has a new home in the basement. I did it for the shoot but we all like it so much that I think it's going to stay that way. It really lightened up the room.

Our shower door and claw-foot slipper tub have been delivered. We ordered these from Menards and they shipped within days. A plumber is coming today to see what needs to be done in our master bath for the new tub and vanity. Demo is scheduled for next Wednesday so I am boxing things up and my husband and I are moving to the main floor bathroom. We have another bathroom upstairs but my son uses that, so we'll use the downstairs for a couple of weeks.

As soon as we hear from the plumber, I'll order a vanity. We need to make sure our plumbing comes out of the wall. Our current vanity sits on the floor and the one I'd like has legs.

love and blessings~


"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12

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Home & Garden, Tips & How To

Our Photo Shoot with Romantic Homes~Entry

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful day!

Well, our photo shoot is over.  And after working so hard to get everything ready for the last two months, I have crashed!

What an adventure! It would be one thing to have one or two rooms ready to photograph but having eight rooms ready really wiped me out! My husband claims I collapsed on the kitchen counter as soon as the photographer left. He might be right.

I know HE was the one who drove an hour to Grand Rapids to pick up our son at the airport while I took a nap!

Anyway, our photographer was Kristen Wheeler at khphotographics and she was so enjoyable! She's originally from Michigan and now lives with her husband close to New Orleans. She came alone and stayed almost three hours. She used one lense and got overall shots of each room. Then changed lenses and got close-ups of details.

She also did a live video connecting to all the people at Romantic Homes! That was cool. If you're on Facebook you can watch it on my page. Otherwise, here's the link.

So in the next several posts, I'll try to show you our house as it was staged for the photo shoot.

In our entry, I bought two sweetheart roses for my little wheelbarrow. I just placed the plastic pots in the wheelbarrow and covered them with foliage.  This picture was taken before I staged the French shopping cart.

I got a new camera and I love that it takes a wider shot. Here you can see the entry as it goes into the rest of the house. You're looking straight down a hall and into the kitchen. You can also see how our stairs go up.


Then shortly before Kristen arrived, I took these flowers out of water, wrapped them in craft paper, and put them in my basket.
We played around with this a little bit, staging it in front of the dresser. I think I might have liked just the white flowers better, even though I chose the bright pink, but Kristen really liked the pop of color. The photos are planned for a Spring issue so the colors are appropriate. An umbrella, a rain coat and a loaf of French bread complete the vignette.



I haven't shown you the other end of the room for a while. The clock used to be on this wall. It's now in the living room. (see the last post) And these pictures used to be above the piano.
You can also see my door painted here.

Our baker's rack is still in the other corner.

I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of the whole room. I was just taking pictures while I waited for Kirsten to get here. And if you saw my instagram today you know there's a bike in here waiting for the upcoming birthday party now! And lots of shoes. ;)

We were blessed with beautiful weather! This was the view out our patio door at the end of the room.
As you can see, we haven't had a chance to do anything to our cabana yet. We're still going to try. I'll show you pictures of our whole deck very soon.

Here's sweet Kristen working hard.

I'm at home waiting for our new shower door to be delivered and tomorrow our new slipper tub will arrive. Our son will be here until Tuesday, and on Wednesday the demo on our master bathroom starts!

(Don't tell my family but I was happy to be the one to stay home today and wait for the shower door! Ha!)

I'll try to be back as soon as I can and share the rest of the rooms with you!

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."


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