1 Corinthians says, “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then we will see face to face,” KJV.
My grandmother has always had, “ugly” hands, in her words.I think back in the day when she grew up women paid more attention to their hands than we do now- or at least more than I never ever paid to mine! Regardless her hands aren’t beautiful in the traditional sense; they are spotted with age, her fingers are a little knobby and her veins stand out on the back of her hands. She always said her veins are so large because of how she always had to milk cows growing up, I think heredity plays a bigger role but of course I never mentioned it. Still she always gets a hint of pride in her voice when she mentions how her father used to praise those ugly hands for their good milking abilities.
My hands aren’t the prettiest either, but they know how to do a lot of things and the work I do with my hands puts bread on the table so I have never despised how my hands look. I always think back to the part in, Little Women, when when their father comes home from war and praises Meg’s hands, that though they are no longer soft and smooth, they have worked hard and become calloused through helping her family during a difficult time.
One day when I was visiting with Grandma she looked down and mentioned her ugly hands. This caused me to look down at my hands and realize that my hands were not looking too gorgeous at the moment either. “Grandma, my hands are the same way- look.” I said placing my hand in hers, “Golly, they are aren’t they,” she said before catching herself and apologizing and her inadvertent insult of my own hands!
I chuckled to myself on my drive home that day. But it did cause me to sit and think for a moment. She always viewed her hands as ugly, I always viewed our hands as strong, and hard working; hers even more so than mine. Think of all the things those hands know how to do; milking cows, sewing, baking, cooking! She is one of the best seamstresses, really. She had a business for a while before deciding that she much preferred sewing just for family. My grandfather did not have a shirt or suit jacket that my grandma didn’t make. She is a great cook and baker and has always made the best peanut brittle! To me her hands are not ugly because I know the beauty they have brought to this world. So much of reality is our perception. To me her hands are lovely, but it’s all a matter of how we view the world, and what lens we use as our filter. 1 Corinthians says, “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then we will see face to face,” KJV. What are we looking at in this world through a dark glass? What things that God has blessed us with do we choose to view as an inconvenience rather than a blessing in the first place? What a reminder to view everything through the lens of God’s Word, for it is the only true lens.
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I have always wanted a well done home. One that feels cozy and inviting, that is well kept and fun to live in! I want this not only so that people feel welcomed and comfortable in my home- I want them to come over and feel welcomed by the wreath on the door, to be able to settle in on the couch with the pillows, and to have a throw blanket handy if they start getting chilly. I want to be intentional in my decor to have a home that is not only styled to my tastes, but also one that is liveable. While there is still so much out there that I can learn, and so many ways that I can grow in my decorating skills, I do believe that I have come along way from where I started. One of the tools that have helped me along the way are decorating books- I love them! Below I have listed three of my favorite decorating books, each one focuses on different elements of creating a well planned home, that I feel have given me the most tangible tools for laying the groundwork to a well done home.
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HomeBody by Joanna Gaines
If you are into decorating then you have undoubtedly heard of the Gaines family and Joann’s signature farmhouse style. However, even if you aren’t a farmhouse style fan I would still urge you to pick up this book! This is a great book for a foundational look at building your home decor. Johanna walks you through a variety of different homes room by room, highlighting the functionality of each one. What is the purpose of your entry way and what elements do you need to add for it to function effectively? Do you need a table with a tray for keys? A runner or welcome mat? What about a light as soon as you step inside the door? Joanna walks you through several different examples discusses each, and then includes a troubleshooting guide at the end of each section. At the end of the book she includes a design template so that you can sketch out your room, and make a plan for how you will tackle decorating it. While a lot of the houses featured in this book have a farmhouse or rustic feel I don’t think the tools thought in it are limited to a a specific style. Homebody is great guideline of what things to consider and other helpful information that will help simplify the process of decorating your home.
Domino- Your Guide to a Stylish Home by Jessica Romm Perez and Shani Silver
This is such a fun book! The pictures are beautiful and there are a variety of different styles showcased in this book focusing mainly on, Glam, Eclectic, and a Midcentury Modern feel- but you can find examples of just about every type of style in this book. The book starts by helping you to identify your own style and then moves to different aspects of your home tackling decorating by topic; tables, lighting, etc., rather than by room or style. This book help you to identify what kind of decor you like and then shows you how to incorporate elements of that style into the decor you already have. Every chapter ends with a short interview with someone in the decorating/styling community sharing tips that they’ve learned along the way, in their respective area of expertise. I found this book very helpful as a way to up your decorating game after you have the foundational pieces of your decor selected, as a tool to help you transition from one decor style to another, or just as a guideline for incorporating elements of a new style!
This book isn’t as much about starting to build your decor from ground zero as it is about how to style and work with what you already own. In the beginning of the book, Emily includes a quiz on how to identify your personal style and taste, shopping tips and then she launches into the huge difference tiny styling tweaks can make in your decor! She covers all basics like making sure your room has good flow, making sure that you aren’t over decorating part of a room and neglecting another part, and how to tell if your decor is competing with itself. She also throws in fun sections like how to style a sofa in 4 different ways based of your preferences. A lot of the styles featured are not quite my style- many of the photos featured feel very mid century modern/eclectic, but that didn’t stop me from getting a TON out of this book. What I also loved about this book it that unlike so many of the decor books out there that make you feel like you need to run out and buy new things, this book emphasizes on working with what you already have, and that is where true decorating skill is learned.
Show, don’t tell, is one of the rules of great writing. Don’t tell your audience that the plush blanket is soft, show them how the million little plush fibers kiss your skin as you pull the blanket close and warm around you. This is how I felt Brian Stevenson handled the telling of his professional life in his book, “Just Mercy.” I’m sure you’ve noticed that there is a lot of tension in our country right now. Things always heat up when a presidential election is less than 2 months away! Add to that that this year we are also dealing with the coronavirus, and heated race relations and it seems like gasoline is being dumped on every fire that usually lies simmering within this country. During the course of discussions being had over the current events in our country, someone recommended a book called, ”Just Mercy,” to me, and I checked it out from the library.
Wow. I’m not sure what exactly I expected; but this book surpassed my expectations. I think I expected a book that was either so agenda driven that there wasn’t much of a plot line, or one that went into so many statistics that I wouldn’t barely be able to focus, but that’s not at all what this book was. Instead this was a book with a compelling plot line spun throughout its pages that showed the flaws in our justice system, and that got its point across in a fair, example driven manner.
Bryan Stevenson, the author, has spent his life as an attorney representing the underprivileged wrongly convicted of high level crimes. At the beginning of his career he focused just on cases of individuals who he believed were wrongly sentenced to death row. There are truly frightening examples given in this book of how the facts have been manipulated against certain individuals, and how many have paid the ultimate price for someone else’s agenda.
I found this book very eye opening, the issues of our justice system are not ones that I have done very much research on, and while I plan to do more learning on this topic, I thought this book was a good intro. However, a lot of the examples given in this book are from the 1980s and 1990s. A lot has changed in our country since then. Some things have not. If you are looking to get a perfect snapshot of what the justice system looks like today then I’m not sure this book will give you the best picture. If, though, you are looking to see where we have been as a country, how far we have come, and where we still have to go, then I think you will really appreciate this book. Regardless of your motive for picking up this book you will find it well worth your time.
I do want to warn you that while this book is very well written with a compelling true story line woven through it, it deals with very heavy topics. There are disturbing and very sad stories, all true, that you will read in this book. Be forewarned that this is not a light and fun book to read, although there is hope and optimism woven in as well. Prepare yourself- and dive in!
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We moved into our new house. A cute little ranch style house, complete with an octagonal wooden structure encircling a fire pit. The wooden posts stood out of the ground, with another wooden post laid horizontally over it and then wooden seats hung from the top one and hanging down between the other two posts. Growing up each post was a lovely vining plant with a cute little orange bloom known as trumpet vine because, well, it looks like a trumpet!
We were delighted with our lovely fire pit area, especially with the trumpet vine in all its blossoming glory. That is, until we started seeing shoots of trumpet vine way over on the other side of our house, completely separate from the fire pit area. We mowed it over and did not think much of it. Then I started seeing shoots coming up between the boards on our front porch…and sticking to the side of our house….and trying to climb underneath our siding… That vine was no longer pretty! The next spring we hacked down all the remaining trumpet vine, spraying the stumps of the vine with weed killer. It mostly worked, new growth still sprang from the edges of the stump that hadn’t been sprayed, and we looked out before mowing to our grass….and standing twice as tall above our grass, we saw new shoots of the trumpet vine.
The battle against our trumpet vine is still ongoing, we are slowly making progress. But it never ceases to amaze me how throughout the natural world God has sprinkled metaphors for the spiritual world as well. Our sin if left unchecked manifests itself in our hearts, spreading and taking over faster than any good traits do. We think it’s ok because we are the only ones that know it is there. However, if left unchecked we start to see signs of the sin popping up in unexpected ways- why did we snap at our coworker? Was it really because we are still bitter over a similar situation at our last job? We can hide the sin, pretend it’s not there, only to have something happen, and then we realize that the sin we thought we had pruned back, safely out of sight from the world, has sprung up anew in a place we least suspected. Instead it needs to be pulled out of lives by the root- a job only God can do.
We think we have killed off all the trumpet vine and then we see a new shoot trying to take over and strangle the life out of plants and shrubs that we want very much to survive! So we go again and try to eradicate any trumpet vine that is still lurking about in our yard. I am so sick of spraying and fighting with the trumpet vine. How glad I am that God does not tire of pruning the sin in my life. Does He grow weary and say to me as I do the trumpet vine, “You again? I thought we just went through this!” No, He gently and patiently shapes me and molds me so little by little I start to resemble more and more of Him and His nature.
So often our decor is in need of a little “umpf”. I mean, all the decor staples are great: moss balls, twine balls, books, vases, etc., but sometimes our decor needs some life to bring it to life, as it were. It needs something real. Something like flowers! Flowers help to add color, bring life so our decor doesn’t look so staid, and add interest by filling out vases we may be using in our decor. But, there’s a dilemma—do we use fresh or fake?!
Fake Flowers
Fake flowers (or faux flowers if we want to sound fancy and up a scale) are nice because there are some gorgeous, very realistic ones on the market. The downside is that nice faux flowers can be quite pricey and if you aren’t sure they are something you want to use for years it might be better not to splurge on them. On the other hand, fresh flowers can be found quite affordably, they last for a while, and can even lend a pleasant aroma to the room. The downside is they don’t last forever and, therefore, every 7-10 days will require switching out. For me this can become a bit of a chore and, quite frankly, I don’t want to have to do that much upkeep all the time.
Third option
There is, however, a third option that I do not hear talked about nearly enough—dried flowers! Dried or preserved flowers are a great way to, ironically enough, add life to your decor. Since they have been preserved, you can typically count on them lasting you 1-3 years so you don’t have to worry about looking over, 15 minutes before guests arrive for that dinner party, and realize that you have a vase full of dead, drooping flowers! And, you won’t have to have that conversation with yourself of whether your fake flowers look fake.
Preserved Flowers
Another reason to love preserved flowers—they are so versatile. A bunch of dried lavender lends itself well to a midcentury modern feel. Some dried flowers in a milk pitcher affects a country farmhouse air. Add any colorful dried flower and watch your bohemian/eclectic decor crackle and pop with life!
There are many different ways to incorporate dried flowers and the other nice thing about them is that no two are exactly alike! Since these are real flowers, grown, cut and dried, they include all the abnormalities and inconsistencies found in nature, which to my mind, makes them even better!
I have talked about using preserved flowers in vases, but get creative! I have an old window that has dried flowers preserved inside. You could also scatter a few blooms on a tray containing a vignette. (Unless you have cats—in that case skip this unless you want to have dried petals floating throughout your house. Not that I would know from personal experience. . . .) The point is that the possibilities are endless! What a fun, but uncommon element to add to your decor.
Where to find these flowers that will transform your decor? I found mine at a local specialty store called, “Roxanne’s Dried Flowers;” so do a little research, see if you have a store near you, and make a little field trip out of visiting it! If all else fails, like everything these days, there are a lot of options online, and on Etsy too.
