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let your walls shine

    I touched on it last week … and many of you agreed … we should all take a few more risks with our home-decorating and truly live where we live.

    We should hang photos and not care about nail holes. We should be crazy and paint a room in a unexpected color just because we love it.  We should find meaningful ways to add meaningful pieces and let our homes be an extension of our lives, our families, our personalities.  It’s risky and sometimes costly {in time and money}, but don’t you think you function better in a visually inspiring space?

    It’s fairly unimportant in the whole scheme of things – all this decorating and re-decorating our homes. But to those living in it and to those visiting, it can do so much to welcome, inspire and comfort.

    One girl who has this figured out is the darling Ashley from The Handmade Home.

    Well, I should say Ashley and her husband Jamin. They’re one talented team who have taken their perfectly-nice-but-very-average builder-grade home and turned it into a colorfully charming home with so much personality.

    Here are a few before & after shots:

    Continue Reading…let your walls shine

    details of the giant hanging window in our entry/dining room

      It’s one of the most unique {and coolest, if you ask me} things in our house: this oversize salvaged window hanging from a barn door track that separates the entry from the dining room.

      I’ve never really blogged about it. What?! Sorry for the oversight.

      Adding the window to the opening between the rooms accomplished exactly what we wanted … it created a definition of spaces, but also keeps things bright and open. Plus it adds personality to our ordinary home. That’s our favorite part.

      From the front door, you can still see through into the dining room and beyond.

      We found the perfect window at our favorite local salvage yard {Second Use – for you local Seattle-ites} for about $80.

      Continue Reading…details of the giant hanging window in our entry/dining room

      the wall of l’s moved across the street

        Remember when I asked for help with this problem wall?

        You all came through. Great suggestions. My talented friend Darlene even did a little mock-up of her suggestion:

        Isn’t it lovely?

        I sat on the ideas for a bit – none of them feeling just right.

        Until one day, I started moving furniture around and – what do you know – the L wall moved across the hall to its new home.

        Hidden in there are the thermostat and light switch that before stuck out so obviously.

        A good before and after is always fun, so here you go:

        Continue Reading…the wall of l’s moved across the street

        thankful tree {with free printable tags}

          this post is a repeat from last year, but certainly worth sharing again

          . . . . .

          This season leading up to Thanksgiving is one of my favorites. If there is anything I’d like to be, it is thankful, and so I love the idea of expressing our gratitude both in spoken and written word.

          thankful tags in silver

          I have created a set of cards to help encourage this attitude of thankfulness.

          thankful card place setting

          You could put one at each place setting at the the Thanksgiving table, have your family and friends fill them out and share with each other. My sister does this each night leading up to Thanksgiving with her family and then saves the cards to read the following year.

          thankful card

          Another great way to use the cards is to turn them into tags

          thankful for eggnog lattes

          and hang them on a thankful tree.

          thankful tree 2011

          The boys and I tromped out into the woods, cut down a few branches, put them into a heavy urn and filled the bottom with stones to hold the branches in place.

          thankful tree in urn

          Every day, we each write one thing we are thankful for. And the rule is that nothing can be duplicated. This is our first year doing a thankful tree and I’m looking forward to seeing what the kids comes up with. I hope it is a great way to instill in them the importance of having a thankful heart. I know it will be good practice for us all.

          More photos and a free printable pdf after the read more link…

          Continue Reading…thankful tree {with free printable tags}

          beating a dead horse

            That’s a terrible title {where did the horrible saying even come from?}. But what I have to share today qualifies: it’s been said before. Over and over. And yet, maybe we all need to hear it again. // It’s not as pretty as it seems… Continue Reading…beating a dead horse

            steppin’ up

              When you live in a house with little ones, sometimes practical things {like step stools in the bathroom} are essential. I was growing tired of seeing our perfectly-functional-but-equally-ugly plastic stool in the guest bath and so I was excited to find this wood version at… Continue Reading…steppin’ up

              fashionABLE

                While away this past weekend, I was introduced to a new company and instantly fell in love. Helping women live with purpose and dignity simply by purchasing a beautifully crafted scarf? Yes, please. I just adore companies like fashionABLE and Noonday that help us help… Continue Reading…fashionABLE

                34 things

                  1. Today is my birthday 2. I’m 34 3. October 5th is a very common birthday {go back 10 months and you get New Year’s. Looks like some folks were doing more than kissing at the stroke of midnight}. 4. I always thought it was… Continue Reading…34 things

                  book page pumpkins

                    Because I am completely not over the book page thing and because it is the world’s easiest way to add autumn style to inexpensive plasticky pumpkins {and gourds} I present you with a very simple, very kid-friendly, very un-original tutorial: Here’s what you’ll need: ::… Continue Reading…book page pumpkins