My Decorating Style

When we moved into the house we are currently living in 4 years ago and I changed my decorating style many people told me I must be crazy to paint my furniture white.  And to tell you the truth a few years ago I would have thought the same, white furniture and young children just don't mix.  Well it was the best thing I ever did, for starters you can see if it is dirty and if the coffee table happens to get scratched or marked you can either say it is part of the charm or take it outside and give it a fresh coat of paint. 

It is such a great style to have with young children you can pick stuff up cheap and make it over, then there is not concern if accidents happen.  I would much prefer my kids to be able to be kids and learn to take care of things that are not valuable.  How much more will they care for items of value.  I also have never put things up when my children are toddlers, I taught them what they could and could not touch and when we went visiting I did not have to worry about them touching and breaking things.  And yes one of my children was a strong willed child and it did take a lot more work this this one than my other two but it can be done.  Will post about how I did this at a later stage.

At the moment my decorating style is shabby meet cottage with french provincial twists and a bit of contemporary.  I am not a true shabby chic as I am not really into lots of floral, lace and frills around the place.  I love french and cottage kitchens and love white furniture and two toned furniture.  I also love country stuff as well.  Decorating with this style has made our house a lot more homely.  And another great thing about this style you can pick up old pieces of furniture and give them a face lift.  It is perfect for my stage of life.  I love to mix and match stuff from different styles.

Here are a few photos of my house.  You will see more in later posts.

I painted our old coffee table white and put baskets under it.  One basket for news papers one for decorating/craft magazines and one for knee blankets.

 I picked this kitchen hutch up for next to nothing it had been used in a garage to store tools and stuff I sanded it and gave it a fresh coat of paint and new draw knobs.

Yes we even have a whitish dog, well where we live he is quite often tinted orange as he has a love for dirt and mud.

I did up our old pine bed it was starting to look dull you know the look pine gets when it is getting old.  I painted it antique white and got the spray of flowers sent over from America and it has made such a difference.  I will be doing a post on our bedroom in the coming weeks.  I gave our room a makeover as an anniversary gift for my hubby.

Moving here was one part of discovering me I had always been kind of tomboyish, trying so hard not to be a girl, but also wanting to be a girl but just now knowing where to start or wanting to look silly in the process.  Learning to like me has been a long had hard journey one that I am still on.  Growing up I was constantly aware that I never really measured up, though no one would have known.  How easy it is to hide how we feel inside. I am the Master of mask making.  I was a pastors kid and ran the youth group, and Sunday school, song lead regally, shared in Church, while all the time feeling that I was not good enough.  I had a good relationship with the Lord as he was my only real friend, but still struggled with who I was and that I was not good enough. 

I have to remind myself daily that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  I am a child of God and was created by him and by not liking me I am telling God that his creation is a mistake.  I am sure I am not the only one who battles with who they are, but once we start to discover God and his heart we can learn to accept our self.  For me this is my struggle, the one thing I battle with, the one thing I do not want to pass onto my children.  Oh how I want them to be secure in who they are and know they are amazing and measure up. 

So how did I get onto that oh that's right decorating, learning what I like and to put pretty things out is okay, to let people know I like china and girly stuff is okay.  To want to make a nice homely home for my family is again okay.  I don't have to keep all this inside I can let people see me and if they don't like it that is okay.  It does not change who I am.

Psalm 139:14 declares, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”