There’s a lot to say about this 50 square foot room and it’s hard to figure out where to start.  I’ve always disliked this bathroom.  When we purchased our 130 year old home a few years ago, I was smitten and willing to deal with any of the inconveniences that would come our way.   The bathrooms were small and not very cute, but hey! there’s two of them!  As time went on, I began to really want to take a relaxing bath – a good ol’ soak in the tub with the door shut, some bubbles, and some wine.  The bathtub downstairs is super small.  I didn’t realize it at first, because I was very pregnant and I thought maybe it was me, not the tub, causing the problem.  Later I realized it was actually the tub.  And the tub in the bathroom upstairs never worked as a bath.  After asking Jeff to fix it and watching him work on it for days, we gave up.

My Papa owned a construction company.  There’s so many amazing things that I could say about his business sense, his love for his family, and his time in the military, but for the purpose of this little story, I’ll just mention this.  His start as a contractor led him to owning a company that built and renovated huge homes for people.  The last thing he worked on was a beautiful renovation and restoration of an older home.   He never got to complete it, but he was sure proud of that thing.  Every time we talked he’d update me on the tile shipped in from Europe or how old the doors were.

A couple of days before he passed away in February, he told my mom to do something nice for me and my sister after he died.   A couple months after he was gone, she mailed me a check and said “fix your upstairs bathroom.”   We deposited the check, got a contractor, and started designing and thinking.

I’ve never had the chance to think of a concept of a room from the ground up.  I’m a budget decorator, so if I want a new look for a room, I go to thrift stores and garage sales and rearrange things.  Add a couple plants and call it done.  I loved being able to start with a clean slate.  I loved pouring over the details and imagining how I wanted us to feel in the room.

We picked 2″ black hexagon tile for the flooring, white for the walls, and a pine vanity from Ikea to break it all up.  Subway tile for the bath, fun tile for some recessed boxes in the shower, and black faucets.  When the bathroom was finished, I was prepared with a giant bottle of bubble bath, a candle, and a glass of wine.  My first soak in that tub included a few tears and a lot of gratitude.

I love so much the meaning behind this little remodel.  It’s so fitting for it to be one of meaning and history.  I love that when I look at it, I see my Papa’s life work and my mom’s generosity.  When I admire the floors, I remember his love for making a home beautiful and solid and my Nannie’s gift for homemaking and raising a family.  When I watch my kids brush their teeth or when I give them a bath, I love thinking about how Nannie and Papa’s legacy lives on.

Our days are saturated with the thoughts and opinions of other sources telling us how we should dress, eat, exercise, raise our children, treat our spouses, and decorate our homes.  I get caught in that trap.  Scrolling through Instagram, staring at all the rooms with the perfect light and the clean floors and the beautiful couch/rug/light fixture/fiddle leaf fig/pillows, etc.  and my  knee jerk reaction is to think if that’s what pretty is, I need to do that.  So I look up from that tiny yet powerful rectangle held in my hand and see dust, toys, a granola bar wrapper, and my less than perfect everything.  It doesn’t look like what I just saw in those squares.  I’ll just have to make it look like that, I think.  But then I quickly realize I don’t have the time or resources to get there.  Thankfully.  Because there is not where I am.  There is there and here is here and I’m HERE.  And what I have is my own little space that isn’t defined by a square found on a rectangle.   It’s defined by me and mine.  When I realize that, I’m free to make it mine.  Which, for me, means thrift stores and garage sales and family heirlooms and things I make.  And it means it might be perfect today but next Tuesday I will probably want to move some things around and then it’ll be perfect again.  I’m constantly thinking about what spaces the kids gravitate towards and why and where we as a family spend our time and how to make those spaces work better for us.

Here’s what else being okay with being here and not there does for me and you.  It makes us more confident to invite people in.  To invite people here.  To throw some meat, cheese, and nuts on a platter, open a bottle of wine, turn some music on, and be with others.   But when we compare to those squares on that rectangle, when we try to define ourselves by a digital framework that came long after what truly defines us entered this world, we want to wait until everything looks like that.  When I finish this project, I’ll have people over.  When I get a bigger table, we can have people over for dinner.  When I paint this room, I can have guests here.  I love a pretty picture as much as the next person.  I love rooms with clean floors and perfect couches and new pillows.  But, that ain’t always real life, friends.  Real life is what I have to work with and I’m not going to wait for square on a rectangle perfect to live it.

One of the simplest and most fun places for me to decorate is my front door.  A cute door mat and a wreath go a long way.  Here is a cute little tutorial to make a wreath for your door.

I arranged my flowers several different ways until I decided.  Then I glued them on the wreath, then I attached greenery wherever worked.  I thought it looked best to add greenery to each end of the floral design and then a little throughout to finish it off.  Add a ribbon to attach to the hook and you’re done!  The whole thing takes less than thirty minutes!

I hope if you find time to do this, you are able to let your mind reflect on how you use your home and what you hope for it.

-racheal

I am beyond excited about spring and the fact that it is time to get some plants in the yard and on porches and back decks and all over the place.

I have a square foot garden that has officially been unsuccessful for 6 years now.  Mainly because of my lack of watering skills, or I should say “remembering to water” skills.  I just decided this year it is time for a change.  I am going to embrace my abilities and inabilities and I am going to fill my square foot gardens with wildflowers.  Flowers are more up my alley than vegetables anyways.

I plan to cut some weekly, maybe even daily, to line our kitchen table.  More than that I plan to give them away. Flowers are meant to be enjoyed and shared.  The beauty of wildflowers are they’re free to just be.  They exist in the full beauty of how they were created.

I don’t always feel free to be me or appreciate that I am made the way I am for a reason. For a purpose. A lot of times I just feel like a hot mess.

This week I was able to be honest about my downfalls as a mama, especially when it comes to routine.  We really struggle with getting out the door on time (well I do) and I finally reached my tipping point when I not only was late dropping off my oldest to school, but I had to walk him inside and sign him in because it was well past the bell.  I usually tend to try to fix it on my own, but I had reached my wits end. So, I decided to ask for help.  The response was amazing.  I had so many mamas who excel in this area reach out to me with tips and tricks.  More than that, I had so many mamas who encouraged me and cheered me on.  I could have let my weaknesses tap into my insecurities of not being a great mom, instead I let their help become an opportunity to grow.  It was very freeing. 

I only hope to get to do the same for others one day.  We aren’t all great at everything.  We are all made to be great at some things and to share those gifts. 

Instead of focusing on what we can’t do or where we fall short, what if we leaned into someone with that strength and they carried us?  And what if they did the same?  What if we were made with strengths and weakness so that we could not do it on our own.  What if we were meant to find freedom in holding each other up? 

As I try a new approach to my square foot gardens this summer, I hope that the flowers on my table and the flowers I share, only remind me of the beauty of choosing to just be who I was created to be.  Thank goodness, I go better with others.

-Erin

1. Choose your seeds.  I chose a standard mix.  I love bright colors so I made sure my mix included zinnias, which I know I have successfully grown before. 
2. Choose your location.  Check the back of your seed packet for information on if the plants will need mostly sun or part shade.  The square foot gardens at our house are shaded in the morning but have full afternoon sun so I got the full sun mix.
3. Ready the soil.  I use this soil which I have found in the past is great for seed starting.  Use a rake to break apart any clumps in the soil and smooth out the surface.
4. Spread the seeds. I sprinkle in one direction and try to scatter them smoothly from my hand.  Try to get them evenly dispersed throughout the flower bed.  Some will take and some will not.
5. Spread the soil around with your hand or walk over them to pat them down from the wind.  You won’t want to plant them too deep or they won’t grow, but you do want to make sure they are slightly covered by soil.
6. Water.  Occasionally–thats the best part to me.  The soil just needs to stay moist.  They may need more water in the hotter months of summer but don’t over water them.  Sprouting should occur in about 2 weeks.
7. Love them.  Place them in mason jars on your tables and window sills.  Put them in your hair, but most of all give them to your people, your neighbors or anyone needing a little more love in their life.

We have been stuck inside this week as the “spring” weather here in Missouri has had its emotional breakdown.  Getting that cabin fever, I decided it was time for a little change. When it comes to decorating, I will be the first to admit that I am no expert.  But, I do love it!  I’m a firm believer that switching things up can add a little life back into a room, even if just to a small part of the room.  For something simple and quick, I usually start with a focal point.  We have this floating shelf in our living room that I decided that needed a little brighter update.  Maybe it will inadvertently bring on that spring weather.

What makes a shelf really cool is that it’s a collection of things.  In a way, it lets people see who you are: what interests you, what inspires you, what encourages you.  It’s really an act of sharing.  I’m inviting you in and in exchange you get to see a little glimpse of who I am.

Here are some guidelines I follow when collecting items for decorating a shelf.

Something inspiring:

The mountain range photo frame was given to me by my brother-in-law for Christmas. It says “An Epic Adventure” which tells so much about my hopes for how life can be, making the everyday our adventure. 

Something meaningful:

Actually, the shelf itself was a gift from my dad.  I go heavy on the meaningful guys.  (But, you don’t have to.) The older painting of trees behind it was a yard sale find with my grandma (who shares my love for collecting things), so it will always be special to me.  The photo in front is our family (taken by my sister in law). I love how,in this photo, we are all holding hands.  We look strong.

Something living:

I am quite “extra” when it comes to plants.  My friends sometimes call me a crazy plant lady but you just gotta own it.  I love the tropical leaves on this plant, defying the weather outside.  I also love the height that it brings to the collection. 

Something with texture: 

My sister gave me the pot for the plant. The pottery on this shelf blends in well with the colors and ads a fun texture with its cement material and its free form patterns.

Something Fun:

I am loving this llama trend right now.  I found a bright little pink and yellow llama table place card holder at Pier one and took her right home.  I removed the wire for the card and now she lives here on the shelf.  She makes me smile.

Tips for Styling

Layer

I tend to like the more asymmetrical looks.  I stacked the 4 frames more toward the left side of the shelf.  You don’t have to play by the rules.  If you like the way something looks, then it’s right.  I kind of love doing weird things and this shows through the feather print in the back on it’s side. In this case I like the height that this print brings and how the horizontal gold line almost frames the corner of the items on the shelf like a display.  Its gold & white coloring also compliments the round plate on the other side, bringing the whole shelf together.

Compliment Colors

I usually try to stick within a color palette of maybe 2-3 colors that really go well together and blend well into your room.  I have hints of different shades of blues throughout my living room.  I tried to bring in a little of those to compliment the surroundings.  I also added in a pop of pink with the candle and the llama to tie in my favorite sofa pillow.  A little pop of color goes a long way. 

Edit

This is the part where I like to stand back and look at it.  Walk around the room.  Leave the room and come back.  Move, take away.  NOTHING is permanent.

In the end there are no right ways to spruce up a shelf.  This is your house.  You’re going to be the one who sees it on the regular; show off and let it be an expression of you.  

Invite others in, be you. 

Check out this styled look