To Read on the Journey

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

A bit of creativity

I married into a family of very creative and handy people (see imperfect ). As a young boy, my husband and his siblings had the opportunity to work alongside their parents. Michael can usually figure out how to do most anything. The Jones family inspires me to think outside the box and to be creative. Here are a few things we have worked on this summer.
This is a buffet on long term loan to us from my sister-in-law Lindsey. Originally it was an antiqued mustardy yellow color, but we decide to paint it red. We added some inexpensive botanical prints on the wall behind it. Any suggestions on what color to paint the frames or how to jazz up the lamp?
More botanical prints above the piano (the frames came a grayish green color). The piano has an amazing story. When we built this house, pre sheet rock, we had some friends over for a graffiti night. We graffiti'd the house with scriptures, hymns, and praise songs. On this spot where the piano is, I wrote "Worship the Lord with gladness- home of our future piano" We did not have a piano at the time, could never afford one, but I had always wanted one, wanted to learn to play, and wanted my children to learn to play. 2 weeks after we moved into our home an acquaintance called, she said she had a piano that she needed to get rid of, she considered selling it, when I came to mind, and she said if I wanted it I could have it! Michael cleaned, stripped, and painted it. The piano tuner came and gave it some love'n too. This fall will begin mine and Noah's third year of lessons, Emilie's second, and Josie's first (with thanks to my mom for her $ help for lessons). The blessing of the piano makes me think about all the other words written on this house, and to have great expectations for all the ways God will use them to shape our lives.
The accent pillows on the couch were sown by me. Lindsey has been my sewing inspiration and teacher. My mother-in-law Cindy helped me with piping on the blue floral pillows.

I am a fan of anything Mary Englebright. You can see my very Mary kitchen above. after painting it 4x, I think I finally got the right color of green (I think). This week, after 2 1/2 years of living here, we finally added handles and knobs to the cabinets and drawers. The island was given to us by, you guessed it, Lindsey!

For the outdoors I got some inexpensive pots at Wal-Mart, painted them, and added them as accents in the yard. The hydrangea above bloomed just in time to welcome me home from the Azores!
This easle was from our old house in Bass Lake. The woman who lived there before us was a painter. Like many things, I have dragged it everywhere with us, waiting to find a home for it.
I finally decided to paint it, and to add a chalk board to it. Tucked in the corner of the yard, it is a welcome sign for guests, a place to write scripture or quotes, or a place for the kids to get creative too.

5 comments:

Lisa Leonard said...

love the red buffet. your home is beautiful. it looks so bright and cheery! also love the pics from your trip.

lindsey said...

the red looks great - way to be bold! i think the lampshade needs to be darker - you can paint it. the easel looks great painted with the chalkboard, and i love where you put it!

melissa said...

I suggest you paint the wall behind the red buffet a rich warm color, then the frames & the lamp (and the buffet!) will just pop.

Sarah Markley said...

What a beautiful home you have! It seems so calm and airy - a good place for kiddos!

Sarah Markley said...

Thanks, Denise, for your comment on my post! I put you as a link too. I love reading you too.