April 27, 2016

How To Make Faux Beams

I love rustic beams. I have been bugging suggesting to my husband that we put beams in our living room and family room for years. When I finally painted the existing beam in our living room, that was covered in drywall, to look like wood, he agreed that we could add some more details.

I wanted our beams to do this...

I didn't know what to call it so I showed a picture to my husband.

He never said a word. He just disappeared into the garage and I thought he was cleaning up from what we had just finished. When I went out to check on him, I found him making these!


He mitered the sides so that they fit together perfectly and so that they looked like solid beams.
He reinforced them.
And put the lid on them!
He then delivered them to me to be painted. I wanted to paint them so that they would match the faux wood treatment I'd already done in here.


We had already gotten boards that matched the width of the beam on the ceiling. He attached them to the wall...
using big bolts that we pre-painted black.
We did the same thing on the opposite wall - added a board down the wall and attached our faux beam. The black bolts tie in with the black gate hinges on the shutters.
Now I'm bugging  suggesting to him that we need another one on the other side of the room!
We've also recently added some wood trim to hallways and I hope to add some to the wall with the mirror. And I've almost gotten all of our doors painted and will show them to you soon!

You can see more pictures of this room on yesterday's post.

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12


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April 25, 2016

Florals, Beams and a New Coffee Table in the Living Room

Happy Monday!

I like Mondays! Everyone else in my family leaves for school and work and I like to help our house recover from the weekend. It always feels good to me to get things back in order.

We had a nice weekend and got to get out in our yard and get some projects started, even though we had some rain.

And there's nothing like warm weather to make you want to lighten things up inside! Our living room has gone through several changes over the last couple of years and with Spring making a slow arrival here in Michigan, I thought it was the perfect time to add some florals and color to this room.

Some other things have changed in this room, as well. I found this coffee table on Craig's List. I haven't painted it yet, and probably will soon, but I love that it has the cane lower shelf which matches our new dining room chairs.

We finally moved our piano out of this room enabling me to put our Bergere chairs up against the wall, which really opened up this space.
I took the toile off the back of this chair (see how I did it here) and replaced it with some embroidered lattice fabric that I bought last year. I made a matching pillow for the love seat and added a small floral pillow.

But my favorite change is our new beams! I will show you how my husband made these in a later post.
They add the rustic feel that I love and balance out all the feminine florals I've put in here.
This is the view as you walk in from our entry way.
The wall you see to your left is our stairway to the upstairs.

My little azalea topiary needs a good shaping but everywhere I started to trim had a new bud ready to bloom, so I'll wait until it's done.
I put two of my favorite framed canvases over the fireplace. You may remember I had the smaller one over the stove and someone kindly warned me that cooking would damage it. I've replaced it with a large floral plate.

Some beautiful pink roses I picked up at the grocery story echo the paintings. I found the antique wooden 'shovel' at a nearby antique shop. It used to hang on the family room wall but I've replaced it for Spring. I found the French candle stick at Tuesday Morning in Grand Rapids. The mirror to the right used to hang in our entry.
I love the new beams and I'm already suggesting to my husband that we need one on the other side of the room. (He doesn't think so.) :)


I'll be back soon to show you how my amazing husband created these beams and to show you some Spring changes in the family room.

Have a wonderful day!

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."

April 19, 2016

Let Him Who Has Ears...

The more and more I have thought, unto the Lord, about my last post, the more and more understanding I get. Please don't think for one minute that I am happy about the things that the Lord is revealing to me. But very honestly, I have suspected something like this for years.

More than ten years ago, we were attending a local church. When the Holy Spirit began to move in the worship dance ministry that I was leading, I was pressured out of the church. It was a traumatic and painful experience for me but during that season the Lord began to speak to me in very dramatic ways.

First, He proved to me that I was hearing Him. I could write a book about what happened in that season but let me just say that God began to tell me very 'odd' things. Then He would prove to me that I had heard Him.

For instance, I had been one of the small group leaders for a women's Bible study at this same church. We were just getting ready to start Beth Moore's The Patriarchs when the Lord asked me to step down. I obeyed. Then He told me not to even take the Bible study.

I confess that I was really disappointed because I was enjoying these studies so much.

Immediately after that the Lord began to lead me to read in Genesis and began to give me amazing revelation. I had a dear friend who was still leading one of the small groups. We would talk often and I would share what the Lord was showing me. Then, amazingly, she would get the same thing from The Patriarchs Bible study! This happened through the entire Bible study.

The Lord taught me the same Bible study by the Holy Spirit! The really amazing part to me was the details the Lord told me.

There were honestly some things that God did in this season that overwhelmed me a bit. I began to see angels and demons and become very aware of what was going on in the spirit realm and that took some adjustment. One day, I became so aware of something God had done, that I had to leave the house.

And then God began to break off some religious principles that I had been taught in the church. I'm not going to share these things today because I want the timing and the release of the Lord. It took Him some drama to set me free because I was very ingrained into the ways of the church.

One day, I was walking across my dining room when the Lord spoke to me and  His Presence was like a weight that drove me to my knees. And that still wasn't enough to get me set free of the thing He had spoken to me about. It took months of me saying, "Are You sure?" before I had peace. The Spirit of Religion is a strong and binding spirit that keeps The Body from the joy and freedom that God desires His people to have.

I'm telling you all this because I know that I have said things on my blog that trouble some of you. And I get it. There was a time in my walk with the Lord that I could not have heard the things I know now. I would have become offended and immediately shut the door to what was being said. This is why Jesus talks about us being able to 'hear' Him.

The Lord showed me the spirit of pride once. It had hands over the eyes and ears of a person and it put a hand out in front of them held out in a 'stop' position.  The next day, I was in a 'discussion' with an elderly gentleman and saw him do this same motion!

I do my best to obey the Holy Spirit in my encounters with people. Sometimes, the conviction of the Holy Spirit comes on me and I share what the Lord is putting on my heart and the person is greatly offended and rejects the Word. And I have learned to live with that.

But I know there are people out there who are hearing the Holy Spirit and need encouragement to survive in the organized church and this world.  I cannot tell you how much I appreciate those who have befriended me on Facebook and by email and give me such loving, encouraging words daily.

love and blessings~





April 18, 2016

Our Kitchen Island

Happy Monday! Spring has finally come to Michigan and we had a wonderful weekend helping our daughter and son in law pick out some new flowering bushes for their yard and get them planted. 

I'm also adding lots of Spring to our house these days! I have always loved florals and I've been getting some old favorites out and adding them back into our decor.

Our kitchen island has always been a fun place to decorate. It's in the very center of our main floor and you can see it from the living room and dining room and even parts of it from the family room, so I like to change it with the seasons.

I got this beautiful bunch of alstroemeria at the grocery store this week. When I was looking up the spelling I saw that they're poisonous so maybe they're not the best choice for the kitchen! Ha!

I got this little chalk board at Tuesday Morning when we were in Auburn, AL. I managed to fit it in my suitcase and bring it back home! lol It was a little brighter turquoise than this when I bought it and I gave it a coat of SW Interesting Aqua.
It's perfect for a simple message or to help me remember what's important.
This part of our island is right above our sink. If you're like me, you spend a lot of time right here so it's nice to have things here you enjoy.
I got this set of canisters many years ago at HomeGoods.
Our island divides our kitchen, dining room and family room. It's shaped kind of like a 'Y.'
It's always a challenge to try and make the center of it look nice from all directions and I have to travel all around it to clean it. I can't reach the whole thing from one side.
I have always loved this area when we have holidays or family dinners. I can fill this whole counter with snacks and desserts and still have counter space to prepare a meal.

The little wet bar was intended for mixed drinks and there used to be an ice maker in this area. It didn't work when we bought the house and when we redid our kitchen, we took it out and built a niche in this area. This picture is a flash back to when I had this area painted brown. I am really liking the blue now.
We have added some fun changes to our living room lately. I'm adding some Spring to the decor and will be back soon to show you the room.

Have a wonderful day!
love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12

April 15, 2016

Instead of Christ

I read a very interesting blog article the other day. I didn't save it and now I can't find it. But when I woke up this morning, the Lord began to give me some direction that I'm very excited about.

In this blog, this male Christian blogger proposed that the Free Evangelical Church is the anti-Christ. He defended this thought well - the biggest thing I remember is him saying that Jesus had the harshest criticisms for the religious.

I heard a long time ago that the spirit of anti-Christ should also be thought of as 'instead of Christ.' I have felt for a long time that the majority of today's churches have an instead of Christ attitude ~ having a form of Godliness but denying the power within.

When is the last time you attended church and received healing? saw a miracle? a deliverance?

Instead, there are programs to raise money to build a new building and marketing strategies to 'reach' the community. I attended a church several years ago that paid a man, who was a professional church marketing strategist, to create a program to raise money for the church!  I was in leadership at that time and was asked to create part of the service that would kick-off this campaign.

I remember standing in this meeting feeling the grief of the Holy Spirit. The events that surrounded this became the catalyst that God used to set me free from religion.

I was shocked the first time I entered a church and received a 'program' that gave the details of the service. Apparently, no one expected the Holy Spirit to move during the service and I suspect if God had found a way to 'move,' it would have been quenched.

We've all heard it said that the churches don't need the Holy Spirit to do 99% of what they're doing today. And we are the church. It's hard today to tell a lot of difference between an American Christian and anybody else.

We dress the same, divorce the same, have intimate relationships before marriage the same, use pharmaceuticals and doctors instead of receiving healing from God, have the same illnesses, the same poverty, etc, etc, etc, ~ all the while professing Christ. The church has an 'instead of Christ' spirit.

This morning, I woke up about 5 am, which is unusual for me. As I lay there, inwardly grumbling that I was going to be tired today, the Lord began to give me a vision.

I saw people entering a building and greeting each other in the foyer and talking. But I saw a sanctuary door closed, with a sign on the door telling people that prayer and worship was going on. After they had greeted each other, the people entered the sanctuary quietly with awe and reverence for the Lord and there was a cloud of glory in this room. The chairs were set in a circle with everybody facing each other.  There was no platform and no obvious leader. There was a small group of musicians in the corner playing worship songs as the people prayed and worshiped.

When the Holy Spirit began to move, people began to give Words from the Lord. The entire thing was Spirit led - prayer, worship, what was spoken, and every 'service' would be completely different as the Lord led. There was a 'gentle' leader that would keep order and point to who's turn it was to speak but no one 'screened' the Words. If someone gave a Word that was not 'pure', it was 'tweaked' by those in the congregation, until everyone felt they had heard what God wanted to say to them today.

As the Lord led, there would be prayer for healing, deliverance, etc.

When the Holy Spirit released the people, they went to a meal. This meal was a true communion ~ eating and drinking together unto the Lord, remembering Jesus and honoring the Body of Christ.

I'm not going to add anything to this. I have sought the Lord for many years regarding these things and was blessed by what He showed me this morning. Please let Him speak to you regarding these things.

love and blessings~



April 14, 2016

A Romantic French Kitchen

We put all new cabinet fronts on our kitchen almost two years ago. It was a major change and since our kitchen is open to our living room, dining area and family room, it has made such a big difference.

I started out a little too farmhouse but eventually found my way back to French Country. I've been adding a little romance to our kitchen lately with blue and white and some other accessories.

This framed canvas of roses is one of my favorite things.

It's been in our master bedroom but it was on the wall where our barn door opens so I've moved it to the kitchen.  An ivy planted in a little blue and white watering can and a small urn complete the vignette.
Our back splash is bead board. I hung a little frieze of angels above the stove that I've had forever.

I edited my Ode de Charles Faudree a bit by taking away a few plates and adding another corbel. (I thought it all looked really straight but I don't think it does in this picture!)
I also recently painted this small section of our island again. If you remember, it was Seal Brown by SW. Now it's SW Rain which is one of the colors I've used on our family room shutters. With our shutters in the dining room and living room being brown, I decided now I wanted this to be blue. lol Someone suggested this when I was trying to decide what color to paint this. Thank you!

My husband told my daughter, "When I left the house this morning some things were brown and some things were blue. When I came home, the things that were brown are now blue and vice versa." Poor man!

You can see from these pictures why I would want our kitchen to be a little more formal than most kitchens. We can see it from every room.
I'm on the hunt for some new bar stools. I've never loved these but I also need three now for our three grand children. They come over often for lunch during the week and our youngest little guy (10 mos) needs a bar stool now. :)  Fitting three in here might be a little close but I'm going to try it.

I keep thinking that I'd like to have different hardware on this blue section just to dress it up a bit and also make it feel like a separate cabinet. Maybe I'll see if I can find some the next time I go to Grand Rapids HobbyLobby.


I had done an antiquing glaze to our cabinets a while back. It added some nice depth from far away but up close, it just looked dirty to me. So I also gave our doors a fresh coat of SW Sand.
It feels so much fresher to me now and I love a kitchen that feels really clean.

I'll be back soon with more changes. Have a wonderful day!

love and blessings~
"Behold, I will set your stones in turquoise, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. I will make your summits of rubies and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones."
Isaiah 54:11,12

Cabinet color: SW Sand in Satin and SW Rain in Satin

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