Meet the Neighbors

I pray y'all had a wonderful weekend!

Friday brought a visit from Miss S, my college girl, and her roommate, Miss M,
whose family is in Virginia. I treated them with some scones and blueberry cobbler, which they loved. They spent the night and I discovered that I still love slumber parties!

Saturday we started our organic vegetable garden.

Sunday was a sweet day of worship and togetherness with my God family.

 Mark and I visited some open houses and then shared some coffee, chocolate mousse cake,

and dreams of the future at a coffee house downtown.

Monday comes again, and with it, the work of home.

And it's a job, isn't it?

Let's see what some of you have been up to!

Ruthie, a newbie blogger at The Christian Girl's Cottage found the perfect solution
to corralling her son's treasures in his bedroom.

Everything was out in the open. Driving her crazy.

She found this armoire with a fold out desk inside!
And what's more, she got a great deal: just over $100.




It keeps her young man organized and keeps her sane.

Ruthie also acknowledged:

"what a blessing to be called mom. 

and find dirty socks on the floor.  

and wet towels in the closet. 

and basketballs in the middle of the floor 

to trip on in the middle of the night."

Give our new blogging sister some love HERE.

~

Sandy's site: Organize with Sandy is chock full of ideas for space management.

She shared several ways to neatly store out purses and handbags.

From mayhem.

To management.

Miraculous!

She has a series of ideas on purse management at her place HERE.

~

I was ever-so-glad to meet Debra from Life in a 320 Square Foot Cottage.

I think, if anyone has some ideas about simplifying and priorities it's her!

She says: 

"It was not a simple idea, this, of scaling down.

It was even more difficult to execute, and required mountains of courage,

and truckloads of patience.

We went from a 2,500 square foot home to an 800 square foot apartment,

then down to a completely paid for, no mortgage owed

tiny cottage of 320 square feet.

WE LOVE IT!

Maybe we will inspire others to simplfy.

There are many ways to simplify. 

This is just one."

Wanna see her adorable, cozy new home?

Click on her header and go say "HI"!

You will be enchanted and enthralled and encouraged!

After reading her posts, I pondered: 

"How much do I really NEED?"

~

I really have some neat neighbors!

Don't I?

.

Basement Kitchen to French Cafe' - Welcome!

We built this home back in 2001,
with a basement for my grandmother, Gram (Mimi to the girls).

The basement held her living room, sitting area, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.

She lived with us for 7 years, and since she could no longer drive 
and she missed playing Bridge with her friends,
it would be better for her to go to a place more suited for her.
So, she moved back to the same elderly apartment housing in Florida
that she had come from before moving in with us, where she'd have better supervision,
a bus to ride to Publix on Tuesdays, and Bridge partners to beat on Thursdays.

And we had this empty space in our home and hearts when she left.

One night, after she'd settled in her new apartment, I called her at her new number,
and Gram and I talked about what she might like us to do with her space when she was gone.

She thought we should share it with others.

And so, because of our love of coffee and chatting and people, 

we thought a cafe' would be fun in the kitchen space!

This space would become CAFE' DE SOUS-SOL 

which means Basement Coffee House in French.

Though the transformation took almost 8 months (we pay cash for everything and remain debt-free!), here is what took place over those months:

We didn't use chalkboard paint (too expensive) we used an oops!
Glidden paint in washable, scrubbable black paint.

The wall got Kilz primed, then the black was rolled on 

h o r i z o n t a l l y, 

then 

v

e

r

t

i

c

a

l

l

y.

It washes and erases just like the other "real" chalkboard surfaces we have around the house.

I found the tables on Craigslist, they came from an old hotel cafeteria.

All the cabinets came out, were sold on Craigslist, and with that $, I bought shelving at Ikea.

Instead of add moulding around the window, I drew some! 

The ceiling is lit with strands of white Christmas lights.

The yellow wall color is Provence Creme 320A-2 by Behr.

The cabinet color is Rhythmic Blue 510E-2 by Behr.

Every dish was either found at Goodwill, a Yard Sale, or an heirloom.

I had no idea what to do with this corner when we first started. 

I figured it would just come to me.

And then found this stainless steel fridge at a yard sale for $40, 

a wall shelving niche for $10 at a salvage yard, and my daughter no longer wanted this dresser in her room. And I got this idea...

A Beverage Station!
The glasses are vintage jelly jars in 4 different sizes, all found at four different times at the same GW!
The dresser holds linens, candles, seasonal decor and A LOT
of only God knows what  miscellaneous items.

To the far left, a view into our now office, the bathroom (doncha love looking at a potty with the seat up?) and the far right door is the entrance to the cafe'.

I put the seat down, is that better?

When making over this area, I would ask the Lord to provide what I needed that I might use the items 
for the people He would bring to my home.

And He did. He provided every plate, utensil, linen, piece of furniture.

Our favorite blessing of this area is that we get to share it with others.

We have had HOA and Parent's meetings, Birthday,
Anniversary and Welcome Home parties here.

Friends, family and strangers alike, are all welcome here.

I feel so blessed to have a space like this in my home!

If you are passing through SC, stop on in, I'll put on some coffee for you!


Share with others.
Be inventive in hospitality.
Romans 12:13

Inventive- adjective

1. apt at inventing, devising, or contriving.

2. apt at creating with the imagination.

3. having the function of inventing.

4. pertaining to, involving, or showing invention.

The wall decal was made by Tonya at Fruitful Vine Creations. 

I gave her a size, color and the phrase I wanted, and she gave me several proofs to choose from. 

After I paid for it (around $25 inc. shipping), it was at my front door in 3 days! 

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

A peek into our Salle de Bain, the cafe' bathroom.
Click HERE to see it.

Let the party begin!

My artiste friend, Sandra, gifted me with the Eiffel tower!

And a table for 4!

This is the open shelving I used.
HENSVIK from Ikea.

My $20 étagère, found at a thrift store!

.I am over at Sarah's place: Modern Country Style for a Kitchen Favourites Party!
Also over at Gina's place: Shabby Chic Cottage: Transformation Thursday!
.

The Ornaments that Come Once in a While

Ever heard the phrase: "The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it"?

I believe it is SO true.

However:

In order to impress my guests with my supreme homemaking abilities, I used to think I needed 

to have the house immaculate and exquisitely decorated, the floors scrubbed, 

everything vacuumed and in its place.

I might even have had to go buy something to complete the vignette in a corner, 

 so that it didn't look like I actually leave some things undone.

I used to wig out days ahead of time in preparation for company 

(even if it was just for a simple dinner), and get ever increasingly filled with angst 

(I like this word) as the time approached.

Boy, was I a beast-monster. 

I didn't want the girls to mess anything up or take anything out 

(toys, books, clothes, food- just kidding about the food).

And so, when I would occasionally announce that we were having so-and-so over for such-and-such, 

there was a collective moan, knowing the torture that would accompany the 48-72 hours prior 

to the arrival of so-and-so.

Once, not so long ago, my younger daughter, 

while I was barking orders to her in full-on clean-up-the-house-and-perfect-it mode, 

she said: "Mom, I hate having people over."

I, in shock and disdain, asked her "why?"

She replied, through gritted teeth: 

"Because you are so mean to us before they get here, 

and then act like we're this perfect, happy little family when they get here."

Whoa.

I was leaving a nasty legacy to my girls: perfectionism.

Why was I so ugly to those that I loved the most and ready to treat the visitors as first place, 

while treating my own as second place, or worse: servants?

I wanted my daughters to learn to love showing warmth and love to others, 

yet while I was in preparation for others, I withheld it from them.

Oh, the conviction and tears!

The solution to my ten issues (tennis shoes), 

was to have a better time budget that consisted of regular straightening and cleaning of the house...

that's another post (or 10) altogether.

Anyway, once I organized my own time better and and made my OWN self responsible for it, 

the house is (or can be) ready at a moment's (or at least a few hours') notice...

Our homes should be a first place of ministry, and, out of that love we share as a family, 

should flow sincere concern and benevolence towards everyone else.

So, rephrasing the phrase:

The treasure of our house will be the family who lives in it 

(and until you treasure them, you can't appreciate the ornaments that come once in a while).

Who are you treasuring today?