Inspired You

A few days before my birthday this month, I received a package with my first birthday present- a book, called Inspired You. I was getting dinner together, but I flipped through a few pages and checked out the table of contents. I was immediately excited to sit down and read through the entire book. So as soon as the kids went to bed, I sat down on the couch and spent the rest of my Friday night reading this book!

Inspired You is written by Marian Parsons from Miss Mustard Seed, and is a book about finding your God-given creativity to create a beautiful home! The book is full of gorgeous photography, decorating inspiration and spiritual encouragement. I particularly love the subtitle: Letting God Breathe New Life into Your Heart and Home.

She shares tutorials, like how to make pleated curtains, build an ottoman and paint furniture. She gives lots of ideas and tips on shopping for decorations (think thrift stores and auctions), and helps you evaluate your perspective and attitude towards your home! It not only inspires you to create a more beautiful home, but gives lots of encouragement and confidence boosting along the way! You'll walk away from this book viewing your home in a different way, and you'll feel more motivated and capable to make some changes! As I read, I felt like I was flipping through a magazine because of all the beautiful pictures, yet it was easy reading like a blog. (You definitely can’t get the full experience of this book through the Kindle version!)

Since we've made our big move and have started to decorate our big house, it was encouraging to hear her articulate things I've already been thinking and feeling. I decided that when we moved, I wanted to take a different route with setting up and decorating our house. I wanted to be as frugal and homemade as possible- not just to save money, but mainly to create a home that reflects more of who we are as a family. We wanted a house with character and creativity. And if we put a little extra effort into everything that we add to our house, we will find more satisfaction with it and enjoy our home more! When I got this book, I was at a pretty discouraging point with decorating our house, but as soon as I was done with it, I was really inspired and had a lot of ideas, some of which I could do pretty inexpensively and quickly. (Did you read about my newly painted gray kitchen? yeah, that happened the next day!)

She debunks the idea of creating a perfect, impressive, or magazine-worthy home! That’s not the goal! She says the goal is:   

Home. 

Not a perfect home. Not a impress the neighbors home. 

Just home. A home that was made, not bought. 

A home whose walls and rooms tell the story of the family who lives there. 

 Create a home for your family's needs and decorate it to reflect who you are, and it will be the perfect home for you!

What I appreciated most was her emphasis in the end of the book on being content with the home God has placed you in!
If we find ourselves constantly wishing for and wanting more, perhaps we need to close the catalog and focus on all the things we have to be thankful for...
When our focus is on being thankful, earthly treasures start to lose their importance. 

I love that she shares some spiritual aspects of decorating, like recognizing our urge to decorate and create a beautiful home is because of our God-given creativity and characteristics of being a woman. Also, developing the skill of seeing potential in something old and worn out that we could give a second life to, and carrying that skill over to "hopeless" people in our lives, to see the potential that may still be there! And then to learn to be content and thankful in the midst of our journey toward a more beautiful home!

Inspired You has really helped push me along to the next step in making a beautiful home for our family, and came at a good time to motivate and inspire me, while speaking some truth to my heart as well!

Beautiful homes start with inspiration and a willingness to try.

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