Wednesday

~ Take heart!~


New year, and new thought, or theme, or words to live by... whatever you want to call it.....

    ~ For me, the word of my new year, or phrase of my new year is "Take Heart"
*image from Pinterest
Inspired by the following scripture:

 John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

What a wonderful and encouraging message!
 We have no need to worry or fret because our Savior and Redeemer overcame this world!
This is the year to focus on encouragement, keep on keeping on, service, a cheerful heart, a smile, a kind deed, etc.

We have been doing a whole house re~fresh. It started with the painting. We gave every wall a fresh coat of paint. Our color choice: Polar Bear, by Behr paint.


The color that was on the walls already was a soft beige color, but as we began painting, it became obvious that the soft beige color was absorbing so much light in our home, and lightening up the walls made such a huge improvement!

The above picture is the 'Before" picture...
 During: What a major difference in the color. 

We also added beadboard wainscot to the entryway.
After: 
So much more light floods through the entryway now, and everything feels so light and fresh.
With the beige walls, carpet, tile, etc.. in addition to our home having a Dutch hip roof, not all the light filtered into our home. 

Now it does!! 
We are constantly thinking that one of us left a light on.. .*smile*. 
It sure feels happy and bright now.
We really went all out, including getting new carpets.
We were going to wait a few years but decided that with all the new paint that new carpet was needed as well.
 Our previous carpet was original to the build of this house thirteen years ago and had become dingy and worn, as carpeting does. 
No matter how often I shampooed the carpet, it just never was nice a clean.
After riping up the old carpet, we found literal piles of dirt on the subfloor. I think it was from when the house was constructed, and no one thought to vacuum before the carpets were installed.....go figure!

  We also bought a new sectional.
Some friends asked for our previous living room furniture, so it worked out nicely.


We took all of the old carpeting and padding out ourselves, as the installers wanted quite a pretty penny to remove the old carpeting and padding. In some of the rooms, we had carpet coving, and so when we removed it, and after the new carpets were installed, we put in new baseboards.
One of my favorite re~fresher projects was this hoop and doilie wall. I had seen this idea and loved the sweetness of the look. Hand crocheted doilies aren't really a thing anymore, but they are so pretty, and of course, anything like doilies takes a great deal of time and the workmanship is beautiful.
For about a year now, I've been collecting various doilies with this project in mind. An acquaintance of ours had quite a few doilies her mother-in-law had made, and I was able to buy them for a good price.
I scoured the thrift stores for old wooden embroidery hoops, including a hand quilting hoop as one of the doilies was quite large.
Yep... I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. 
I still have one very, very large doilies that I need to scout out a large hand quilting hoop for.
        Next on the list... finishing the master bathroom, in addition to installing a barn door between the master bedroom and bathroom.
Lastly, I'll leave close with some nice everyday things...

Pomegranates. Once every few weeks, a man comes to town and brings produce from California. Pomegranates, oranges, avocados, etc. 
We bought one bag of poms from him and ended up with cups and cups of juicy and delicious pomegranate seeds. I froze most of them so that they wouldn't go bad.
Winter sunsets. With the cold temperatures at night, it's hard for me to remember to step outside and take a picture of the sunrise or sunset, but when I remember I am always amazed at the beauty of nature.

Homemade beeswax candles, scented with lemon cookie fragrance. 
Ocean sunset. From our kids' vacation in Florida.










 

12 comments:

  1. You sure have been busy. Your home is lovely and nice and bright.
    What a beautiful sunset!!

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  2. Beautiful sunsets. I love the updates you have done in your house. Great paint color! The new sectional is beautiful and looks so comfy. Your home looks fabulous! So glad you are back in blogland! See you again soon, I hope. :-)

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  3. P.S. I also LOVE that scripture! You will notice that I have it on my blog under the picture of Christ. :-) It is such a wonderful, comforting scripture and always brings me peace. I love that "Take Heart" is your theme for 2022.

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  4. Hi Kerin~

    What an ambitious girl you are! I love the white paint, it sure does make everything feel new and fresh, it's beautiful! Like you, I just don't think about going outside to see the sunset, it's way too cold here in Idaho...your sunset is gorgeous. Where do you buy your scents for your candles, I love to make them, but can't seem to find anything I love? Pomegranates are so delicious, you are fortunate to have someone come around and sell them. I've never frozen the seeds, probably because I've never had any that don't get eaten! Your words to live by are perfect for this very difficult age we live in. There is no reason for fear or anxiousness, all will be well, we have that promise...love it! Have a great rest of your week, and thank you for your kind words on my blog...hugs to you.

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    Replies
    1. Barb, thanks for your kind words, as well!
      I just bought a fragrance oil on the old Amazon. I also bought the pure filtered white beeswax pellets on Amazon and I added a teeny bit of coconut oil to the melted wax to prevent tunneling.

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  5. Beautiful blog. Happy new year ��

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  6. I love your words for the year, and that is such a great scripture.
    The polar bear paint is perfect. It's amazing how it lights up the area. The new couch is so nice, and the hoop and doily wall is brilliant!

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  7. I love your pictures!! Its so nice to get to see everything finished. It looks so nice. I love your carpet and the new couch.
    You guys did such a nice job.

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  8. Kerin, I love the new paint color. Your entry is really beautiful and light filled. Love you new words too. Hope the new year is being good to you so far..Happy New Year..xxoJudy

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  9. You have been busy.
    Look good.

    M : )

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  10. Love your redecorating. Looking forward to seeing the next step of the process. Blessings and wishes for the week ahead!

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  11. I am so happy that I visited your blog today. I've been doing a few painting jobs to refresh my little home and starting to run out of steam before my list is finished. You have started fueling my tank again, and I needed it, LOL. Your home looks amazing! I'm sure that you are thinking the same as I am, that getting all this done before Spring arrives with yard work and gardening will be wonderful. I like having projects during these last days of winter; they keep me from looking out at the grey skies.
    Thank you for sharing God's word with us as well. We need to always remember that He has all things under control. This world may be heading down a dark road, but He will only allow so much before He either returns or sets things back in order. Earthly kings and kingdoms rise and fall but our God is enteral.

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Thank you for taking time to comment.
It means so much to me, that you've taken a few minutes in your day, to stop by and visit.
I love getting to know you, and having our "chats".
Have a wonderful day.