My Simple Christmas Home Decor

December 14, 2016December 14, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

Christmas mantle 1.jpg

Welcome! Today I’m inviting you to step inside and take a tour of my Christmas decor. I’ve really taken the “simple” route with this part of my Christmas. I do have touches of Christmas throughout my home, but it’s definitely not done in “Biltmore Style!” A little here and a little there is pretty much what you’ll see.

With no further ado, come on inside!

The bench in my foyer is decorated with a fur muff and wool scarf. The basket beneath is full of gloves and ear muffs. They’re easy to grab on the way out the door!

Our tree is upstairs in our family room and can be seen from the street as it stands in a front window.

The dining area – The red chargers and napkins along with my $3 Target Dollar Spot runner add all the Christmas I needed! I drew a Christmas tree on my chalkboard, using the words to a favorite carol.

One guest room –

This room is the perfect color scheme for Christmas decor!

In my sewing/guest room I added old photos and some Christmas greetings on the bulletin board over my work table.

These little Pinterest inspired snow globes add a tiny touch of winter to the guest room. The sweater cover for the vase was also inspired by Pinterest. Old sweaters are great craft supplies!

In my laundry room I added a new calendar that I received as a Christmas gift (I love 13 -month calendars!), along with a light-up snowman. He makes a great night light!

I love adding small touches of Christmas throughout my house. I enjoy the lights, the softness and the warmth the decorations bring. Many of the things I’ve added are items that can be left up through January. When the outside is cold and bare, I can still have the warmth of the lights, throws, textures and candles.

It would be such a waste for us to spend so much time decorating and then never invite friends, neighbors or needy people in. This is probably the easiest time of the year to entertain because our homes are probably the most decorated and lovely than at any other time of the year! But isn’t it easy to feel overwhelmed and too tired? It’s easier to tuck in and forget that others could feel loved and really blessed to be invited into our home. I’ve had some folks in already, and have a neighborhood party planned in the next week, and honestly, though it can be tiring, it’s such a blessing! Let’s open our hearts and our homes and share the warmth of not only our decor, but the love of our Savior, whose birth we are celebrating!!

How are you planning to use your decorated home to share the love of Christ?

Thanks for stopping in for a visit!

Denise Signature 150 px

Simple Christmas Decor In My Kitchen

December 2, 2016December 1, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

Happy December, y’all! I’m in full decorating mode and almost finished!!

I shared with a friend that I was decorating, and she lamented that she didn’t really have places to put decorations because their home is filled with people, rather than furniture (which is a really great thing!). As I thought about her statement, I thought that there are lots of ways to add Christmas decor or touches that don’t require lots of space. Let me show you a few pictures of my kitchen and I think you’ll see what I mean.

christmas-counter

I added a small basket of ornaments on my cookbooks that I use as a platform for my lamp. Just a simple ornament tied to a lamp, doorknob, or coat hook adds a touch of Christmas! That picture has a sheet of metal in the frame so I can use it as a magnetic board. I change out the picture with the seasons, using an old Susan Branch calendar.

Christmas cabinet.jpg

If you have open cabinetry, it’s the perfect home for Christmas decor! I don’t have a lot above my cabinets, but every Christmas I put these blocks up on top. I made mine at our church’s Pinterest party a few years ago by simply free-handing the letters and Christmas tree on the blocks.

christmas-pantry

The wreath above is hanging on my pantry door. I added fruits, pine cones and a cookie cutter. You could add a wreath to any room or door inside or outside without taking up one inch of needed space!

Christmas buffet.jpg

This table is in my dining room. I’m still working on this space, but as seen in the things I edited onto my photo,like a little greenery, or seasonal cups and saucers, the room looks ready for Christmas!

christmas-candle

Lastly, making your home smell like Christmas is another way to create the holiday atmosphere in your home without taking up much space at all. A plug-in fragrance, a candle, potpourri or simmering pot of citrus and cinnamon would all be great. My sweet neighbor brought me this Yankee candle, and if you want your house to smell amazing, you need one of these! This is Iced Gingerbread. (Right now you can buy one large candle and get one FREE!)

All of my decor are just simple touches – nothing elaborate at all. Refreshing your home for Christmas can be minimal, yet make your home special for your family.

If you need some other ideas for decorations that don’t require much space, here are a few more ideas…

Candy canes in your current decor – baskets floral containers, or a glass jar.
Holiday linens – Place mats, tablecloths, napkins, dish towels
Slipcover couch pillows with Christmas/winter slipcovers.

Make a pinecone garland to hang anywhere – you don’t have to have a mantle!
Print off free printables. Frame and hang!

25 free Christmas printable:

Have you started your decorating for Christmas? What’s your favorite way to add a touch of Christmas to your kitchen?

Each week in December I’ll be posting ideas to help you simplify Christmas. The next post will be on Wednesday in the form of a video. I hope you’ll stop in to hear the six ideas I’ll be sharing!

Stay refreshed,

Denise Signature 150 px

Home decor

Refreshment Around the House

November 2, 2016November 2, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

pillow-cover

To keep a home inviting, clean and fresh, it takes attention to details. Not only does the house need a good cleaning each week, but the decor needs to be freshened up, and things that aren’t working and/or functioning well need a solution.

I have three words today to help you do that:

Slipcovers

Paint

Salt

Yes, salt! Let’s start first with…

Slipcovers – We have a chair in our living room that requires my husband to put a pillow behind his back when he sits in it. He has often grabbed one from his office (totally different decor! Ahhh!) and brought it in when we have guests. Recently, I decided I must find a permanent pillow for that seat.

Pillows can be so expensive, and I hadn’t found what I was looking for UNTIL I went to the Hobby Lobby sewing area! I was in the clearance section and found the cutest slipcover for a pillow marked down to $4! I didn’t even have to buy a form for it because I had an ugly velvet pillow with hideous fringe that I had tucked away, and it was the perfect size and shape to slip inside!

pillow-cover-2

I was so pleased with my find! So, if you want to refresh your pillows on your sofa or bed, don’t buy new ones; go looking for slipcovers. You can change them out seasonally for a fraction of the cost!

Paint – Earlier this summer I dried some of my herbs. They continue to produce, so I’ve dried a lot more and stored them in little herb jars I found on clearance at TJ Maxx. Every time I reach into the cabinet for one of them, I have to look carefully before adding it to my food to determine which herb it is. I decided it was time to label the jars so it would make this task easier.

Using scotch tape, I made a square on each jar. Then I painted on several coats of chalkboard paint. When it was dry, I peeled off the tape and used chalk to write the name of the herb on the jar. Not only will I find the herb I need much quicker, the paint adds a cute little bit of charm! What do you need to label? Consider chalkboard paint to do the job!

Salt – We had one bathroom sink that had gotten backed up. Not wanting to purchase a drain cleaner at the store, I researched for a simple solution. The answer was as easy as hot water and salt.

sink clog.jpg

Using a straightened out coat hanger and gloves on my hands, I got rid of any thing that was under the drain.
I poured 1/2 cup of salt slowly into the drain. I added boiling water slowly.
I added more salt (about 1/2 cup) and more hot water.
Immediately the drain opened up and the everything gurgled right down the pipes!

It just makes me smile when things are more organized and function well around my house! Do you need to refresh your home with one of these three tips?

Stay refreshed,

Dinner · Fall · Home decor

Friday Favorites – Fall Party

October 7, 2016October 6, 2016 RefreshHer1 Comment

Last weekend we got to have a lovely Fall party in our backyard. It was so much fun to prep and decorate for it, and I couldn’t wait to show you some pictures.

The guests were our recent Apples Of Gold mentoring group and their husbands. The Lord gave us a gorgeous day and evening to enjoy being outside for the entire dinner.

I used mums and small pumpkins, as well as corn stalks out on the patio area. I covered the three round tables where our guests ate with brown butcher paper. Then I wrote the guest’s names on the paper. Each table had a centerpiece that was a mixture of fall items – pumpkins, candles, apples, leaves and other decorative pieces set on a wooden tray or a piece of barn wood (see pic below).

The menu consisted of:

Artichoke Dip and crackers

Veggie Tray and dip

Blue Cheese Crackers

Cream of Wild Rice Soup

Potato Soup

Beef and Barley Soup

Homemade French Bread

Harvest Salad – Greens, apples, red onion, dried cranberries, walnuts and blue cheese with a Balsamic vinaigrette

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Texas Sheet Cake

The evening turned nice and cool, making the fire a welcomed place to gather to share testimonies of how the Lord has used Apples of Gold in each life, to sing songs and to be challenged by my husband to “Continue” and “Compliment.” I thought the night was a huge success and can’t wait to host another gathering outside this fall!

Other events of the weekend consisted of a morning in Jonesborough with my daughter, Alli. Jonesborough (the oldest city in TN) is always quaint and fun and beautiful, but add a farmer’s market, a library book sale and fall decorations, and you have a perfect morning!

That waffle with blueberries above was my breakfast – fixed by my sweet husband before I headed out to Jonesborough! Okay, I made the waffles and froze them, so all he had to do was toast them, but he thought of me, fixed breakfast, added blueberries and brought it up to me while I was having my Quiet Time! What a great way to start any day!

One last group of photos below will reveal a kitty who curled up in the wooden tray on my chaise lounge – one I used ot hold magazines! I never know where I’ll find her sleeping!

I was on the search for a gray cardigan and I found the one pictured here clearnanced priced for a whopping $5! Double win!!

The fall sunrises have been so beautiful! I feel like Robert Sheffey, the old circuit riding preacher when he would see the sun setting and would take his sheep skin and go pray because he could “almost see heaven peeking through those clouds.” I use my walking time to pray out loud to the Lord. These cool, beautiful mornings have been such a blessing as I cry out to the Lord, walk and pray!

My week and my heart is full of so many of God’s blessings! I am undeserving, but so very thankful! What fun things did you do this week?

Stay refreshed,

Home decor

Bedroom Re-Arrangement

September 21, 2016September 20, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

Hmmm,. maybe I should’ve been a licensed furniture mover. Why? I love moving the furniture around in my house! It just hits me while I’m sitting in the room. I’ll think…

That would look better over THERE! Then I could put this where that was!

Recently I was in my bedroom and realized that the two chairs in there were too far apart. My husband and I needed a place in our room where we could sit and chat without having to sound like we were having a knock-down drag out! Ha!

So, I started pulling and tugging the chairs and side tables that were already in there to a more “conversational-appropriate space.”

bedroom-seating

Of course I don’t just move one thing – one leads to something else and something else and …well, you get the idea. So I also moved that little cafe table near the window for good lighting and a lovely view of the backyard. I’ve really enjoyed sitting there and working. That window gets great sunshine in the late afternoon, making it bright and even lovelier!

I’m still on the lookout for a throw or blanket to put on our bed that has some turquoise in it to add a pop of color.

bedroom-seating-2

I put my little round table in the corner, but when I sat down to have my coffee, there was no where to set my coffee cup, so I scooted it closer within reach. This is a perfect spot for my daily Quiet Time! There’s good lighting with the lamp over the chair and the floor lamp beside the chaise lounge. Of course the window gives light as well. Liza tested it out and she approved!

Another change I did in the bedroom recently was the picture over the headboard. I had a mirror there, but it was too high to reflect the windows as I’d hoped, so it’s now over the mantle in the living room. I walked through my house and realized that the bicycle picture I had in the foyer was perfect for over the bed! The colors are perfect, and it speaks well of our love for biking! I love it when I don’t have to buy a thing to complete a rearrangement!

bedroom-rearrangement

All our married lives our bedroom has been quite small, and to have the blessing of this kind of space is a true gift from the Lord. But you know what? Even when our room was small, I still did what I could to create seating for conversation and coziness. No matter the size of your home, do what you can to love your bedroom. Make it a space you and your spouse love retreating to. Little changes like moving the furniture around, adding soft lighting, or bringing in a little table from another room can make a huge difference!

My home is a work in progress. It’s ever changing with our needs and the seasons, and I love it! Change keeps things from getting cluttered up and it also keeps the occupants on their toes so they don’t fall over or bump into the most recently moved piece of furniture!

What do you need to do to make your bedroom space even cozier?

Thanks for dropping by!