Learning Our Style

           Paula had a great question after yesterday’s blog, and I wanted to go ahead and share my thoughts on it today! She asked how we choose our decorations for our home and what our decorating style is. I’ll start at the end and work backwards with my answers.

            I had to look up an article to even find the correct names of current decorating styles, so if you want to read more about the names and their descriptions, you can check out this post. From It I affirmed we are definitely not modern, boho, organic modern, glam, mid-century modern, minimalist, transitional, or Scandinavian. But I did feel like we were a combination of the rest of the choices in the post, which were:

1.    Traditional. The writer said this style is rooted in heritage and includes pieces that have not changed at all since they were first created. I feel like this describes several things we own that have family-history significance to us. We have a handful of pieces of furniture that were passed down to us from parents and grandparents, and those are the parts of our home that are a nod to traditional.

2.     Eclectic. If I had to pick just one word to describe our style, I’d pick this one because it pulls just a little bit of everything together, but hopefully those pieces feel like they are supposed to live together, even if they are all different styles. This, I think, fits both our furniture and décor style.

3.     Modern Farmhouse. All my years of watching Fixer Upper have left me with a bit of a farmhouse taste. The article described it as being all about blues, greens, and whites – inviting and comfortable without being too formal. I feel like that’s us. We love those colors, and I have farmhouse-feel things scattered throughout our home: lanterns, pitchers, pottery, etc. We have furniture with barn doors and shiplap-looking pieces that all fit into this category.

4.     Country. The article talked about reclaimed wood and vintage things in this category, and we have a little of that here and there. Ryan’s Mom loved this look and it was perfect for her log cabin. I have a few pieces that fit into this category, like a grapevine tree, some crates, and some oil lamps, but we don’t lean too heavily on this one.

5.     Industrial. We definitely have a touch of this in the metal throughout the house. We have several pieces of furniture that have metal accents on them (or barn door rails), and all our curtain rods have an industrial flair. We have some industrial lights and our coffee bar shelves are industrial in style. I love the way these things remind me of a coffee house or brick-walled loft.

6.     Coastal. We have a lot of white and beachy-feel items in our home, and we did even before we lived on a lake. They just fit a little bit better now. I love the light and airy feel of the coastal look.

As you can see, we don’t stick to just one thing, but hopefully our mix works well together. My bottom line for home style and décor is – even if you can’t put a pretty label on it, do what YOU love to live in every single day. It’s the beauty of not actually living IN a magazine. It’s your home and it should reflect you and the style you love most. Or in our case – six styles.

I would add that if something catastrophic happened that caused us to have to start over with nothing, I probably would be more inclined to pick a specific style and decorate toward it from the beginning. But since our tastes and styles have grown/evolved/developed over the years, we have ended up with a mix of things that are meaningful to us, yet they point to a variety of our life-seasons. I love that story-element, so I don’t worry about everything matching.

I was going to go on to answer the other question today, but it made for a very long post, so I’ll finish answering these questions tomorrow! Thanks, Paula, for encouraging me to explore my style in a definitive way!

Transformation Tales: The Living Room

            I’ve been so excited to show you this transformation. It is significant! Our house has a great room in the walkout basement that we have chosen to use as a living room. When we toured the house, the owners used this as their master bedroom, but we needed a living space bigger than the tiny room we made the dining nook. This was the only other option for such a space, and even though it underwent a partial purpose change partway through our renovations, I adore how it has turned out, and it is one of the coziest spaces in the entire house.

            Here’s how it looked when we bought the house:

            The walls were a cream color. The carpet was old, brittle, and purple. There were red curtains at the door and the remainder of the windows had dark valances. The closet doors and trim were all brown. It was rough, but oh…that view! We saw great potential in the space and I am so glad we did not let this room scare us out of this house!

            A hundred thousand points go to Ryan for suggesting that we paint the walls Snowbound. I urged him to leave them alone, since they were cream and not all that dark and dingy, but he felt strongly that painting them before moving everything in was a better choice, and he was so, so right. I could not have imagined the difference between cream and white. It blew my mind. Thank you, Ryan, for having this vision that I somehow missed. We also painted the trim the same Repose Gray that is on our kitchen and master bedroom walls. It softened up the harsh contrast so much and was also a much bigger game changer than I could have imagined.

            In our original plans, we thought we would put our dining room table in this space, as well as our living room furniture. It is big enough for both, and that was our plan. Therefore, our flooring choices were driven by our plan to have a table in half this room. We split the flooring and put carpet in the section that we planned to use as a living room, and we used the same laminate flooring that we put upstairs on the other half of the room. (The half where the table would go, you see.) Then we ended up deciding to put the dining room upstairs, and I’m so glad we did. The downstairs space that was going to be a dining room became just open space that we can use for working out and for setting up additional folding tables if we ever have larger groups over that we need to accommodate. It has worked out perfectly.

            We painted the closet doors Snowbound, which made a massive difference in the look of the downstairs, and we did ditch the louvre door in favor of a more updated folding door for the one closet.

            We took down all the curtains that were there and brought our own curtains and rods from our previous house. We also added one navy curtain for the sliding door, just to bring some color to the space. (We get compliments on that curtain all the time!)

            The changes in this space simply from curtains/paint/flooring were astounding and far surpassed anything I could have imagined. It’s a brighter room and feels beachy and clean. And it has worked for us so beautifully since we moved in!

            Let me give you a tour of the specific spaces!

            This is the living room corner. We didn’t get anything new for this space. The couch is the same one we’ve had since Kokomo, and while we feared we might have to remove a section to make it fit, it actually fit in its entirety! Our end tables are the same ones we purchased shortly after we were married. We’ve had this coffee table since our Kokomo days, and the TV cabinet is one we added to the house when we moved to WillowBridge. We even kept the same lamps – and I think they look better in this space than any other one we’ve ever had! This is the coziest little nook that we just adore. It’s perfect for hanging out with friends, playing with kids, watching TV, napping, conversations, reading, Bible study – all of it. We wouldn’t change a thing!

            Behind the couch is the sofa table we used as a desk in our WillowBridge days, and we often eat our dinner at this table. It allows us to watch TV and look at the lake while we eat, and we love this little tradition.

            We also have this little fireplace/sitting area that I love so much. The fireplace came with the house and is really cozy. That glider was Ryan’s mom’s, and it fits perfectly here. All of the wall art in here is quite meaningful to us, and it makes me smile every time I see it.

            This mirror and table used to sit at entry spots in our previous houses, but they fit best here, and we think they look meant to be! And you can see over there to the left our lighted tree. I really love it there.

            This piece is new to us, but it’s also sentimental. This is a Hoosier cabinet, and it belonged to my dad’s mom. My parents had it refinished after they took it from her house following her death, and they’ve had it these past 30 or so years. It was just being used for storage at their house, so I asked Mom if we could have it. She was very happy to bequeath it to us. I love it so much and am happy to have a little extra storage space!

            We just adore how this space turned out – both in looks and functionality. It is so wonderful to have a spot to work out without having to clear out other things first. It’s a bonus to have a stellar view without getting off the couch! And it’s the perfect finishing touch to have such a mix of sentimental pieces scattered around the space.

Birthday Bliss

 I thought I’d share with you a bit of the birthday fun I enjoyed this weekend. It worked out better this year to celebrate Mother’s Day and my birthday with my parents a couple of days ahead of schedule, rather than on the actual day, so we met at a collective favorite: Ivanhoe’s! If you’re from this area, it needs no further explanation. If you’re not, let me assure you they serve (hands down) the best strawberry shortcakes in the entire world.

            The picture may indicate I ate the entire helping on my own, but I did not. Ryan ate half. It really was a wonderful night, and as a bonus, God allowed me to run into a friend I haven’t seen in ages. She happened to be eating there that night as well, and it was such a treat to see her. It was also great to spend time with Mom and Dad and swap stories for a couple of hours.

            Ryan had asked me what I wanted to do on my birthday, and since it happened to combine with Mother’s Day this year, I knew what I didn’t want to do was eat out with the masses. So we did our eating-out celebration Saturday night. He took me to one of my favorite local restaurants, Soul Pig, and we ate exactly half our meals and brough the other half home for dinner on Sunday night! (PS, I look angry in this first picture because I was squinting in the sun!)

            We went to church on Sunday morning, and then Ryan cooked lunch for me. I’d chosen a fancy salad recipe – blueberries, strawberries, feta, a healthier version of candied pecans, grilled chicken, avocado, and homemade ranch dressing. YUM.

            While we waited for the chicken to cook, I opened cards and gifts (with Lexi’s help) and felt so loved by all the kind words inside the cards!

            Ryan also made my favorite berry trifle, and it was so good. It was his first time to make it, and he didn’t think he did it right, but I absolutely beg to differ.

            I was able to scrapbook, take a nap, watch Hallmark movies, take Lexi for a walk, and enjoy time at home, which was an extra special gift, because this week is full to overflowing, schedule-wise.

            It was a sweet and simple birthday, and I was grateful for it. Thanks again for all the messages and warm wishes! 

All the Beauty

 

            Thank you all so much for the birthday greetings and wishes that came my way yesterday. It was a sweet day of celebration, and I look forward to telling you more about it! (And didn’t Ryan do a great job on his guest post?)

            Ryan asked me over the weekend what my favorite thing was from the last, well, lifetime I’d lived. It was a big question with an impossible answer. How do you even pick one thing from a lifetime of goodness?

            Then I decided even that dilemma was a gift.

            Thank You, Lord, for the beauty You have placed in my life for over four decades. Thank You for friends, for beautiful scenery, for books and songs. Thank You for this life I share with Ryan and puppy kisses. Thank You for a cat that has been with me almost half my life and sunsets that never disappoint.

            Thank You for places I’ve been able to travel to see and for the gift of staying home and resting after hard days of work. Thank You for thinking to make vivid colors and delicious flavors and so much beauty in this world.

            Thank You for hard times that pushed me to lean on You. Thank You for carrying me when I couldn’t walk another step. Thank You for providing for every need and offering the blessings of extra gifts I didn’t truly need – but You knew they would make me smile anyway.

            Thank You for each day You have entrusted to me. Thank You for dreaming up my life at all.

            These 45 years have not all been easy, and not every moment has been happy, but each year has been a gift. And certainly far more of my years have been a joy than the ones that have been hard. Thanks, Lord, for all You’ve allowed me to experience!

Happy Birthday, My Beloved Bekah

Today is a special day here in Shafferland.  Bekah is officially 45!  And, in my opinion, the prime of  her life.  She reminds me often that we are not old.  Our teenage selves would beg to differ, but our current selves would respectfully disagree.  Most of the time I still act like a teenager, so there is that...  But, today is not about me.  It's about the love of my life and your favorite blogger.  

So, what does 45 years of life look like???  Fasten your seat belts as we take a look!

Bekah has no shortage of personality.  It clearly started at a young age.  Her mom always says that once she learned to talk...she never stopped.  

And she has a smile that lights up the room!  No pun intended.  Maybe, a little 😊

It took her 10 years to talk me into getting a puppy.  A dream she had since she was young.  And she was right, Lexi has been a great addition to our family.  This is not Lexi, by the way. 😉

Then there were the awkward years.  We all had them.  They build character, right?  

Remember when you didn't have a dress to wear for Easter so you made one from the curtains?  Our Home Ec teacher would be so proud!

Hope you still have that blazer.  They're coming back in style!

Classic adult office birthday party.  How many hairstyles is that so far??

Oh, the Kaegan years.  I'm sure he was good company before me.

  

First time to see the ocean is always a great memory!

Is this how we came to be??  Interesting from the girl who hates frogs.

Made it to 35, married and our first cruise together! 

Days on the lake are always a favorite!

It's ok, we all have these days.  You still manage to make the best of it!  I love you more for it. 😊

Bet you never would have guessed you would publish a couple books!

And hike so many parks!

You definitely always keep me laughing 😂.

If you had only kept track of how many cups of coffee you've had over the years.  Maybe that's in your journal too...

You've planned and taken so many great trips.  Just check the scrapbooks!

I would say it's been quite the whirlwind, but you be the judge...

Thoughts?

That is just a small glimpse into Bekah's 45 years.  It has been packed with wonderful, hard, fruitful, and fun things.  The Lord has blessed her with so much, and He has seen her through so much.  I love how she is so intentional about life, probably the most intentional person I know.  She has so many gifts and is so good to use those gifts to build others up.  She is a strong lover of our Lord and strives to grow in that love with each passing day.  I'm excited to celebrate her today!  

Happy Birthday, Bekah!  We love you!

    -Ryan and the furry girls