Renew My Home: Jess's Nursery, Gray and Green

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Jess's Nursery, Gray and Green

(Note the Japanese tape behind the tv, in a chevron pattern, and the simple doily swag above the fireplace).

I have been wanting to blog about mantels, and my friend Jess graciously allowed me to take a few photos of her house. I love her decorating. It's clean, simple, thoughtful, and some of the prettiest things in it are handmade. But I got to her house, and she pointed out that her mantel isn't exactly decorated. She has to keep it plain because of the television. I snapped this pic to show the book pages that she taped around the fireplace. Malachi didn't rip them off, although he thought about it.

Look at this wall art! Ribbons sewn in a row. Jess says they flutter in the breeze when the window is open.

So we went upstairs and she let me snap photos of her nursery!
(Even though she and her husband are real photographers, and I am not).
Baby W is due any day now.
Here is what I love about this nursery:
No plastic.
No clutter.
Gray walls.
Handmade art.
A subtle polka-dot theme.

Look at this wonderful book corner.
Even the mobile above it is made from a vintage book.

(To the left you can see a few of the copper polka-dots that sprinkle this wall).

Above, a close-up of the mobile, crafted from a Curious George that Jess has been saving for ages.

Malachi did try to destroy this polka-dot swag on the crib.
If Baby W is a girl, Jess will add accents of pink and orange.
Quilt by Jessica's mom.

I would blog about design more, but this guy keeps me focused on the things that matter.
Like the little person who will soon occupy this beautiful room.
Blessings on you all your days, Baby.
We can't wait to meet you!

Here is a sweet lullaby by one of our favorite artists. (My husband will not go anywhere without the cd, Love and War and the Sea In Between.)

Update: Greta Mae was born on June 20, perfect and beautiful. So I made her a pink and orange blanket!

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Hush

"Can we say 'Hush' to ourselves? Can we command our thoughts? I believe we can. God has given us the power to close the shutter of our minds upon hurtful, weakening thoughts. He has provided all manner of shutters. A book that swings us off ourselves and into another world is a very good shutter; a song set to music; beauty; the dear love of those who love us. Above all, there is this: look at Calvary. Look steadfastly. Take time to look and all within you will be hushed, for power streams forth from Calvary. We need never know defeat." (Amy Carmichael)

A Prayer (Not by Joel Osteen)

"Take from me, Oh Lord, that self-pity which love of myself so readily produces, and from the frustration of not succeeding in the world as I would naturally desire, for these have no regard for your glory. Rather, create in me a sorrow that is conformable to Your own. Let my pains rather express the happy condition of my conversion and salvation. Let me no longer wish for health or life, but to spend it and end it for You, with You, and in You. I pray neither for health nor sickness, life nor death. Rather I pray that you will dispose of my health, my sickness, my life, and my death, as for Your glory, for my salvation, for the usefulness to Your church and Your saints, among whom I hope to be numbered. You alone know what is expedient for me. You are the Sovereign Master. Do whatever pleases You. Give me or take away from me. Conform my will to Yours, and grant that with a humble and perfect submission, and in holy confidence, I may dispose myself utterly to You. May I receive the orders of Your everlasting provident care. May I equally adore whatever proceeds from You."
-Blaise Pascal

Solitude

by Henri Nouwen

We enter into solitude first of all to meet our Lord and to be with him and him alone.
Our primary task in solitude, therefore, is not to pay attention to the many faces which assail us, but to keep the eyes of our mind and heart on him who is our divine savior.
Only in the context of grace can we face our sin;
only in the place of healing do we dare to show our wounds;
only with a single-minded attention to Christ can we give up our clinging fears and face our own true nature.
As we come to realize that it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, that he is our true self, we can slowly let our compulsions melt away and begin to experience the freedom of the children of God.

A Meditation

by Henri Nouwen

To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept. Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that, those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even dare to be silent with you.