Functional Beauty

lovely picture from sweet paige at simple thoughts

As I’ve collected inspiration pictures, I noticed that every living room picture I loved had white furniture. I mean EVERY one.

I know people talk about how easy white is, you just throw it in the wash.

I wasn’t convinced. I could just envision pricey white slipcovers, stained in a week.

I tried an experiment to see if I was mistaken. At the little camp we own (just a teeny cabin—our dry spot) I covered the futons with white sheets.

again, from paige

Nope. We are only there a few weeks out of the year, and after a couple visits they already sport evidence of art projects, contraband snacks, and brightly colored play-dough. I wash them several times a week when we are there. Five rowdy children will do that, I guess!

Still. I adore white and as I slowly decorate our home, I try to incorporate it in other ways.

But in spite of my dreams of white couches, I’m learning to love more family-friendly ways of decorating too. (If your family can sustain white furniture, then bless you. Mine can’t!) When I looked at this picture…

I thought…I really love our living room! Although it’s not very evident, my patterned couch and jewel-toned books are in the background. It’s warm and cozy. And there are touches of the white I love.

In my last post, I talked about what I wanted to get out of blogging. If I collect any readers, here is the encouragement I want to share, the gift I want to give to you…You can have a lovely home in spite of a houseful of little rowdies! We don’t all have to have few/grown/perfectly trained children to surround ourselves with beauty!

My kids are a work in progress, just like my home. It’s far more important that I invest in my relationships with them than worry about a stain on a white slipcover.

My house is a long, long way from being the way I want it. And although it’s the perfect size for our family and very functional, it’s as ugly as all get out on the outside and some of the inside. Lots of blog fodder, I hope?

So I hope you will join me as I create a nest for my family, in a way that’s most helpful and encouraging to them.

May you be encouraged too!