Thursday, February 22, 2007

Thankful Thursday


"For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies;
Christ our God to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise."
~Folliott S. Pierpoint (1835-1917)

I just love that hymn, and today I was made especially aware of how thankful I am that God created us with the need for beauty. It's so amazing how much pleasure can be gotten from seeing the sunset, or watching a bird flit effortlessly across an unclouded sky.

This morning the kids and I went to our MOPS meeting (Mothers of Preschoolers). Nikki Smith was the speaker, and she gave us some wonderful tips for designing our homes into a beautiful place to live. She has a degree in design from some big school in Chicago, and she certainly is a credit to the school!

Here are some of her tips, and I thought I'd share them with ya'll:
1. Have light, medium, and dark tones in every room
2. Have small, large, and solid print/objects in every room
3. Have varying heights of furniture (not every piece of furniture should have long legs, or no legs at all).
4. Anchor the feeling the room with darker colors near the floor
5. Less is more - no clutter (AAACK!)
6. Layers: paint, furniture, rugs, draperies, lamps, art, and accessories
7. Bring some of nature in with use of stones, flowers, etc.
8. Go neutral on the basics, like sofas
9. Use texture
10. Have good light control, with such things as candles, dimmer switches, or table lamps. No halogen lights!

Now I'm looking at my rooms with a whole new eye . . . .

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Ooohh! Thanks for the neat tips. I love decorating and reading other's inspirations. It's been fun trying to decorate since we've moved in. Now that I'm on the tail end looking back, I've ended up with Red/Brown in the LR, Kitchen and our Bedroom. :) I guess I like Red. :) I hesitated to do the LR in those colors for that reason, but Chris's mom told me to go with the colors I love, so I did!
The MOPS sounds good too. I wonder if they've got something around here?

Ellen said...

Thanks for sharing such great tips! There's a MOPS meeting here, but I've never been able to make it because it's at a bad time for me. My cousin goes quite frequently. I too, am sitting here saying "Hmmmmm..." there are a few things I could change. :) Thanks for passing the knowledge on!

Acornbud said...

Oops, I've flunked House Beautiful! Thanks for the tips. The clutter recommendation has been a real challenge.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for typing that all out...now I don't have to. haha! I did remove some of my living room pics but I still don't like the room. I know what I need and want but (sigh) there isn't money for stuff like that right now. Maybe next house....(I say that alot..haha)

Unknown said...

Hey...
Yeah we watched AI last night. I was surprised by his apology. I did think it was funny that he "got" Simon so well. Who knew Simon was behind the most annoying PBS show ever, Teletubbies! Or Tubby-Tubbies as Haylee calls them. :)
You're right. I think Blake is better too, unfortunately. :( Plus he has more of the traditional "pop" look going for him. I hope Chris makes it as far as possible though! He's so hilarious. I loved the line "You're probably wondering why I called this meeting." when he met with the judges in the long narrow room up the elevator.
Go Chris!

marlise said...

Thanks for your list. There are some great tips. I especially like tip number three. It makes me realize that my hand-me-down furniture could actually help some design issues.

I love that hymn, too. I appreciated your thoughts on God's love of beauty. That is something God has been bringing to my attention from many directions recently. Love of beauty and creativity are some of the ways God made us in His image. That's such an encouragement!