Out of Africa!

I'm back! What an amazing trip I had. I am so blessed to have been able to visit my family. Even though it was for a sad reason, it was so amazing to be with all my family. My mom and I had an amazing time together traveling and it was fun to see her with her sister's. I was able to see all 6 of my cousins and their families. I drank LOTS of tea and had some incredible meals. The funeral and the memorial service was an amazing tribute to my grandfather's life. It was heartwarming to hear the testomonies from so many that he had touched. It inspired me to live life to the fullest and to share what God has done in my life with others.

I was able to get some great ideas for new decorating trends in Africa. Of course, being in a new country is all inspiring. I did loads of shopping and am ready to get back to work. I have lots of thoughts and creative ideas swimming in my head that need to be let loose.

Look forward to all the "new" clients that are on the books and can't wait to finish off where we left off with existing clients. See you soon!

In honor of grandpa

My grandpa passed away this week so I'll be leaving with my mom to attend the funeral in South Africa.

He was 94 years old and lived a wonderful life. He was a missionary there most of his life and was an amazing evangelist. It will be a neat time with my 6 counsins and all my aunts and uncles. Funny to think that I have so much family over there.

I'll be back on the 15th so if you would like to book an appointment, please e-mail me and I will call contact you when I return.

Ruth

Let nature inspire you

I was on vacation in Florida last week and enjoyed walking along the beach collecting shells. There is something amazingly therapeutic about feeling the sand and the waves on your feet! Of course there were LOTS of broken shells and it was a challenge for the kids and I to find the perfect shell. We found some really beautiful and whimsical ones and even found a sand dollar. Even the not so perfect shells were beautiful.

When we finished we took a picture of some of the collections we found. I was inspired by the beautiful colors in each one of the shells. I'm sure I'll be painting a room one of these soft muted colors soon.

When I returned from my vacation, I saw this in William Sonoma's catalog - Guess what I'll be making to finish off my vacation.

Let nature inspire you!

Does your room have character?

Wow - What fun today was. We arrived at our client's home this afternoon and there was nothing on the walls and the furniture had no rime or reason for being where it was. I got busy and we placed everything where we thought it should be in order to make the room feel lived in and cozy. It was amazing how all the items she had slowly started making her HOUSE a HOME. You can see by the pictures that it looks much better! The best part of it all was we didn't buy a thing. I shopped throughout her house and found items that I thought would be perfect in the room. This room went from having absolutely NO character to AMAZING character.

Amazing what a 1/2 day ROOM RE-ARRANGE can do!!!!

Color Changes Everything

Today I met with a new couple. He had an injury this summer and is home for a few months. The good thing is that he can paint and do some projects. So...they called me so they could get a plan together for their home, making good use of his time off. We walked from room to room and I gave advice on flooring suggestions, furniture arrangement, paint colors for all the walls as well as other tips and suggestions for draperies & window treatments.

What I love about these walk-thru consultations is seeing the client's face start to light up as we walk from room to room. You can see the excitement start to build as they get inspired about each space. I left my client today with pages of notes that they can refer to. The husband left the same time I did to go to the paint store. Now that's motivation and I LOVE IT!

It's very rewarding to meet such fun people and once again I'm reminded of what a rewarding job I have! They promised they would send their before and after pictures so I'll post them as soon as I get them.