Our Top Ten Home Improvements

“Pressure OFF…Peace ON.”

How are you doing…like REALLY how are you doing?

Putting “on” a teeny tiny bit of mascara, earrings and and a chambray top is what I call “fancy” quarantine style. It’s very simply, as good as it gets around here as far as getting dressed.

One thing I’m not putting on these days (besides any pants with buttons)…is Pressure.

I’m not putting pressure on myself to have this thing down yet. 

I’m not putting pressure on myself to have a great state of mind every moment of the day.

I’m not putting pressure on myself to keep up with the latest news updates, clean house or empty laundry basket.

I’m not putting pressure on myself to have the right answers, right feelings or right mood all of the time. 

And I’m definitely not putting pressure on myself to keep a tidy time-lined day of homeschool routine.

In other words…we run a flexible ship over here.

Because, I’ve realized when I take the pressure off of myself, and am more flexible with myself…I have a better chance of holding a posture of peace and sustaining a quiet mind.

When I allow the good, bad and sad to blend together instead of pretending it’s not there or when I allow myself to see what’s not working or what went wrong today…I wind up recognizing the joy nuggets tucked deep inside the wrinkles of the “wrong.”

I have a better chance of putting Peace ON, when I first decide to take the pressure OFF to have this quarantine life and pandemic thing down by now.

I am better when I:

Lower my expectations.

Recognize we are all on a steep learning curve.

Take a shower in the morning.

Give myself permission to be feel the feelings…sad, discouraged, disappointed.

Get outside a few times a day, walks, bike rides, have “school time” outside on the patio.

Start my morning with “Quiet Time” and prayer.

Stop to literally pick the flowers outside and bring them inside to put in a tiny vase in my kitchen.

When I laugh…laughing is Good.

When I drink “Nightly Calm” tea and go to bed by 10 pm.

When I recognize that my daughters, husband and myself all process at different paces and in different ways.

When I simply breathe in the pace of forward stepping into what our new reality is, instead of trying to gulp it down from a pressure washer hose. Recognizing, it’s a moment to moment walk into understanding and accepting what the new future will fit like. 

There are many things we can pick up and put on ourselves that wind up doing us a disservice. We pick up so much emotional baggage without even realizing it.

Pressure is one thing I think we put on ourselves A LOT…and I don’t think I am going out on a limb here to say…I don’t think it is serving us well.

Let’s take it off shall we? It feels good…it feels a lot like….PEACE.

Friend, allow yourself to be held, and take off the pressure of holding it all together.

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you.”

Isaiah 26:3 NLT

Speaking of taking things off…are you ready to take off on a little “Home with Heather” tour?

I am excited about this portion of my new blog and I hope with all of us having to spend a lot more time at home that this little tour of our Top Ten Home Improvements will inspire you to see where you can edit your home to enable it to serve you and our loved ones well during this time, where feeling peaceful at HOME matters so much.

I invite you to scroll through and check out Ten Home Improvements we have made, by removing or taking OFF what was not serving our family well. These updates have allowed for more peaceful and purposeful living for our family – I hope you enjoy them!

1. Converting a double window into a French Door.

We love outdoor dining on the patio. There were days I would stand at my kitchen sink, washing dishes and stare at the double window that was here before. All I could see is what could be easy access to the outside oasis I wanted to create…so we made it happen!

2. Removing our Deck and replacing it with a larger Stamped Concrete Patio.

This decision to TAKE OFF the deck and put in a larger patio with plenty of room for entertaining was easily the best decision we have made in updating our home. We used Interscope Contractors to lay a stamped concrete patio and put in a fire pit. I HIGHLY recommend Mike at Interscope and going the stamped concrete way versus pavers etc. This was affordable and serves as an extra room to our family, 9 out of 12 months of the year. Feel free to message me for more pics or the phone number of the owner of Interscope.

3. Converting a Kitchen Pantry into a “Cloffice” or “Entertainment Bar Area”

You guys…if you have a double pantry with bi-fold doors then you will appreciate this one. In this little gem of a picture below…you will see my first ever Stella & Dot “office” that I shared with a bouncing 1 year old, Maci, boxes of macaroni & cheese, canned corn and a dog food storage bin. But you know what? I made it work….

Thankfully, Shawn took pity on me after I showed him that I was actually making money with my new leap of faith as a Stella & Dot stylist and after my first big promotion, he tore out that awful pantry, hung some bead board, shelves and painted it in S&D blue. I LOVED IT for a long time…and so did my girls. After five years, I was tired of staring at the wall and moved my desk to where it is now in front of the bay window and we updated this space again to serve our family’s needs better. Now it is our “bar” and drink station for entertaining and just a soft space in the busy kitchen that I enjoy decorating.

4. Make a “Mud-Room” in your garage

If the below picture could talk it would actually scream. Mom was TIRED of picking up all the things from all the people, all the time. The small bench and hooks worked for a time while our daughters were small. However, as they grew the need for more storage and better bins for their bigger shoes grew. We do not have space for a mudroom of sorts inside so we hired a friend to build us our own storage locker system and I think this is one of the projects I was MOST excited about once it was complete! IT IS A LIFESAVER!

5. “Temporary Wallpaper”

Did you know that Urban Outfitters has wallpaper?? Me either!

Sometimes I get a little impulsive when it comes to decorating. Especially during January and February when the sun is sparse and the weather is cold. Last Winter, I decided I wanted to give this “temporary wallpaper” trend a try. You know what it’s been 15 months and I still like the “lively” vibe of this wallpaper! The best part is that it was easy to put up!

One thing I have learned over the years is to allow myself to try different things in decorating. You can’t be scared to try it and worry “what if I don’t like it.” If you don’t like it, you can most always go back to the way it was. Giving yourself permission to be flexible and change something from the way it has always been refreshes a room and also has a way of refreshing your mood too.

You can find my wallpaper HERE along with other fun designs. The gold floating shelves are from Overstock.com – you can find them HERE.

6. Re-thinking our Dining Room and Rearranging furniture!

Quite simply? This rearrangement was an impulse while another project was going on in the family room. Finally, I decided that our dining room table was actually just too big of a table to fit in the actual dining room. I gave myself permission to try the table in a room that would not normally be a dining room. Guess what? EVERYONE loves the new flow of our first floor and turns out that this room is much more suited for cozy reading and working than eating dinner.

7. Shiplap!

I am a Chip & Jojo fan what can I say? I love shiplap and have wanted it in our home for a few years now. Thankfully my hubs was up for the challenge. We allowed this room to “un-become” what we had made it and turned it into what I think it was meant to be all along…a gathering space around the table. I love sitting down for dinner and looking out the large sliding doors to the patio. The color of the Shiplap is Sherwin Williams Alabaster.

8. Replacing the front steps and adding a Window Flower Box

After two years of loving our patio in the back of the house we decided to call Mike at Interscope Contractors and bring him back to do the same stamped concrete patio in the front! Our backyard does not have a flat area for the girls to play so when they want to have a catch with their lacrosse sticks or practice juggling the soccer ball, they are often in the front yard. This is another example of simply trying to make the most out of what we have. We love sitting in those rockers watching our girls. The rocking chairs happen to be on Sale right now and come in a variety of pretty colors! You can see them HERE.

Tearing out the tired landscape also gave the front of our home a face-lift. The bushes had grown to be too large and took away from the curb appeal of the house hiding behind all of the bushes.

The window flower box was my Mother’s Day present last year. Planting new flowers in it for every season has brought me such simple joys. I added pumpkins for Fall, decorative cabbages in the Winter, tulips in the Spring. I can’t wait to return to my favorite Amish farm, Shady Grove Greenhouse for fresh flowers and ivy for the Summer!

9 & 10 Combo!

Adding a Coffered Ceiling & Plantation Shutters.

A few years ago we made the decision to give up on the idea of a “formal living room.” This room used to have formal glass coffee and end tables and literally was NEVER used. We were in the middle of debating on converting a garage into an actual room. As in, literally losing our garage and tearing down a wall to give our growing girls more space to spread out and then it hit me.

We HAD space for us to spread out, we just weren’t using the space we already had to serve us well. We sold the formal lamps, tables and sitting chairs online and hired Canatella Custom Builders to add a coffered ceiling and recessed lighting to “cozy up” this room. I wish I had a “Before” pic!

Now? This room is the busiest, most used room in the house and with our recent furniture rearrangement, it flows easily right into my new office space.

The finishing touches to this room was the decision to ditch the heavy, dated drapes and install vinyl Plantation Shutters from Next Day Blinds. I LOVE sitting here in the morning for my Quiet Time and watching the light from the sunrise stretch into the room, waking our house up.

PHEW! That was a bit of a long “Home with Heather” tour. But, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired to interrupt the pressure to keep things the same and instead…go out on a limb of trying something new in your home. Don’t doubt your gut…you know your family best…and you also know how your home can serve you well during these days of quarantine and beyond.

Friend…I hope while you are editing your home you will also allow yourself to take off all the pressure we put on ourselves on a daily basis. We don’t have to wear this false idea that we are supposed to have this thing down by now. We can choose to fix our eyes on the One who DOES have it ALL figured out.

Lord, thank you for being my soft place to land when the pressures of the day build up. Thank you for inviting me to take off what is wearing me down. Help me to fix my eyes on you and fill me with your perfect peace.

Amen.

Living on a prayer,

Heather

Shop this post: