Don't be fooled by our first post...I have laundry that needs to be folded, and a broken toilet flusher (is that a name?) and dishes to be washed and loaded... so very many dishes. Yet, that's just life these days, and that is just fine. Our home and lives are imperfect, yet everything we need is right here. And we have so much more than we need.

What we really want you to take away from this post is that we really love our home, yet we struggle sometimes with feeling like we need more or something better, and it's just not true. Last year, I read the book The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith (her blog here) and it really shook me. It's all about loving what you already have instead of continually reaching for something else. It's about finding beauty in the imperfections and finding contentment with where you are currently at, even if it's temporary, small etc.

So some things we've learned since reading this book is: 1) Paint makes all things new. 2) Salvage is another word for treasure. 3) Rearranging furniture is like shopping your own house -- you rediscover why you love the things you already have. 4) It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

That was the approach for our master bedroom this year. We saved money to put toward a few bigger updates (laminate floor and wallpaper were the bigger ones), and then paint, salvage and using much of what we had. Here was some of our process:

1. Ripped up the carpet and put down light wood laminate ourselves (this was really budget friendly actually compared to wood, but we waited 8 years to do it until the carpet had served it's full and happy life!)

2. Painted the walls a light grey (Natural light really loves a good grey/white wall!).

3. Swapped out our old broken bed for one that was kindly gifted to us (thanks Mom and Dad lol!), and then changed where had it located in our room.

4. Took a salvaged mantle and repainted and restored it for a faux fire place look in our room.

5. Repainted and restored a thrifted bar cart. And moved an old chair from our living room into our bedroom.

6. Swapped out our table lamps for something more simple (and copper!). (We also kept all of our other furniture, to include bedside tables and dresser. They don't match, but I kind of love it that way!)

7. Added a fun wallpaper accent wall -- it was the bravest remodeling move we've made, but I really love how it turned out! (Someone installed this for us after we realized that the art of wallpapering was not a gift God had bestowed on us...lol).

And the best part of this project is that it fit within our budget, and we ended up using a lot of items we had or that we salvaged. It's funny how a fresh coat of paint can give life to so many things! Decorating and working on rooms in our house has been a really fun way for us to spend time and work together as a family (even with Elleanor's help!) -- most of our projects have been even easier than these, yet they always remind me that there is beauty in where we are at.

We don't need a bigger house or a nicer neighborhood. Everything we need is here. We're learning (still) that joy comes in contentment with the blessings we already have. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make things beautiful -- I just need to remind myself that it doesn't have to be perfect or even expensive. Does anyone else struggle with the hard balance of finding contentment in your current season of life?

Everything We Need Is Here...