Monday, October 20, 2008

Home Reflections

Today's Topic:
Our Home is an extension of who we are.

Today's Hostess:
Natalie at I Am (not)

"They are to teach what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and children, to be sensible, pure, good homemakers, and submissive to their husbands, so that God's message will not be slandered." Titus 2


Natalie simply asks us, How does your home reflect who you are?

If you head over to Natalie's blog, you will no doubt agree that she was blessed with the creative gift of interior design and decorating. I, on the other hand, was not. Getting the house (or even a room) the way I like it, takes me way too much time and alot of hard thought.

In spite of my designing deficiencies, I feel that our home truly reflects who we are and what we value by what it is used for. Two and a half years ago, my husband and I were blessed to be able to build our own home. He works in the construction industry and did much of the actual designing and building himself. I admit, I had never fully valued his abilities until then. He built us an incredible home!

We collaborated alot during the design phase. We talked about our goals for our family, our future ministry, our kids, their friends. I think that is how our home reflects who we are. We especially felt if we were going to build a large home, it had to serve a higher purpose than just existing as a house for us. Because of my husband's business, we felt we would be in this city for quite some time. That being said, we designed our house with longevity and ministry in mind. I think pictures show it the best.

When you enter our home, the view is the Living Room. We designed this room, from the layout to the furniture, to be an open, comfortable area where we could entertain and host events or meetings for ministries, especially Bible studies. The blue couch belonged to my great-grandparents and reflects a special part of my family line.


In the dining room, we replaced our long table with a square one. It seemed to fit the room and foster conversations between all the guests better. This is also where I house all of my tea things. There is nothing like inviting a friend over for a playdate, getting out the fancy tea sets and serving her tea while the kids run around and play.


My bedroom reflects a love of reading and studying. We built a window seat, so I could read and still keep an eye on the kids while they play outside. We also put in a low table for writing and study supplies. My favorite spot is the oversized chaise lounge for cozy reading times.



The kitchen was made for fellowship. I made sure to have extra roomy aisles so as not to get grumpy when everyone is milling around while I am cooking. With chairs along the breakfast bar and connected to the Family Room, it's naturally a place people gravitate to.




The Guest Suite is my favorite. Our intention was to create a private retreat, with it's own outdoor access, to host traveling ministers, missionaries and out of town guests. We tried to create the feel of a fancy hotel room, even equipping one of the closets with options for a coffee maker and microwave.





Lastly, the kids playroom in the basement which has seen many playdates. Our goal is to keep an eye on our kids and their friends. We hope to host many get-togethers here. We pray that we can have the kind of house kids will want to come hang out at -- inviting and comfortable. And we hope this extends well into their teen years. They are young yet, so we started by creating a playroom that is interactive and organized for easy clean-up. Years down the road, we plan to turn it into an older game room, ping pong, lounging couches, etc.

What I hope our home reflects is a desire to serve, host and bless others. We want to use our home for ministry. We want to open it up and treat our guests special, with the intention that they feel as comfortable as if they were family.

There is just one thing missing in our home. We want to incorporate Scripture verses on the walls. One place is in the Kitchen, above the stove on the flat front of the hood. Another is to post the girls "life verses" in their rooms. And we also want to hang our family verse on a wall. This is one of my projects for the year. I will share new pictures when I get that completed!

To read more, head over to the well at Natalie's blog I Am (Not).

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Absolutely gorgeous!!!! And what I love the most about your home is the attention to the things you wanted to see accomplished out of it and then building it to suit that purpose.

We are praying that God would open the door for us to move soon and the one thing I was is a BIG living area. We home church and want a good space to accomamdate all of the families!

Wonderful post! Thanks for joining us today!

LAURIE said...

Beautiful home! thank you for sharing your home and your heart with us today over AT THE WELL.

Ashley Wells said...

Rebecca,

I love your house! Michael and I want to build our own house for the same reason you did yours. We want to be able to design it for what we will use it for. We have a desire to use our home to reach out to others as well! Your house is a great example of what we want. Great post!

Also, you are very modest! I think you are a great interior decorator!

-Ashley

Rebecca said...

OK, in the spirit of full disclosure, I was not just being modest. I guess I forgot to mention that my house in its current state, came with lots and lots of help. Once I recognized that it just wasn't my talent, I felt freedom to call on those who could help me. :) And they did a beautiful job.

Blessed Among Women said...

Wow what a beautiful home,Rebecca! I love the thoughts behind your home and each room. I think that is so thoughtful! Thank you for stopping at my blog! :) I'll add you to mine so I know when you update.