Friday Favorites Start with a Home Created with Purpose

I am going to be honest with you. I LOVE decorating our home- I would change things often even if the blog didn’t exist. Maybe because of the blog changes are made more often, but they would still be made. BUT one thing that I struggle with as a blogger and on social media is I don’t want to sound like I am saying “buy this or look what I just got!” or “Look at my perfect house.” I want to share with purpose and design with purpose.

I blog and share our home because it pushes me personally to set goals and stay creative. Keeps me sane. I have that achiever personality that I feel lousy at the end of the day if I don’t achieve very tangible things. With blogging naturally I am exposed to products and brands reaching out to me wanting me to feature what they are creating. I get maybe 20-30 emails a week. I only accept maybe 1 of those offers- I only do it if it is a natural fit, my needs are met and the brands and it is something I would actually purchase on my own. There has to be a purpose to share it and to use it.

This is my purpose- “Inspire and Teach others how to create a home with purpose no matter the size!”

I recently came across Nie Nie Dialogues Home Tour that was featured on The Today Show. It totally inspired me and felt like she was speaking my language. For those of you who are not familiar with her story-  “In 2008, Stephanie and her husband, Christian, were in a plane crash that left one dead and the couple in a coma with severe burns on their bodies.” She is very inspiring and wrote a book about her experience. Knowing her background of course her home is full of purpose.

She said this about her home- “I want it to be cozy and magical. I wanted fun nooks for the children to have and make memories in. I really want my children to want to be in our home, and I want their friends to want to be here too. It’s important for my home to have a good spirit fill the walls — in every single room. I used fun art, colorful paint and comfortable pillows.”

You can see by her home she totally hit the nail on the head.

These are some of my favorite parts of her purpose driven home-

• THESE handmade stars hanging in her kitchen window. She gets a new star at the start of every school year for her family. Talk about designing with purpose and meaning.

• Obsessed with THIS Lighting she has above her dining table. They look like balloons- fun and playful, just what she wants her home to be.

• Built-in bookcases in her kids room, I think are every kids dream come true. My daughters have been obsessed with bunkbeds lately and want them for their room. Maybe our next house!

Are you inspired to design your home with more purpose? I am! Here are a few other favorite things from the week-

• Wallpaper has been a big topic around our house. I just shared our daughters new wallpaper yesterday HERE and I will share what we did behind our piano wall next week. I think I am always looking for ways to add more charm and make our little home special. So when I came across THIS Dog Wallpaper my wheels were spinning! Just so good.

• Ruffled Box Pleat Skirt that is modest and about $30? YES you better believe I bought the rose HERE.

• And to balance out the pink and dressed up skirt. I picked up THIS Camo Hoodie, something that will be on repeat this fall.

• Back to school– Our kids have a few more weeks of summer fun in CT. I did get a jump on ordering backpacks. I ordered THIS one for my oldest (amazing price and style) and THIS one for the animal lover (way to cute!).

• Instagram– THIS account is new to me and I am so inspired! She is so creative a must follow! I mean look at this fun image…

Something that has taken more time for me- late nights. But I have really enjoyed doing for my email subscribers. Is answering their design questions. I am not going t0o in-depth but hopefully helping out and giving some ideas and adding purpose to your home! It really makes me so happy to serve my loyal subscribers this way.

ASK NESTING WITH GRACE-

From Stephanie- “I have a question for you. We just installed a board and batten wall in our living room and dining room.  We have cathedral ceilings. Do we hang the art work above the board and batten or on top of the board and batten wall at eye level?”

Nesting with Grace Answer-

This is a really great question.  I think with that type of wall treatment less is more- let the woodwork be the star. With vaulted ceilings often people think they need to fill up the walls. My answer- You DO NOT need to fill up all the wall space. Maybe lean something smaller above the board and batten. But if you have a chandelier in the room you don’t want your art to be the same height as the light.

Below is a collage I put together- I think you can tell what is a DO and what I think is a DON’T-

I hope that helped you Stephanie and maybe someone else! I am thinking of making this a blog series- a separate blog post with questions I get from my email subscribers and how I would answer them. Please let me know if that interests you!

You can subscribe to my blog HERE! If you have sent me a question and I have not gotten to you yet, I will! I promise. 

Have a great weekend. We will be at our beach, soaking up the last of this summer weather!

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