“Interior design is not just one’s artistic efforts, but that which a home (even if it is just a room) is.” –Edith Schaeffer, Hidden Art
Currently, almost everything we own, in terms of household items, furniture, décor, etc.… has been given to us, made, or purchased used, and I actually like it that way. However, it has not always been that way. For a long time, I desired and dreamt up a picture of the kind of home I wanted to live in and the kinds of things I thought we ought to have. I thought to myself, “then I would feel at peace, and then I could entertain people with delight, and then, then, then, etc.…” Of course, I was wrong.
In August of 2007, everything about that perspective changed for me. We had a house fire. We lost almost everything we owned. I remember walking through the ash covered house the following day. Everything was gone, our furniture, books, CDs, clothes, electronics, everything. There were a few things that were salvageable and a few things that were not destroyed. But for the most part, all the rooms and things that were part of our home were no more.
However, during that walk though, we noticed something. There was a pattern to the things that were not destroyed. Any item that had been created by fire withstood the fire. Things like glass and pottery. It was amazing, and it immediately made me think about the verses where God compares himself a silver smith and us to refined silver. (Malachi 3)
The next seven months we lived in a very squished apartment, but grew closer with each other and God and were happier than we had been in a long time. I often wondered why. I think it is because what our home was before the fire vs. what our home was after the fire. Like what Edith Schaeffer said above about design being what a room is. The artistic elements were not the biggest component. There was some of that, but it was much more the spirit of the home than anything else.
I believe one of the reasons God allowed that fire to happen was to change what our home was. It was not a place where God reigned. It was filled with things purchased on credit, attitudes, and division. We needed to be formed by the fire. I soon realized I wanted that too. The only way that could happen is if the stuff we had was put in its proper place –in service of the eternal things. After all, Jesus came to save us, not my furniture. What we think about and believe about our things and the people in our home will determine what our home is.
So, before we go to work painting, decorating, rearranging, and planning, let us stop for a moment and seek the Lord. Let us ask him, “What kind of home do YOU want me to have?” “What do you want it to look like and feel like?” I believe He has an opinion on this, and if we are brave enough to ask, I believe He will tell us. I think we will be surprised what we discover, kind of like how I was surprised this past September when my mom gave my husband and me a present for our Anniversary. I opened the package, and inside was a figurine of a husband and wife embracing. It was one of those Willow Tree figurines. It was perfect. In fact, we used to have one before the fire and we never got another one afterward, but as I looked closer, I realized that it looked very much like the one we had. Then I noticed something else, it seemed a bit darker than the ones they sold in stores. There appeared to be some blackish film on it that someone tried to sand away. Then my jaw dropped. It was the one we had. My mother had found it amongst the ashes, brought it home with her, and did her best to restore it. Needless to say, I was crying like a baby. She gave it to us along with a card with the following scripture on it.
“We went through fire and water, but You brought us out into a place of abundance.” Psalm 66:12
Can I say yes and amen?! An abundant state, a soul, delivered and refreshed, a home held up by the Lord. Those are the first things.
Until we go there, there is not much use in going to the second things of decorating –or any other second thing for that matter, but when you are ready, here are some principles I have learned along the way.
Playing with interior design has a lot to do with having an open outlook to the possibilities and then applying a few principles along the way, just like we talked about in Day 5: The Act of Creating.
Some Principles
1. Be content with what you have and bring it to its full potential. I love this Edith Schaeffer quote. “It seems to me that, whether it is recognized or not, there is a terrific frustration which increases in intensity and harmfulness as time goes on, when people are always daydreaming of the kind of place in which they would like to live yet never making the place in which they do live into anything artistically satisfying to them.” –Edith Schaeffer
2. Use what you have. I love the principle. I first learned about it from Devi Titus in her book ‘The Home Experience.’ Try it. Look around your house and ask yourself “Am I using every item and space in my home to its fullest potential for God and my family?” Ask God this question and be open to what he shows you. Then when you think of some lack a room has, first ask “How can I use what I have to solve the problem and fulfill this lack? “The quality of our lives depends on the quality of questions.”- A. Kern The first step is asking.
3. Express what you love using what you have. What kinds of things do you love? Do you love coffee shops, the beach, the mountains, a field of flowers, a woodshop? What kind of environments do you love to be in? What kind of places energizes you? Try to bring some of those elements into your home. “So why not surround yourself now with things that communicates something of your appreciation, your taste and your interests in wood, stone, glass, ceramics, crystal, pottery, china, textures, fabrics, weaves; in colors, shapes, and sizes which please you?” –Edith Schaeffer
I love coffee shops and literature. I love the descriptions of Bag-End in the Hobbit. So I try to imitate some of those things in my home. I was given one of those old windows, so I painted it and ran some sandpaper along the finish to rough it up. Then I let each pane represent a day of the week. I hung it in our kitchen, and now we have this colorful and rustic style weekly calendar in our home. We used no money (the paint we already had) and one an hour of time. I also did this to one other old window and put pictures and words in it.
4. Pray and ask. Ask God to show you how to use this room or that room. Ask for ideas on how to make the best use of certain things. He will show you.
5. Think about things as tools, tools for ministry and serving the greater purpose of abiding in Christ. Be willing to get rid of things when you realize it is not serving you or the kingdom any longer.
6. Be willing to wait and piece it together.
I make a habit of stopping by the “oops” paint section at my local paint stores. When I see colors, I like and use in my home; I buy some. They are usually $1.00 – $15.00 per can. I have painted whole rooms by this method. I also keep a list of things I want to do in each room or for each member of the family with respects to interior design. I then let the list sit. I wait until inspiration comes for how to use something we have or I come across free things or next to free things. When I began being willing to wait, I experienced a new kind of blessing from God. I started to see how He does care about the details of my life and the little things that bring me joy. I cannot recall how many times I’ve received, for free, the exact materials that had been on my heart for a certain project. Crazy right?! Wait. Art takes time, and God loves delighting His children.
Lastly, be open. Start a Pinterest board, make a Some-day maybe list, and keep a commonplace journal and record scenes from movies and books that inspire you. Search Pinterest for how to re-create this or that. Go to art fairs and consignment stores and record your inspiration and then ask God to show how to bring some of that into your home using what you have. You never know when opportunities to use those elements in your home decorating will come up.
I would love to hear how you are using what you have to make your homes all that they can be. You can also find me on Pinterest at Expanding Wisdom on Pinterest where I am constantly, stumbling upon, discovering, and sharing inspiration.
Jen
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| This part is a member of our 31 Days of Playing with the Arts Series |
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