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Why Grow Hydrangeas: Longest Lasting Blooms in the Garden
Best Return on Investment in the Garden Ladies, This seasons best bloomers was between the double knockout roses and the hydrangeas. But the longest lasting blooms award definitely goes to my hydrangea friends. I’m swooning over their gorgeous blooms that lasted five months from March until August. After five months, the blooms started to look too tattered to keep. I gave them a major pruning once I saw new buds and blossoms and once the old blooms were off, all of that energy diverted to the new blooms and they matured faster for another round of gorgeous blossoms. Economical Landscaping When we moved into this rental house six months ago,…
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How to Design a Mediterranean Country Summer Home: Outdoor Dining, Flowers, & Fashion
Welcome to my summer home in the countryside Ladies, Summer always makes me think of the Mediterranean. So aside from never-ending laundry from sweating through our clothes in one day, I design a summer home reminiscent of this look and feeling of being among the rolling hills of the French and Italian countryside and those coastlines. My vision of this retreat has not yet been fully done but I continually pull from this idea to create the feel wherever it is I live at the moment. The Mediterranean feel, look, and lifestyle has been my favorite template to design my home for summer. Vacation Perspective One thing that stands out…
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What to Wear for Gardening in the Summer
Country women & gardeners have style essentials too Ladies, have you ever noticed how fashion magazines assume we all live in the city and work in offices? Their recommendations never seem to take into account the one who spends her days outdoors, among dirt, plants, animals, even children, working for her own family or a paid job that is grittier. What does a woman wear for her day working at home, working outdoors, surrounded by life, sticky hands, dirty paws, dough flinging off her beaters, flour in her hair, and insects buzzing all around her? I don’t think the fashion industry touted white button-down blouse fits anywhere into this kind…
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10 Design & Decor Keys to the Best Small Guest Bedroom
Welcome to my guest bedroom Ladies, We moved into this rental house just months ago with zero furniture. Zero. After a career in the military and moving every few years, we were truly nomadic and living very slim. Everything you see here was collected (mostly thrifted) in a matter of weeks after moving into this house. I found solid beautiful furniture in this short amount of time, and they were exactly what I had hoped to find. However, I still have things I would change about this room. I did not find every item that I would like to use in here just yet. For now, here are the “bones”…
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Christian Homemaking: The Good, The Bad & The How to
Ladies, are you new to homemaking? I began homemaking as a newlywed full time 15 years ago, because I had always treasured this wifely role in my heart. I longed for the domestic job of my own home. But it came as a shock to me as I stepped into this realm, that it was a very difficult path for many reasons. I love creating clean and beautiful rooms, wonderful food and welcoming ambiance…but I did this work very much alone in my conviction for it. There was no Pinterest showcasing other wives doing this work, their homes, tips, or support. There was no cultural movement that encouraged us. The…
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5 Things that Create Year-Round Beautiful Garden Design
Learning how to design a garden starts with observing the garden… Ladies, I could have titled this article “The beautiful spot amid a tattered rental property and what it taught me” but that is long winded. This has been our rental property for only four months which makes the dream of an established garden, that takes about ten years to become what it ought, seem like a distant goal. But there were certain features in this largely undeveloped property that speak to great garden design. Observe This may seem a bit slow and unimportant but number one to garden design is to become an observer of your surroundings. Become acquainted…
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Non-dramatic Bathroom Makeover: Making it Beautiful without the Renovation
Ladies, I love a dramatic before and after makeover. But in our world of attention-grabbing headlines and impressive home overhauls we have lost a lesson of utmost value. A makeover is not just an extreme change. Many times, transformative makeovers are the little things that you do to make a room feel clean, comfortable…and my favorite, romantic. Here is my very small rental house bathroom all made up. Decor is not just an add on. You can transform a room by styling it well. My bathroom was already very neutral colored which made it a nice palette to work with in comparison to a less than beautiful paint color. If…
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Better Homemaking & Happy Homemaker: Make the Bed
Ladies, Do you ever skip on something as simple as making the bed? The task we neglect is usually quite simple, quick even. Sometimes it’s the small task like making the bed that is easier to justify not doing because it doesn’t affect a lot of other things. Not doing the dishes affects a cascade of events in the house. But walking away from jumbled bedding can feel justifiable. But if you are new to homemaking, either as a new wife, or intentionally putting yourself to improving your home, start by forming the fortitude to make your bed. This small effort will change the look and the feel of your…
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Food Waste is Not Always Failure: Christian Homemaking
Ladies, Every time I scrape food into the trash, I cringe at the wasted food. If it’s one thing that makes me feel like a total failure as a wife running a home, it’s food waste. I am so aware of the blessing of having food. I never want to waste it. But that is it right there. It is important to manage your household well, but it is entirely a different matter to be weighed down by the expectation to never waste food. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and…
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5 Tips to the Best Paint Color: Blue Kitchen Makeover Before & After
Welcome to my kitchen! Ladies, My rental house kitchen was trying to be a cheerful and chic “French blue”, but the dusty grey undertone of the before wall color was holding it hostage from its goal! I was off to buy paint, yet again. As a rental kitchen, I was not pouring money into anything else, so I needed to enhance what was here: black and grey granite countertop, light green tile backsplash, cream white cabinets, and warm “wood” vinyl plank floors. While I show you the before and after kitchen makeover, here are some unique tips on how to choose a paint color that I came up with after…
