Ruth’s Holiday Home Made Lovely
Welcome to Holiday Home Made Lovely
a little collection of previous Home Made Lovely blogger’s that have come back to share how they make their homes lovely…for the holidays.
Hello! I’m Ruth Simons, from over at GraceLaced, and I’m so pleased to be back here at the Heather’s Home Made Lovely series. I’m welcoming you into my home today, and am really wishing you were coming over for lunch or a pot of tea. There are few things I love more than good conversation with friends at my kitchen island while I cook. Here I am with my six boys. There’s never a dull moment at our house…don’t you want to come over?
There’s so much I could say about making a house a home. But this is probably what I want to say most: Home serves as context for deep relationship and ministry. Making one’s home lovely is an investment in people, not things. I often say…missions begins at my kitchen table, where my husband and I strive daily to pour our lives into the training up of six young boys. I love knowing that my working to be a good steward of my home is teaching my children about making the most of what God has entrusted to you…and to share it with as many and as graciously as you know how. Come on in…
I recently discovered a love for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, and preceded to paint several pieces in my house, including this former small kitchen island, that now serves as a entry console, as well as my dining table which you’ll see in a bit.
Last year, between the week of Thanksgiving to the week after New Year’s, we decided to stay put in the home we felt we were quickly outgrowing, and completed a huge downstairs remodel with the help of a few close family and friends. We ripped out carpet, busted out tile, tore down a wall, removed a pantry, laid wood floors, and customized stock, unpainted cabinets to create a custom kitchen look. And I was very pregnant with our sixth boy. We were crazy. There used to be a wall there, dividing a much smaller kitchen with the front “dining room” in the front of the house…
And where there used to be a dividing wall, I now have a makeshift studio for my shop and artwork. With a family our size, every corner of the house serves a specific function. The key to enjoying multi-tasking home is to prioritize the form and the function, together…
Having a great room where our entire family could gather and show hospitality is really key for our family. This is the heart of our home. This is where boys are trained to make meals and school lessons are taught. It’s where we pile as many children as can fit on a bench, and squeeze in for a dinner with friends.
I so very much love to decorate with living plants. I have a soft spot for air plants, succulents, terrariums, and tree stumps (which are technically not living, but details, details!)…
This year, in addition to burlap, mercury glass, jute, and woodsy accents, I decorated with quite a bit of random crafts made by the boys with paper and scissors. I love how a little imperfection goes a long way to make a home feel just a bit more whimsical.
And…magic happens when you have a branch, fishing line, and some silver ornaments…
I got my removable chalkboards up just in time, and outfitted with what’s on my mind this Christmas season, and it is this: Where my treasure is, there my heart and adoration will be also. To behold, treasure, and adore the majesty of the risen Christ is reason above all reason to celebrate.
May your heart find it’s greatest satisfaction in the adoration of Christ this Christmas, from my home to yours. Thank you so much for having me, Heather!
Because of Grace,
Ruth, gracelaced.com
