Pass It On

The inviting homes my three children and their spouses have created are a value-added bonus to this mom who had fun sharing her design hobby with them.



This past week I spent a few days with my daughters, driving first to DC and enjoying the oldest daughter's temporary nest. (Oldest daughter is on left.)

This daughter and her husband are living in an apartment in DC waiting for the closing on their NYC coop. Because they left their condo furnished for real estate showings, she had to furnish a great room...


and bedroom nearly from scratch.


One challenge was the tile and wall color in the great room. Anna took a don't-fight-it,-join-it philosophy.










The end product may look high-end and expensive...but she put this together on a low, low budget. The sofa was a Craig's list purchase. The great room rug, white lamps, bedroom desk, chevron mirror and headboard came from a Pottery Barn outlet. Also from the same outlet, she purchased a duvet cover and converted it into table skirts for the bedside tables. The bedding was from a Restoration Hardware outlet.



She mixed her accessories--some from Ikea, some from Pottery Barn and a couple were more expensive Jonathan Adler. The glass coffee table was a true bargain from one country antique store in Pennsylvania, and the cool, black bedside lamps were in the bargain room of another country antique store in North Carolina. The painting over the desk she painted herself.



Truly, this apartment was put together in a week, "designed on a dime."

(Full disclosure: The cool geometric etchings over the bed were a birthday gift to her husband from me. The antique French chairs she purchased on First Dibs several years ago.)

This daughter certainly follows the Proverbs 31 model. Like that ideal woman she opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy as an advocate for victims of crimes against humanity. She has a steadfast, noble character...she makes coverings for her home...and she likes to be clothed in fine linen :). Best of all, although beautiful on the outside, her fear of the Lord gives her an inner, timeless loveliness.

In my next post, I will show vignettes from the other daughter's home. Stay tuned.

Spring Holy Days

I hope each of you had a wonderful Passover or Easter celebration! I love the parallels between the Jewish celebration of Passover and the Christian celebration of Easter.



The Jewish holiday is a reminder of the first Passover meal eaten by the Hebrews before they escaped from slavery in Egypt. Each household was to kill a lamb and swab its blood on the top and sides of their doorposts. Then they were to roast the lamb and eat it with bread baked without yeast, so they would be ready to escape quickly.

During the night, an angel passed over the land, killing the firstborn in every home without the symbol, but sparing every family with the blood over the door. When the Egyptians realized the cause of their national grief, they gladly sent away their Jewish slaves (Exodus 12). The annual Passover celebrates this joyous release from slavery and salvation from death.




In Christian tradition, Christ is called "the Passover lamb who has been sacrificed" for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). By faith, the application of his blood to the doorposts of our lives covers our sins and exempts us from condemnation. On Easter, Christian believers celebrate the resurrection of Christ, because after his sacrifice for sin, he was raised to assure us of life eternal.

I hope your celebrations were filled with joy.

Our Haiti Room

Our sunroom, full of Haitian art, is our “Haiti” room.




The paintings capture scenes from our former neighborhood. For six years in the 1980’s, our family lived in rural Haiti where my husband was a surgeon at a mission hospital on the northern coast of the island.




Louis Saint, the young man who painted the box and the canvases, was gifted. His only art training was a few tips from a high school art teacher vacationing on the island. The last we heard, the young artist was going to Miami to earn funds from computer work so he could study art in Paris. I hope he made it!

Having lived where people struggle daily for food, it is hard to balance poverty with affluence. We try to use generosity as a leveler, but often realize we are out of balance and have to recalibrate. Just a few weeks ago, my husband and a small medical team he assembled went to help earthquake victims. Although the vivid images are no longer on the nightly news, please don’t forget the Haitian people who are still living in temporary shelters, trying to repair their homes and lives.

If you would like to give to a specific Haitian hospital badly in need of refurbishing, you can send donations to: Crossworld; 10,000 North Oak Trafficway; Kansas City, MO 64155 designate your gift to Friends of CMB (Centre Medical Beracah).

Welcome

…to the street where I live.













…and to my home.




Please, come inside.












What does my entryway tell you about me?

I am energized by color. In photos I like the tone-on-tone white rooms, but this raspberry makes me happy every time I open the front door.

I am warmed by antiques. My husband’s grandmother introduced me to antique shows, encyclopedias of antiques, and Lancaster County auctions. I’m hooked. Well-loved pieces have a rich patina that can not be replicated in a furniture showroom. Do you agree?

I am a romantic. The large mirror in the entry is probably a turn-of-the-century piece purchased at Stevens Antiques on Lancaster Avenue in Frazer, PA. I bought it before my eldest daughter got married, because I thought every album needed a photo of the bride in a mirror!Is that silly?

I prefer balance. Some people are drawn to asymmetry. I’m mostly a mirror image girl. My entryway actually has some of both—one chair, one majolica umbrella stand...but two matching lamps! What about you?



I love a bargain. The J.Gould hummingbird botanicals are the best bargain I ever snatched! I found them at a favorite local haunt, the Black Angus, an antique mall open on Sundays and located about 15 miles north of Lancaster in Adamstown. At one of the 400 booths, I spied a folder of six hand-colored lithographs priced below the value of a single print. Although they are probably 1940’s reproductions, they were a steal!(http://www.princetonaudubon.com/john_gould_originals.htm).

I treasure family pieces. The carved chair resting in the entry belonged to my husband’s family back three or four generations, arriving in Lancaster County from Ireland. We have one chair, while my sisters-in-law have other of the parlor pieces. Sometimes a family piece might not appeal initially, but don't turn it down. Usually, they grow on you; after all, your family history is your story.


I notice one-of-a-kind accessories. The umbrella stand is an antique green majolica.

I like wallpaper. Somehow wallpaper is softer than paint, adding texture and tone. I found this wallpaper at Interior Alternative/Schumacher Fabric Outlet, 1325 Cooches Bridge Road, Newark, Delaware 19713. Although I got it at an outlet price, it is heavy paper, not waxed or shiny like so many wall coverings today.

When friends come through the front door, I want them to feel welcome, happy, and intrigued. Did you?

Speaking of intrigue, this Bible verse has always piqued my curiosity and prompted me to be hospitable: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb.13:2).