The Nesting Place Giveaway

thToday I am featuring a fabulous decorating expert The Nester who has just released a FABULOUS book. {I’m giving away two copies today!} I love her philosophy that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. Here is a short interview with The Nester about this new project.

Tell us a little bit about what life is like around your place these days.

Well, since I wrote the book proclaiming how we moved 13 times in 18 years of being married, we’ve actually moved yet AGAIN! House number 14 is a really special place for us. For years our dream has been to purchase a little house with some land. And we somehow convinced a bank that we were responsible adults and they gave us a loan for a house on 12 acres outside of Charlotte, NC. We moved here in August and have been fixing the place up ever since.

EVERY surface is begging for our attention. We are doing lots of the work ourselves –that’s code for this place is a mess and it’s gonna be that way for a few years. We tore down walls and made a new kitchen, we inherited a pool where everything is broken (it’s currently green) we are fixing up a barn so that we can have gatherings and swap meets and craft days, and we even have chickens! We are slowly learning what it means to live in the country and once again, I’m having to remind myself that it’s possible to live beautifully within the imperfection. And this is the most imperfect house we’ve ever lived in.

When did you first become interested in decorating?

I see the world through house-colored glasses. I always have. When my sister, Emily and I used to play Barbies, she was always annoyed with me because I didn’t care about their backstory or who was dating who, I just wanted to decorate their houses. So I guess it started when I was a little girl.

You say “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.” That is such a wonderful philosophy but how do we live that out in an age of Pinterest perfection?

Pinterest and beautiful shelter magazines are there to encourage us. If we look at them and leave feeling shamed about our home, then we are abusing them and looking at them all wrong.

I don’t compare the photo my son took with my phone to my neighbor’s wedding portrait and then feel bad and give up hope of ever looking pretty. None of us do that. We all know that a wedding portrait is a special once in a lifetime event where it took specialists and a team of people to get the perfect shot.

It’s the same with the homes in magazines and pinterest. I know this for sure because my home is all over pinterest and in magazines. Photo-shooting a home is actually messy business. The cords and extra pillows and extra stuff is all just out of range of the camera lens. When the shoot is over, we usually have to take a minute to straighten up so the house goes back to normal.

If my house always looked like it did that day it was in a magazine that would be tragic, kitchens are for making a big mess making fudge and enchiladas and craft rooms are for crafting and being messy. Beautiful messes are signs of life. Let’s embrace that!

 

photo-42What do you hope women gain from reading The Nesting Place?

I hope we can all start loving the home we are in, and stop waiting for the next house. I hope we can welcome people into the imperfection openly because we realize that imperfections put people at ease. I hope we make decorating decisions not out of fear but out of freedom. I hope we embrace the true purpose of our homes and realize that has much less to do with heavy crown molding and much more to do with our attitude. I hope we finally are convinced of what we have all secretly hoped was true, that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

GIVEAWAY:

Leave a comment telling us which room in your house could most use a decorating makeover. Two winners will be chosen to receive a copy of The Nesting Place.

207 Comments

  1. Our basement really needs attention. I envision an inviting space where our kids and their friends can hang out and feel they are not under the watchful eyes of parents.

  2. Where to begin???? I love my house but it is rather small. Since we just found out we are having baby #3. The makeover is going to definitely be in my oldest sons bedroom where we are desperately trying to find a way to reorganize for 2 boys and how to accommodate this house for a family of 5 where we will have 3, 3 and under kiddos. So life in our house is definitely not perfect so this sounds like an amazing book for me!!

  3. The master bedroom! It has always taken a back seat to everything else for the past 28 years. Furniture is from 1982. Help!

  4. Even though I need a whole house makeover, I pick my kids’ rooms first. Loving their space will hopefully motivate them to help me with the rest of the house!

  5. We just moved in October so Every space needs a makeover :) But I guess i’d start with the guest room which is currently decorated with a pile of boxes, a drop cloth covered keyboard, and a mattress and box spring on the floor :/ a close second would be the bathroom.

  6. I really enjoyed being reminded that our home doesn’t have to be perfectly decorated to be comfortable and welcoming. That’s an easy thing to forget . However…my master bath is in desperate need of some help. I thought I could do all of the updates myself so I chipped off the old plastic wall tiles and took up the flooring. I got most of the shower tile installed but I am in over my head. I need HELP!

  7. The room needing the most “love” right now would be my kitchen. It is the central hub of our family and it just needs some love and attention…then a close second would be my family room…. Loved reading about your new home and such.

    Smiles & Blessings, Robin :)

  8. Definitely our guest bedroom. It needs to be inviting to our guests. Right now it is just plain boring! :)

  9. Our guest bedroom/office needs something bad. It has become the room where stuff goes that doesn’t have a place or afraid to get rid of. This book looks very interesting and helpful

  10. It’s a toss up between the kid’s playroom and our office :-/ Both are at the mercy of creative hands and minds at work, but the aesthetics get a bit neglected… I have been hearing a lot about this book and would love to read it!

  11. Well, we’re renters… so it makes it a little harder. But, I could dream right?

    We live in an old, old farmhouse…which naturally has it’s quirks. Of course, if it was truly ours. I’d replace the upstairs flooring and update the two bathrooms. Paint and caulk can do a world of good anywhere, anytime. And, one day. One day!! We’ll have a place of our own.

    Until then. Bloom where planted. right?

  12. My daughter’s and my son’s room. We homeschool so not only do they have clothes and toys but also arts and crafts supplies, homeschool books, tons of puzzles, gameboards, binders, folders, it can be a bit overwhelming when it comes to tidying up their rooms.

  13. Our bedroom is the one I would love to see re-done. It is the one room that always seems to get left out of any new decorating.

  14. It would be our living room or bath (with broken floor tiles) :(. Thanks for these thoughts! I needed the reminder!

  15. I would have to say either my master bedroom or dining room. My master bedroom lacks direction – I would like a peaceful, beautiful and calming sanctuary/retreat. As for my dining room, I don’t have any furniture in it! It’s just an empty room. Help!

  16. My living room definitely needs a complete makeover. My carpeting is 23 years old and the furniture is about 30 years old. It is very comfortable, but looking tired and worn.

  17. I am currently getting started on making my daughters old room into a personal office/ craft room for myself…. She recently married and I now have my first ever “me” room!
    I could really use some helpful hints on decorating and organizing it so it becomes the place I hope it will be!

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