THE GREAT ROOM ~ WELCOME TO OUR SANCTUARY!

THE GREAT ROOM ~ Welcome to our Sanctuary!
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS ... a common statement. 

Our little pocket toy Gidget thinks she owns this place and everyone comes here to visit her! LOL

I think some people are more attached to their homes than others.  I for one, just love decorating my home and making it a sanctuary from all the outside world.  I love filling it with things I love and cherish, and I want it to be a reflection of my husband and myself.
I want for my husband to find solice and peace here.  I want it to be a place of love and one where he can unwind and be restored.

Years ago I did some home decorating and also worked with women who wanted to have their homes look great, but were working on a budget... most of us are on budgets!  So, I would take them with their notebooks and cameras in tow... to very expensive furniture stores and ask them to take pictures of what they really loved..
I asked them to not worry about style or period of furniture.. just take pictures and note what they loved and why they loved the pieces.
Many times afterward we would all go out to lunch and discuss their favorites.  When I worked with them (all volunteer basis which I loved doing) one on one, I would meet with their husbands if possible and find out what where each of their favorite colors and the things they liked to do together as couples.  What inpsired them, where their favorite places were to get away (mountains, ocean etc..)  Over the years, I have helped people decorate even their whole homes room by room.  It has been rewarding and so much fun!  I love helping people find out who they really are and to see them begin to reflect that in all areas of their lives.  Some people go their whole lives without really capturing the essence of the true "ZOE".. zestful life.  They never find out who they are, why they are here and what their calling is.  They are "asleep" for all intensive purposes and have not tapped into their potential.. and are unsatisfied and lack the joy that God has intended for them.  Nothing gives me more happiness than in helping people find their passion.
I urged them to come up with a theme for each room in their home.  For example our great room is "the Holy Land".  We have pieces we have purchased together such as Christian art we purchased on our honeymoon in Gatlinburg, TN, and during our other travels to Jewelry shows and such. My house is small and I love little treasures I have found along the way in life, so some may say my home is "chachka heaven"!!  Here are some pictures of our Great Room..

An empty palette!!  Right after house closing 6/2004

And with a little Fairy Dust added.... Voila'!

View from entrance way... the sliding doors lead to our patio and lake



Great Room

entertainment center

Trying to find your own style is difficult at times.. It is like trying to find out who you are!!  Many people live their whole lives and don't come to find out who they are ... and it reflects in their fashion clothing choices, jewelry, and homes. 
I for one am more eclectic and enjoy many different styles and I love mixing colors, fabrics, media and many different period pieces.   My daughter has so much my same taste and just for example when we went to Greenwich Village one time to a jewelry store, we both took baskets to place our finds in .. she went one way and I went another and when we were to check out we both laughed at how similar the things we had picked out for jewelry making were! 

She is really much more creative than myself .. she also sew which I do not and oh my!!  she is just amazing.. I so adore her and I love her inside and out.   She is the only one of four children that does not now live nearby.  She still is living in NY and so our times together are very precious. 



My daughter Keri and myself at Key West.. my friend and shopping buddy!!



Before

A caption of some of the work my daughter does... she is amazingly talented
845-721-7173

Before

Finished.. I love it!! 

Here's my creative daugher at work!

I love the door on this unit

Some of my fav things shells, crown of thorns my faux Jonah jaws!!
 the fur Adam and Eve were given in the garden to cover their nakedness!

Holy Land ferns, gossamer lights, pineapple header assorted shells



I love these shells and my shofar



Our faux mantle with our Fontanini figurines



carpenter (Bart had been a cabinetmaker/carpenter, women at well, angel



Village life with chicken coop! 

Wedding at Canna .. working mule John Baptising, the fig tree



Foyer wine display with marble top, our giraffe plant stand



View from entrance way

Screen separating Great room from Office

One of our flaming rock oil lamps that we sell in our store
http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/OHMYCREATIONS

Ten Virgins.. I purchased this on the PA border Antique shop.. it is old and has a story

My late husband Bart was a military collector.  Much of our spare time was spent combing antique stores and auctions for his "finds"... it was a way for him to relax and unwind.  I enjoyed reading in the car while he went on his "adventures for treasures"!  I did go through a collecting time though and had a quite extensive amount of 1950's all original dolls.  Bart loved going to the doll shows with me and surprising me with dolls that delighted me no end!  Sometimes he would buy more than I did!!  I loved bringing them home and cleaning them and fixing them up and looking for original outfits and bringing them back to what they really looked like.  Sometimes I would join Bart in the antique shops as we always loved being together.  I happened to go to an antique shop up the street from where he was and fell upon a huge very old book with very large Christian pictures depicting different stories in the bible.  There were only a few of the pictures still left in the book and I asked the proprietor how much for the prints which were numbered as I remember.  He said $10 each.. I said I would take them all and asked if I could get anymore.. He called the owner of the prints, but they were not willing to sell them.  So I took my finds home knowing either Bart or myself could use them as a visual for some of our sermons. One was the one shown above, another was the sick man being led down on a stretcher, into a house.. through the roof by his friends so he could be healed.

Over the years we did use some of the prints and I always loved the one with the ten virgins. After my husband Joe and I were married I showed him the prints and he was taken by the one with the Ten Virgins. We contemplated this picture and the Scriptures that went along with it. The story of the ten virgins. Matthew 24-25 is speaking of signs of Christ's return. God gave my husband a revelation I believe on this story and we were so enlightened, we felt compelled to hang this picture over our mantle to remind ourselves about trusting God in these days, and the days coming.

Keep you lamp lit!

Updated Great Room Pictures:

Our new couch we found it at an auction .. it is custom made I love it!!

I love the pineapple decorator pillows I found at Bed Bath and Beyond

Joe and I purchased this print in Tennessee on our honeymoon
the best depiction of the Last Supper I have ever seen James Seward

Jesus on Palm Sunday the detail in incredible in this print
James Seward Print  Hosanna



This is My body by James Seward
http://shopping.artofthesouth.com/s-25-seward-james.aspx

Framed Print  ...All were satisfied by James Seward

Cute Chanel again she was one of our models for our upscale
 Oh My Creations Dog Necklace line

http://hautedoggie.blogspot.com/

We are selling this custom made lounge chair with 2 pillows.. I have extra pillows too!
contact us at 772-621-9951  The material is stunning Faberge' Eggs $450 + S&H

 

Please ask permission to use photos .. thank you!