people asked... don't they have designers in dallas? we get that. we wondered the same thing. so we asked our client. this is what he said... To start to explain my experience with Christina and her team (Angela and Kelly) from the redesign company I need to use a few choice 5 letter words... style - grace - peace The design work they did in my home is almost beyond words... I still shake my head in disbelief every time I walk into my house and see how they turned what I already had into design nirvana... My journey with Christina began when I was looking for random ideas on the Homegoods website and saw a photo of her design work that included low priced items found at her local store. 2 clicks later I was on the redesign company website and realized that I found what I was looking to help me make my house a home... The crazy part about all of this is that Christina and her team did not hesitate to travel from NC to TX to help me out - all at rate that was totally do-able. Dallas has many talented designers but... none that I could find that use stores with 4 and 5 letters to create high end design on a reasonable budget... Ikea, Home Depot, Lowes, Home Goods... and of course their mother ship - Target (actually that one is 6 letters). They effortlessly blended my stuff with some new stuff and turned it all into jaw-drop amazing stuff. texans take sweet talk seriously AND THEN! he posed for a feet shot with us... AND THEN! to thank us for shopping for him, he took us shopping for us. hehehe... we had so much fun. we keep sending thank you notes back and forth. because the thing is... he is the giver of the greater gift. he believed in us. believing in each other is the greatest gift we people can give. we hear believe in yourself we say believe in others we don't do what we love for a living because we believe in ourselves. we do what we love for a living because we believe in each other. the credit belongs to the ones who believe in others. it's hard to believe in yourself when you... lose your job stay home with little ones all day graduate with a useless degree and nobody will hire you feel fat and ugly receive college rejection letters drive a crappy car go under recognized and under compensated at work have acne or wrinkles or acne and wrinkles go under appreciated and under respected at home compare yourself to pinteresty perfection read success stories on facebook... stop trying. nobody wakes up one day and believes in themselves. wake up one day and go believe in somebody else instead. take them out for pancakes and tell them you believe. you will change their world. it's that whole be the change you wish to see in the world thing. it's that whole do unto others as you would have them do unto you thing. believing in each other is the greatest gift we people can give. and we have found... you get what you give. xo... tim and christina for all oh and tim and cole and camden are very happy that i have stopped singing this... by christina britt lewis | photography by angela statzer one | get a book with images that make you happy two | cut out the pages you love the most three | have mats cut to the size of your images and pop them in ikea frames four | hang frames on the big bare wall five | stand back and admire the griddy goodness six | click here to see the rest of the room xo...
christina for all by christina britt lewis | photography by angela statzer the best stuff happens when the thing you think is supposed to happen... doesn't
whenever the thing i think is supposed to happen... doesn't my mom says... God has something better for you she has not been wrong yet. not when it comes to big things like homes and hearts and dreams. and not when it comes to little things like backwards books... the store that the sweet texan opened early was all out of books we wanted for the living room and then we found this place... seems like you can't get to the good stuff until after that hard stuff happens. like you wouldn't know it was the good stuff if not for the hard stuff. the shadow proves the sunshine. you guys, the book title below... God's Unfolding Purpose i mean, c'mon stuff like that gets me quoting some Jesus... ahem... look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God... ...you count far more to him than birds... ...what i’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving... ...steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions... ...don’t worry about missing out... ...you’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met... ...give your entire attention to what God is doing right now... ...don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow... God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. - Jesus in the book of matthew or as the avett brothers say... there's a darkness upon you that's flooded in light xo... christina for all by christina britt lewis | photography by angela statzer did you ever see such a beautiful before? our clever client in dallas has fine taste and serious style. he collects meaningful things. his home is his favorite place in the whole wide world. helping him love it even more is our favorite thing in the whole wide world. so best before ever... and after... why it works...
our client made this herringbone table top out of paint stirrers. so we magnified it... he also made this black piece and has a collection of crosses AND buddhas... all his things. just redesigned. with a little less symmetry to balance the super symmetry on the opposite wall... books handed down from his family... something green from your back yard in a glass from your kitchen cabinet is free beauty... do you like the star better here than in the kitchen? his collection of jack's and the tin where his mother kept buttons... he has had this table since college. first piece of furniture he bought. can't imagine anything better... people often ask us what to put on bookshelves. in the kindley world we live in, notsomany people collect real books anymore. collections of pottery or old baskets or interesting objects look beautiful if you have and love them. but knick knacks for the sake of knick knacks are knick knacky. we prefer the look and feel and texture and warmth and homeyness of real books. real backwards books... 'cause when you get 'em at goodwill, most of them are gonna be south beach diet or whatever... the whole story of how we got all of these books for $21.00 tomorrow... his collection of interesting objects work as bookends... every room needs some serious symmetry. how we created this buggy griddy gallery wall on a budget this week too... the stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of texas... xo... christina for all by christina britt lewis today started off rough. i was all pissy to tim because i screwed something up and blamed him. 'cause you know. he was standing there. tim just listened to me bitch and then showed me how to fix the problem. all calm. i couldn't hear him though. i was deaf due to pissiness. a little bit later i was driving to today's redesign in our jeep. what i did not know until i had one is that jeep wrangler owners are a tight tribe. we pass the peace sign when we pass each other. you do not stay pissy long while passing peace to your jeepy brothers and sisters. you just don't. the music plays, the wind blows, and you start to feel all bob marley, mon. so i was feeling less pissy when tim called. he said... hey baby, wanna see something that is going to rock your world? i said... yes. i totally do. but first, i'm sorry i was so bitchy this morning. he said... pfffft...who cares? wanna see? i said... yes. he said... look left. and there in the car to my left stopped at a red light next to me, was tim. how this man does not get mad at me, i have no idea. i'm still awful. and he just makes me laugh. today got a whole lot better after that. our redesign is one where we used what they already have and love and only bought a few new things. those are my favorite ones. but they really needed a new kitchen table and chairs and what we came up with is apartment therapy worthy. totally not what your neighbor has. can't wait to show you! BUT THEN... my dad takes cole and camden out for dinner on redesign days because my mom and i are big believers in real, homemade food and our men don't get to eat out much. my mom and i are no fun to eat out with because we are wicked frugal and we can't stop ourselves from saying "i could have made this for $3" and other annoying things. but tim has clients tonight and i was starving, so i crashed man night. i had one of those moments when i walked in the restaurant...you know when you see yourself in a store window or something, but you don't realize it's you for a split second? well, i didn't realize my family was my family for a split second. and in that split second i thought "who are those handsome men wearing my boy's t-shirts making the waitress laugh?" apples don't fall far from trees. dinner was great, but here is the thing...my parents are generous. part of why we so confidently started our lives over is because we know my parents always have our backs. they thought we were crazy and disagreed with our choices, but they believe in Jesus and practice His unconditionally loving and ridiculously generous ways. when facebook became a thing, most every person i reconnected with said "how do i get in touch with your parents? i have to thank them." and then story after story of how they helped people over the years surfaced. my mom and dad are how we know that if you continually give, you will continually have. we are very happy that we made it on our own, but knowing you have support makes risky choices easier. that's the whole truth. our bill was under $40. my dad paid the bill with his credit card and handed the waitress $20 cash. she said "i'll get you change." dad said, "no, that's for you. for putting up with me. i know i'm a pain in the ass." or something. she laughed again and then seriously thanked him. he brushed off her gratitude while my boys explained "he ALWAYS tips like 50%. just take it. it makes him happy." or something. and in that moment i realized that while i have been feeling like the worst mother in the whole wide world, my boys have been learning Jesusy generosity. i'm losing track of how many times i was wrong today. AND THEN... cole insisted on riding in the jeep with me on the way home even though that meant he had to sit with a tool box at his feet and a steamer in his lap. he insisted because "mom, i gotta play this song for you. you're gonna love it." and as the music played,
the wind blew, and i passed peace to my tribe, i realized that what my mom always says is true... sometimes when you think you lost, you won peace... christina |