before... after... it is a tree of life to all who grasp it, and whoever holds on to it is happy; its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace. proverbs before... after... the secret to beautiful bookshelves is less stuff. not more stuff. this sectional is as comfortable as it is stunning. this fabric is as family friendly as it is soft and beautiful. even for the furry members of your family. big love and gratitude to our friends at the cococo. sometimes it is time for new furniture. new furniture is beautiful, but the things you already have and love... art that moves your soul, photos of the ones you love, books that bring you peace, pottery your kids made, stones you collected on a family walk... the things that tell your story make your house your home. xo... christina for all nothing brings down walls as surely as acceptance chopra this song is stuck in my head. it moves me down deep in my soul. that's how you know art when you hear it... for the longest time, tim and i turned to "man" to save us. we looked to the experts to tell us "truth" about how we should live, love, parent... we read every new book, we took notes on sunday mornings, we listened to the TED talks, we even watched supernanny. remember supernanny? her line was that is unacceptable. we loved that. we said it too. sometimes we’d say it with a british accent. just to mix it up a bit. but the more we told our child that his behavior was unacceptable, the worse it got. so we looked to other sources and other books and other experts for advice. they all echoed the same ideas... be strong. stand your ground. break his will. tough love…. our search led us to a book called how to help your angry child or something. the author wrote about what makes a child angry. he mentioned abuse, neglect, overly strict parenting, overly lenient parenting…nothing fit. our angry child was growing up with patient, kind, thoughtful, educated, loving parents. feeling alone in the universe... we wondered if maybe "man" can't save us. we wondered if we already had everything we really needed down deep in our own souls. we wondered if "truth" is more caught than taught. what if... anger was genetic and not something he could do a whole lot about? what if... we accepted and loved our angry child just the way he was made instead of trying to change him? what if... we stopped telling him he was unacceptable? would that bring down the wall between us? so the next time he overreacted to his brother eating the last piece of pizza or whatever... we rejected the advice of others that we be big people who overpower little people. we stayed calm and quiet and said something like… it is ok to be angry. you are ok. your anger is a gift. you are bold. your strong will is a gift. you stand up for what you believe in. your intolerance for injustice is a gift. you are a gift. you are powerful. we are so proud of who you are. we are here to show you how to use your power for good. you can choose to not hurt people with your power. and when you do... you will do great things. we are your biggest fans. we can’t wait to see how you use your gift to make the world a better place. acceptance changed everything. camden and i cruised, swam with stingrays, and 4-wheeled through a rainforest together recently. do not believe the self-fulfilling prophecy that your teenager will be all angsty and hate you. we have found, acceptance leads to peace. not always. but have hope. peace is not necessarily the absence of struggle, peace is the presence of love. have love. we still read the books and listen to the TED talks... learning is a beautiful life long sort of thing. but we no longer look to "man" to save us. when you are little you think the big people know what they are doing. when you are big you know that most of the big people are winging it at best. when you need to know what to do, don't listen to the big loud voice of others. listen to the still small Voice within. or as our wise friend, john cassetto, wrote... there will always be people wanting you to slow down, speed up... but resist every urge to give those voices a place of authority over you. ...in the midst of it all, there's a promise we hold on to. courageously stay your course. "whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a Voice behind you saying, this is the way; walk in it." - isaiah still learning and listening, tim and christina by christina britt lewis photography by kelly lies knowing when to speak up and when to shut up is this BIG mystery to me. but when our clients send us love notes on houzz, even i am aware it is time to shut up and let the woman speak already... "My redesign was more than I could ever have imagined! I recently moved into a new house and was completely overwhelmed trying to make my stuff "fit" into this new space. The Redesign Company came in, made themselves at home and made my kitchen, family, dining and entryway space absolutely fabulous. I was so blown away with how perfect everything was when I got home. I feel like I live in a model house now but it's all mine! I cannot wait to start on the next set of rooms!!! The personalities of the designers were so refreshing from the time I spent with them to every email and phone call we shared. I just love them and you will too!" we love you more, sister. we totally mean it when we say "we are not happy if you are not happy". so your happiness and your love note made our day. we insist upon solitude on installation days, (stage fright) (and sometimes we eat your cookies) (not really) (ok, sometimes) BUT... we totally take care of your dog AND we post sneak peeks on instagram! follow us @lovecominghome tuesdays and thursdays are installation days! so i gotta run... xo... christina for all by christina britt lewis sometimes we get so excited we forget to take befores, but these afters are so pretty we have to show you anyway. whenever we do a super colorful redesign i am convinced i prefer color. whenever we do a super neutral redesign i am convinced i prefer neutral. do i contradict myself? very well, then i contradict myself. i am large. i contain multitudes. walt whitman and me xo... christina for all |