Grace at Home No. 261

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's Grace at Home party! I'm so glad you're here.

Here are some features from last week's party that I thought you might enjoy.

Lindsay from Simply September shared tips for using inspirational quotes in home decor, plus she's offering dozens of free printables!

Danielle from A Sprinkle of Joy re-purposed the wooden tray that held a kids' puzzle into this cute serving tray. Read her post for all the details.

Leslie from Lamberts Lately used to be a first-grade teacher. She developed a printable planner for teachers, and she's giving it away on her blog. If you're a teacher or know a teacher, you'll be grateful for this.

Patti from Old Things New shared some beautiful thoughts about how focusing on God frees us from fear of what surrounds us. Yes!

As for me, I shared a glimpse into our new little place in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I'd love to know what you think!

A big thank you to everyone who joined last week's party!  I'm so grateful for each person who links up each week. If you've been featured, feel free to grab the "I was featured" button.  I'd be so proud if you displayed it!

Now for this week's party!  Grace at Home is a place for you to share anything related to making your home a place of grace. I invite you to link posts about

• DIY projects
• decorating
• recipes
• hospitality
• homemaking tips
• parenting
• marriage
• faith
• self-care
• soul care

Whatever you do to make your home a place of grace, I'd like to hear about it.  Here's what I ask of you.  Please include the permalink to your post, not your blog's home page.  Please let people know that you've linked up.  No more than three posts per person, please.  Note that if you link a post here, you are giving me permission to share your post, including a photo.  And visit at least one of the other party participants--that's what really makes it a party!

Our new mountain retreat

Several weeks ago I shared the news that we bought a condo in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This summer I've had the task of changing an unfurnished unit into a fully-functioning home away from home without completely breaking the bank. It's been a fun challenge, and I'm excited to show you some of my progress.

I should start, though, by saying that our favorite part of this mountain place is not what's inside our four walls. It's the setting, such as this scene on the main drive of our neighborhood:

Or this swimming hole that's at the end of one of our favorite hikes:

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you might have seen this photo of me hiking in that creek:

Being in the mountains is fun, y'all. But I promised to show you some photos of our place, so here goes.

The condo's layout is simple but smart. Half of the unit is devoted to three bedrooms and three bathrooms; the other half is the living/dining/kitchen area, all open to one another. In the middle is the entry hall.  Want to look around the living/dining/kitchen area with me?

When you approach the living area from the entry hall, here's the first look:



Then as you turn to the right, you see straight out to the deck:

To the far right is the kitchen:

Looking from the kitchen back toward the living area:

Then back toward the dining area, completing the circle:

Decorating a mountain place could easily go the rustic/cabin look, but that wasn't quite what I was wanting. My hope was to create a space that's casual and relaxed, with some rustic elements, but nothing that would compete with the beautiful spaces outside the windows, like this view from the dining area:

See what I mean?

The furnishings and decor and decor are a mix of things we already owned, new items, and new-to-us items. Since we did purchase some new items, we were able to have those delivered directly to the condo, which meant we didn't have to hire movers. So far, every time we've gone to the mountains, we've just taken a carload of things along with us, and the moving-in process has been pretty easy.

We still have a ways to go, but we're getting there! We've already found a painting for above the fireplace; what you see here is a picture that was once in my kitchen, then moved to my guest room. And we've decided that we need a bigger rug for the living room instead of this old one that was in my attic. The great things is that even while we continue to work on the space, it's already fully functional and ready to welcome guests.

What do you think? Want to visit the Blue Ridge Mountains?

Joining
Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Grace at Home No. 260

Wow! Can you believe it's already August? The summer is winding down, and I for one have mixed emotions about that. I'm always glad to welcome Autumn with its cooler temperatures, but it's hard to say good-bye to the "lazy, hazy, crazy days of Summer."

I'm grateful you're here for today's Grace at Home party, where we celebrate all the ways we make our homes places of grace. Here are a few links from last week's party that caught my eye.

Jen from Noting Grace showed us how she made this grain-sack striped ottoman.

Speaking of ottomans, Patti from Old Things New made this ottoman for her outdoor space. Actually, it serves as a bench, but it's actually her huge cooler all dressed up! Patti shares complete instructions for making your own.

Eileen from Just Measuring Up gave us a step-by-step tutorial for making this great lamp from a model train—and the best part is that you could use anything in place of the train. I think I see a custom lamp in my future!

Jas from All That's Jas shared a recipe for no-bake energy bites. Don't these look delicious? And the best part is that they're made from just a few ingredients that you may already have in your pantry.

Tehila from Women Abiding began a series on simplifying life, and she offers some excellent advice on the #1 location to spend more of your time. You'll be inspired by this post.

A big thank you to everyone who joined last week's party!  I'm so grateful for each person who links up each week. If you've been featured, feel free to grab the "I was featured" button.  I'd be so proud if you displayed it!

Now for this week's party!  Grace at Home is a place for you to share anything related to making your home a place of grace. I invite you to link posts about

• DIY projects
• decorating
• recipes
• hospitality
• homemaking tips
• parenting
• marriage
• faith
• self-care
• soul care

Whatever you do to make your home a place of grace, I'd like to hear about it.  Here's what I ask of you.  Please include the permalink to your post, not your blog's home page.  Please let people know that you've linked up.  No more than three posts per person, please.  Note that if you link a post here, you are giving me permission to share your post, including a photo.  And visit at least one of the other party participants--that's what really makes it a party!