Country Style Kitchens | Home & Decor Inspiration

I’ve always LOVED country kitchens! My favourite bits are the centre islands, hanging brassware, fresh cut flowers, white-washed wooden cupboards and vintage additions like old kettles or tins or plates… I would love to be able to have a kitchen like that someday!

If you’re thinking of country styling your kitchen, remember the following: it doesn’t have to be super neat, a little bit of ‘artfully misplaced’ items add to the overall effect; a vase of fresh flowers always wins; source vintage items from second hand shops to add to your upper most shelves as decor (think china plates, brass tourines etc); make sure there’s an element of wood – whether white washed, natural or crisply painted a white or bright colour.

Check out these awesome inspirational ideas to make your kitchen more ‘country‘:

Natural Stone Walled Kitchen | source Elle Decor

Classic Center Island Kitchen | source Pinterest

Cosy Country Kitchen | source Pinterest

French-Inspired Cream Kitchen | source Country Living

Light & Airy Country Kitchen | source Pinterest

At Home in the Country | source Pinterest

Romantic Country Kitchen | source Herblog.com

Life is Learning to Dance in the Rain

Hi lovely people! Here is a great little slice of inspiration I came across today…when life is tough, things get thrown at you and you don’t know why…focus on getting through each day at a time, and finding joy in triumphing over troubles.

It’s the question we put to God when times are hard, ‘Lord, why did that have to happen? It hurts!’…and all he wants us to do is draw closer to him and walk through the pain hand in hand. Life is about learning to Dance in the Rain!

Dance in the Rain | source Penny Wishes on Etsy

Red, Yellow & Gold – Autumn 2012 Inspiration

While (unbelievably) the weather outside is a balmy 32 degrees, it drops again tomorrow and settles to a more ‘Autumn Ready’ 20 degrees, overcast and drizzle. Now while I’m not a huge fan of boring grey weather (hence never having lived in England), I AM a fan of great wardrobe changes, indoor fires, hot chocolate in the evenings, colourful gumboots and changing colours…

Bring on Autumn I say! To celebrate this often ‘forgotten’ season in South Africa – in Cape Town anyway, we seem to slip from Summer into Winter without noticing – I’ve put together a palate of really pretty Autumn images, some nature, some fashion, some decor -it’s all about being inspired to roll into Autumn, falling leaf style 🙂 (snowboarders will know what I mean)…

So have a super weekend and be inspired this Friday…

Cycling into Autumn | source Flickr by Ming Chai

Blue Bird Colours | source Design Seeds

Charcoal & Red | source Urban Outfitters

Falling Leaf | source Design Seeds

Childhood in Fall | source Seasonal-Love Tumblr

Journey Through Autumn | source Design Seeds

Pippi Longstocking | source HGTV.com

Romance in the Mist | source Smashing Magazine

‘Whatever is True’ | Scripture Inspiration

Happy Monday! Today I’ve been listening to Mark Driscoll’s talk on Mary and Martha from Luke – and what an insight it is to the character and personalities of people in Christ; some are doers, some are be-ers…of you know what I mean! It’s all how we are wired – and it’s learning to have grace in that, being the person God created you to be.

It’s so important to gain insight from the word like this – and applying it to our own lives in a way that increases our faith and reliance on God. Also, it was a welcome change to listening to the radio in the traffic – really filling my mind with worthy things 🙂 So, in the week leading up to Easter – I pray you would all fill your minds with the things and character of God, and remember that each of us are individuals and he has plans for each one of us 🙂

Whatever is True | source here.