My Little French Country

I'm drowning in brown and beige.  The house is brown and the walls are beige (well, maybe taupe).  It's beautiful but after staring at brown corrugated boxes for the past month I need some color! I see lots of paint and wallpaper in my near future. I digress...

So, this is our new house.  It's a sweet little french country home in new-ish neighborhood filled with sweet little french country homes, every house having the same feel but very different looks.  Our neighborhood is off a country road and has rolling hills.  It's a little bit charming I think.  Did I mention we purchased the house with out seeing it?  Yep! Now if you know me this is probably quite shocking to you.  After looking at dozens and dozens of houses I was about to give up when my mom called one day and said she was standing in the perfect house for me.  "Buy it," I said and that was that.

I have a few...well, maybe more than a few, projects planned for our new pad but for now I'm just enjoying being unpacked.

The House

The Great Room

I really like how our little sitting area came together. 

Formal Dining

I want to decorate in french COUNTRY in this new house,

emphasizing the country. So I used this antique pine wall piece for my china cabinet, instead of my more traditional dark wood buffet and hutch.

The Kitchen

and my new farm table! I'm a little bit obsessed with this table.

from Nell Hills (of course)

Master Bedroom

Our bedroom has five windows facing north and east.

The sunshine in the morning is incredible! 

What makes a house a home for Jared and I is hosting people regularly.  It's our passion to entertain friends, family and strangers but our house is no where near dressed to impress yet.  Thinking about this, while planning dinner for our first guests, I was reminded of a passage from Romans 12:13.  

"...And get in the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night."

Hospitality differs from social entertaining.   To be hospitable the house doesn't need to be clean and the food doesn't need to be gourmet.  Hospitality is not about the host, it's about the guests and focusing on the guests needs, and enjoying the fellowship of company.  

So, I wasn't embarrassed when my dinner guests last night saw my basement looking like this.  Honestly, keeping your drill and vacuum next to your bar can be really quite convenient. 

Nici