My slight, okay, serious, obsession with the book, The Nesting Place

If you have been following me on Instagram, I am sure you saw this post coming!  It's no secret that I've reached stalker level with The Nester.  I am pretty obsessed and in love with Myquillyn Smith's new book The Nesting Place.  According to some of the texts and emails and comments I have been getting, you all are loving it too!

I kept seeing the book pop up in my IG feed.  It seemed as though everyone was reading it.  I'm not a big reader and I don't usually buy design books but I was totally intrigued.  Before I had a chance to buy it, my sweet gift-giving friend, Thuy of My Paper Pinwheel gave me my very own copy, along with a cute bunting, of course!!

 



I was thrilled and couldn't wait to flip through it.  I was thinking that since it was a design/decorating book, I would really just be looking at pictures but I was surprised to find that the book is really a beautiful story paired with beautiful pictures.  I took it with us on a little road trip and I could not stop reading!  I stayed awake.  In the car.  Reading.  That's huge for me!!

I don't want to brag, but I'm pretty sure she wrote this book just for me!  Page after page, I felt as though she was taking my thoughts and putting them to paper!  In the very first chapter these lines grabbed me...

"Have you given up on the idea that you can love your home?  Do you find yourself thinking that  your next house will be the one you love?  Do you put off decorating projects until 'someday' because someday you'll have the time and money to do it 'right'"     Chapter 1, The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith

Ummm, yes!!  That's me.  Chapter 1...I knew I was meant to read this book.  Then I got to these heart stopping lines in Chapter 4.  She is describing a visit to a friend's beautiful home during which her friend apologized and pointed out flaws in her home.

"All I could think was that if this beautiful, well-appointed home wasn't good enough for her, then my ramshackle, motley house certainly would never be okay.  I made a mental note never to invite her over.  "   Chapter 4, The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith

I went back and read that line over and over.  That's me.  Honestly, I felt such a huge relief to know that I wasn't alone.  I take great comfort in the fact that The Nester herself once felt that she needed to hide her home.

So I devoured the book.  I read every word and went back and read every word again.  By the end of our weekend road trip, I was so determined to make our house a home and to love the home we've been blessed with!  We got in town late on a Sunday afternoon and went straight to Home Depot for a 5 gallon bucket of Swiss Coffee (white paint!)  I had been thinking about painting our living room white for years but was afraid to do it. 

 

I am so happy with the white walls!  It has made our dark, dingy living room so bright and clean!  Once I had white walls, I was on a roll in the living room.  I rearranged a little and put my oldest son to work spray painting a mirror that I had been thinking about painting for YEARS.

 

 

I've had "wallpapering the back of the built ins" on my wish list forever but never got around to spending the money to do it.  Instead, I shopped my house and used some fabric that was folded up in a drawer and tacked it up.  I love the way it turned out.  It's not perfect but as The Nester says, it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful!

 

 

Sure, I would love to have new furniture and a amazing new light fixture BUT we are working with what we have, using lots of spray paint, and DIYing it and I am loving the process!

 

 

The kitchen didn't stand a chance once the living room had been painted.  It's now white too!  The powder bath off the kitchen got a white paint makeover and the black utility room cabinets are in the process of being painted white. 

 



 





Next up, is a magnetic chalk wall in the kitchen.   I've always wanted a kitchen with a built in desk because I can't stand having piles of paper on the countertops.  This house doesn't have one so I'm finding a solution.  We are working on making a "command center" of sorts and I can't wait to finish that project!

If you haven't read The Nesting Place, what are you waiting for?  You've gotta read it!

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