This whole #projectkitchen thing is starting to feel real. Take a gooooooooood look at my before pics, because I am holding out high hopes that they will be a thing of the past. We still have some chatting to do and finalizing with our potential contractor. Alllllllmost……

Meanwhile, I have pulled the trigger on our family farm table.

Being that I was raised by Michael Landon and his idyllic Little House on the Prairie, I have always wanted one big family table where the family gathered, worked, did homework, visited. That sort of goodness.

But being that I am a fussy, dramatic, make-up and velvet loving gal who is originally from NJ horse country… I can’t fully forgo my glam roots.

Hence my Glam Farmhouse style. This farm table won’t be an exception. High-Gloss Glamour meets Farmhouse Simplicity.

Here are some of my inspiration photos:

So, working from those inspiration pics, I sent the following ideas over to our Master Craftsman, Jesse Hoover of JHCraftsman:

1. I decided on a Parsons shape to keep the look hanging between sleek and modern, and classic farmhouse. The size will seat 8+

2. I want the finish to look something like this ebony goodness, to contrast all of the brown we have going on in our farmhouse:

3. I am stealing from the creative genius of my friend Angela and using a similar pattern on my tabletop, sans the white:

Then, we are hoping to seal the daylights out of this beauty so we can do what you are supposed to do with furniture… EVEN pretty furniture:

USE IT!

And use it we will. This family eats, schools, works, plays and visits at our farmhouse table. This table is the hub of our home.

I can’t wait to see it… and I can’t wait to share it with you! I hope to be back soon sharing additional #projectkitchen thoughts your way.

Do you use a family table? You know, the one where everyone gathers? Do tell!

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Take daily, bite-size steps toward living in a home you LOVE: Be sure to subscribe to FHD via email, bloglovin, your fave reader, and follow Fieldstone Hill on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!

MY GENEROUS SPONSOR:

This post is generously sponsored by my YL. I am into natural choices for my family, and this is the main way I avoided toxins during pregnancy, and now our family is hooked. My Young Living essential oils are also my business, and the oils are so well loved that they sponsor my blog!!! Thank you, friends!  Enroll by clicking here.

My best YL special yet:

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Three Free Steps to a Magazine Home

Do you ever look at images from magazines and immediately feel defeated, thinking, “My home could never look like that!” ??

Fear not. Magazine level decor can truly be yours.

It is not a matter of having a home that makes the Jones’s happy {unless YOU are the Jones’s} – it is a matter of having a home that reflects peace, order, and beauty.  So, forget about keeping up with others, and set the bar high for your family and your joy.

This is not for the feign-of-heart. I am here to tell you that your home can feel like a photo-worthy space. You will need a large trash bag, some creative shuffling, and some elbow grease. And GUTS. Did I mention guts?

Are you willing?

1. Edit, Edit, Edit

Step one is the hardest one, but the most essential. THE. MOST. ESSENTIAL.

In fact, may I share one of my favorite sayings that is SO true {albeit a tad blunt}?:  BEAUTIFUL SPACES ARE NOT FILLED WITH JUNK.

Remind yourself: this is a VERY FREE way to create beauty in your home!!

So, once you are convinced that you need to Edit, now you must roll up your sleeves and put in the work. Editing requires that you 1. Take the time 2. Set the standards High and then 3. Just do it! My mantra when I am editing is: Do I LOVE it or Do I USE it? No? Hmm. It probably does not make the cut!

The blessing? You are not owned by STUFF, and you can pass your unused things on to those that actually need them.

And be forewarned, Editing is not a once and done process in the home, but an ever evolving task that is best when done regularly.

2.Add symmetry

Once you have pared your room down to the essentials and the things you love, you are ready to start the rearranging process.

Take a look at what you have in your room, and look for pairs. Pairs of end tables. Pairs of pillows. Pairs of art. Pairs of lamps. {These pairs do not need to match identically, but they should be equivalent in size and form}.

Next, take your pairs, and place them symmetrically throughout the space. If folded in half, parts of the room should match up similarly {not necessarily identically}. This is easiest to understand if you look at a photo. Let’s take this living room from one of my favorite designers, Katie Ridder.

Whether or not you would want your room to have a look or feel like this, you can still use this photo to study the FREE design tool of symmetry.  Upon studying this picture, I immediately see several symmetrical elements:

Get the general idea? You can use these ideas to add symmetry to your space at home. Again, creative thinking and elbow grease may be required. You may even have to shop around your house, and steal things from another room, but there should be no cost involved.

3. Add art and beauty

I am here to tell you that this does not have to cost you  a thing. Below is a list of artful items that, when displayed in a lovely manner, can give your home that gorgeous magazine feel.

1. FREE branches from your yard, or the yard of a friend. Even more glorious if you can find a branch that is in bloom.

2. FREE Printables to add art to your space {try these free maps, or these free botanical prints}

3. Hang groupings of plates on the wall. Use the pretty ones you own, but just sit in a drawer. FREE!

4. Do you have other groupings of things, just sitting in a drawer, that would look beautiful if hung on the wall? Antique baskets? old silver platters? straw hats? Select unique and artful collections, and hang them with symmetry. FREE!

5. And don’t forget the age old practice of keeping a flower garden, and then filling your home with the flowers. for free!

And these are just a few ideas for ways to add beauty and art into your home. The fun part is that you can do these now. Today!

So, now you have some very free tools, and hopefully the inspiration and motivation. Free yourself of things you don’t need, and add in other {free} decorative touches, and you will breathe more easily in your beautiful, peaceful and orderly space – a space that is pretty enough to be in pictures!

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{images via: 1. BHG.com, 2. Katie Ridder, 3. Sarah Richardson}

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THIS POST HAS BEEN SPONSORED BY:

Quilts, Fabric Art, Bags, Purses, and Accessories for YOU!

Take daily, bite-size steps toward living in a home you LOVE: Be sure to subscribe to FHD via email, bloglovin, your fave reader, and follow Fieldstone Hill on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!

All FHD posts are generously sponsored by my YL. I am into natural choices for my family, and this is the main way I avoided toxins during pregnancy, and now our family is hooked. My Young Living essential oils are also my business, and the oils are so well loved that they sponsor my blog!!! Thank you, friends!  Enroll by clicking here.

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 Don’t miss a single post from Fieldstone Hill Design! Have regular decorating goodness delivered {free!} directly to your inbox.

{This post contains affiliate links. Thank you so much  for reading and supporting FHD! }

How I KEEP my wellness goals all year long

For me, if I ever want to achieve my wellness goals – and maintain them {!}, I have come to discover that I must

1. Get very basic with my goals

and

2. Go cold turkey

{as in, COMPLETELY give up something, or COMPLETELY add a new habit}

Now, that is what works for ME.

You will need to discover what works for YOU!!

Take some time to think back to a time when you were really living in wellness:

• What kinds of habits did you have?
• What were  you giving up?
• How were you achieving your goals?
• What made that time in your life DIFFERENT?
• What made it work?

Once you know the answers to those questions, you are ready to move forward in a realistic way, that works for you, not someone else.

So, keep your OWN PERSONAL lifestyle in mind as I share how I get it done. Keeping in mind that these may not work for you, or may need to be tweaked, or … they may be the perfect way for you to meet your wellness goals this year, and to keep on meeting them!

How I keep my wellness goals:

1. This is how I was finally able to squeeze in a CONSISTENT workout routine:

The key for me was to drastically lower my expectations to having only ONE expectation: Just get it done.

2. I get back to basics on the food plan that saved my life.

I slipped on my healthy eating this past year. Now, I am getting back into my diet with the “Cold Turkey Method” – by going 100% for only 2 weeks, and then aiming for an 80/20 lifestyle on this healing, yet challenging, diet:

3. I keep my stack of healthy cookbooks right on the counter, for meal planning:

For us, healthy eating means eating real foods, planning ahead a bit, and getting rid of food in boxes. We are particularly diving back into our I quit sugar books, especially for the kids. Anyone else have kids that are running around like they have wind-up Christmas candy canes in their backs?

4. I keep my essential oils accessible & I replace my toxic products bit by bit:

I am nutty, crazy, surprisingly in love with these little bottles that A. smell ridiculously good and make my house smell like a spa. And B. WORK.

There is buzz about these babies everywhere, so I wrote a post to answer your burning questions about EO’s, in my frank, honest way. And …. let me just say… ENOUGH about all your status updates on blasted boogers & woes…get the dang oils already!

5. I force rest into my life, even if I think I don’t have time for it:

Getting to the spa on a regular basis is simply not an option in this season of my life. And I will readily admit, I love to go spa-ing. So, instead, I have taken a few simple steps to create a Refuge Of Rest in my very own bathroom.

This year, my New Year’s goal is

to stop living in survival mode.

I hope you will join me!!

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JOIN ME AND EDIE ON TONIGHT!! FOR A WEBINAR!!

BE SURE TO “LIKE” MY FIELDSTONE HILL DESIGN FACEBOOK PAGE, and CHECK IT ON MONDAY FOR THE LINK TO JOIN THE WEBINAR!!!

Take daily, bite-size steps toward living in a home you LOVE: Be sure to subscribe to FHD via email, bloglovin, your fave reader, and follow Fieldstone Hill on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!

MY GENEROUS SPONSOR:

This post is generously sponsored by my YL. I am into natural choices for my family, and this is the main way I avoided toxins during pregnancy, and now our family is hooked. My Young Living essential oils are also my business, and the oils are so well loved that they sponsor my blog!!! Thank you, friends!  Enroll by clicking here.

MY BEST SPECIAL EVER:

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{This post contains affiliate links. Thank you so much  for reading and supporting FHD! }

My 2014 Fave 13 Posts:

Thank you for journeying with me this past year.

I poured over my posts from 2014 and picked out my own personal faves. They are posts that will help you in your mission to living with beauty, and having a home you truly love – whether that is a matter of the heart, or a matter of Overcoming your Decorating Paralysis.

Have fun revisiting these posts. The perfect reads for a lazy afternoon or a quiet sneak-away moment! #LivewithBeauty Y’all!

1. Are You Living With Beauty?:

2. 5 free things you can do now to create a gorgeous

room:

3. How to be more GUTSY with your decorating:

4. 7 Quick, Easy Ways to Spa Up Your Bathroom:

5. Our Boys Room Reveal:

6. Buy the Best {affordable vs. cheap interiors}:

7. 4 Simple Steps for an affordable, designer room:

8. Why everyone is into Essential Oils & Are they for

Me? {no-nonsense info}:

9. Five Free Ways to Add Art & Beauty to your Home,

now:

10. Why your home is already perfect:

11. The Big Nursery Reveal {Georgia Lu’s room}:

12. 31 Days of Favorite Spaces {and how to find YOURS}:

13. Overcoming Decorating Paralysis: Permission to Not

Change A Thing:

I am excited about welcoming in a new year! New beginnings…. always my favorite!

What was YOUR favorite thing about 2014?

Share below in the comments!

* * * * *

JOIN ME AND EDIE ON MONDAY NIGHT FOR A WEBINAR!!

BE SURE TO “LIKE” MY FIELDSTONE HILL DESIGN FACEBOOK PAGE, and CHECK IT ON MONDAY FOR THE LINK TO JOIN THE WEBINAR!!!

Take daily, bite-size steps toward living in a home you LOVE: Be sure to subscribe to FHD via email, bloglovin, your fave reader, and follow Fieldstone Hill on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!

MY GENEROUS SPONSOR:

This post is generously sponsored by my YL. I am into natural choices for my family, and this is the main way I avoided toxins during pregnancy, and now our family is hooked. My Young Living essential oils are also my business, and the oils are so well loved that they sponsor my blog!!! Thank you, friends!  Enroll by clicking here.

LAST DAYS FOR THIS SPECIAL!:

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 Don’t miss a single post from Fieldstone Hill Design! Have regular decorating goodness delivered {free!} directly to your inbox.

{This post contains affiliate links. Thank you so much  for reading and supporting FHD! }