Have you ever had a room you just didn’t know how to decorate and what kind of accessory to use? Have you ever said: Where do I get my inspiration? It is so large, what will I ever do with it?

We recently experienced this exact problem when it came time to redo our living room. This room is a 30 foot long room with one part being the dining room that is 10 x 10 feet wide, one section being 13 x 13 for the formal living room area and the remaining area being the entry way that goes into the hall that connects the bedrooms. Every room upstairs had been done and looked great and matched the personality of our family members but the living room/dining room area literally scared me - where do I even start? After all the room was still decorated in lime green, you know the 70’s decade. It was scary. I wanted to do something so I watched every decorating program available, but nothing was inspiring me. Does any of this sound familiar?

Then for a family reunion we had the opportunity to go to Bryce Canyon in Utah. It a wonderful place, absolutely beautiful with color, stunning, even breathtaking. While walking through the gift shops we found this most beautiful, colorful rock that we just had to have. We brought this rock home and promptly set it on the mantle of the fireplace in the living room - yes it stuck out like a sore thumb. As the weeks went along and I really began to think about the decoration for the living room I would sit in the room and just try to feel the atmosphere and what needed to happen there. One day as I sat there my eyes fell on the rock and all of a sudden I had the inspiration I needed and I ran with it. And today it is one of my very favorite rooms in our home.

Brent thought I was absolutely crazy when I boxed the rock up in a box and packed it so it wouldn’t be damaged and off to the paint store we went. To find the perfect colors. The paint clerks thought we were insane when we started matching paint chips to the colors in the rock. But away we came with paint colors in Apricot and Peach. When I painted one wall apricot I thought I had made a terrible mistake, but it turned out beautiful by the time the other three walls were painted in the peach color. Then I gave Brent a wallpaper brush and he brushed the main wall with an apricot glaze. It was perfect. We matched the walls with a light colored carpet. The base of the room of a great pallette to start with.

Now to accessorize our beautiful country home with the perfect accessories and furniture. So away we went. We brought out the dark brown of the rock with furniture, two beautiful dark leather loveseats facing each other. Then we brought in tables. Two of them are pine that Brent has made, just perfect. Then a large coffee table in between the loveseats. It was wonderful.

To bring in the country outdoors into the home décor I filled tall vases on each side of the fireplace with tall dried grasses. The back of the mantel Brent tiled. Everything was coming together with the accessories. The quilts, throws, baskets and wall décor were done in complimentary colors. As I said on the website I love baskets and feel that no room has all of the necessary accessories until there is at least one basket. For Christmas this year my mother made perfect country pillows to add to the room.

Family pictures are in picture frames that were custom made by Brent using his fine woodworking skills. Of course, there are mirrors and wall décor that are very rustic such as a large heart shaped barb wire wreath, all handcrafted by Brent. I am sure that many of these accessories will become family heirlooms.

I am so grateful for the experiences I’ve had decorating our home because it was full of wonderful memories and has made our home peaceful and definitely our very own castle. From the walls, to the mirrors, baskets and numerous other accessories it is perfect.