Home Made Lovely - by Shannon Acheson (Hardcover)

Want a home that is a peaceful sanctuary, sheltering you from the cares of the world, and looks nice, too? The author can easily help you do that. Our surroundings can evoke either positive or negative emotions, depending on the shape it is in. This book has tons of tips to get you going, and help you love where you live right now. While walking through your rooms, make a balanced list of positive and negative things, pausing to thank God for everything you like. Also, note any repairs needed, and fix those before anything else is done. Make a budget. Everything does not have to be done at once, work on one room at a time. Your home will have a cohesive flow if five colors are used throughout, with different amounts in each room. Follow the sixty-thirty-ten rule. The main color is 60%, the secondary color 30%, and 10% for the accent color. Not all five colors need to be used in every room. Decorate according to the stage your life is in, for instance, rooms will look different if toddlers are in the home. Decorate with your family’s comfort in mind, not what a magazine cover looks like. A section of the book helps you determine your style. As a Christian, the author, Shannon, decorates for your spiritual side. Additionally, she includes recipes that you can share with others while you enjoy your happy home. I love this 5-plus-star book because it shows how simple it is to create a wonderful environment, and highly recommend it to everyone. Bethany House Publishers has provided Tickmenot with a complimentary copy of, Home Made Lovely: Creating the Home You’ve Always Wanted, for the purpose of review.

This book is so beautifully written and really gets my focus in the right place from the start. Part 1 - Who are you doing it all for? Shannon gets me thinking about the purpose behind the decorating, de-cluttering and arrangement of my home. The point, per say, of all this. Why am I doing this, what will it accomplish, and for whom am I doing it? She also helps me cultivate and Attitude of Gratitude in Chapter 2 by reminding me of whats really important and that I don't have to have it all to create a beautiful home. She helps me figure out how to love the home I have. Chapter 3 is one I really like, because it reminds me that my home is a gift from God and that I need to use it for His glory! She has some really interesting and fun suggestions here about using Scripture throughout my home. Part 2 of the book consists of de-cluttering helps, organization tips, and how to decorate on a budget. Part 3 contains a three step plan for finding my style and decorating my home. As a bonus there are tips on hospitality, recipes and more! This is a book you don't want to miss! I can't wait to incorporate these ideas into my project this year of bringing beauty to my home. I was blessed with this book courtesy of Bethany House. I wasn't asked to review it positively, simply to give my honest opinion.

Home Made Lovely by Shannon Acheson is a beautiful how to for decorating tips, tricks and ideas. Shannon offers basic, realistic decorating ideas as well as simply hospitality ideas. There are several pages for journaling/woking out your ideas. There are also quite a few photo pages that illustrate ideas. Shannon keeps the ideas (mostly) simply for those new to interior decorating, but also has some great tips for those who have experience. All in all, I found the book informative and helpful. Interior decorating is not necessarily something I am good at, but did find the tips helpful and inspiring. I think the best (and my favorite) quote from the book was at the end where Shannon shared, "....the kitchen will become messy every since day if you're doing life right." I was given a free copy from the publisher for my honest review. I would recommend this book!

“I believe that creating a peaceful and welcoming home begins by clarifying who you’re decorating for, being thankful for the home you have in this season, and deliberately dedicating it to God,” Shannon Acheson writes in the introduction of her book, Home Made Lovely: Creative the Home You’ve Always Wanted. ~ What ~ This one-hundred-and-ninety-two-page hardbound targets mainly women who want to decorate their house to become a home while focusing on God and family. After an introduction, it contains four parts, each with three chapters, and ends with a conclusion, acknowledgments, and notes. By initially concentrating on Jesus and how He is vitally important where we live, the author shows how a home can be personalized to represent the owner and Christ’s love. The first part contains three chapters about who to decorate for, gratitude, and promoting the Bible throughout the home. The next section covers seven decluttering tips, the trap of trends, and seventy-five budget decorating ideas while the third has a three-step process of finding your style, creating a plan, and decorating one room at a time. The final part is about hospitality, welcoming visitors, and entertaining. Full-color photographs, fill-in charts, and journaling areas are added throughout its pages. ~ Why ~ It is always nice to spruce up a room and make it feel more comfortable, and this tabletop book has a lovely presentation. I like that it gave specific Bible verses to use per each room plus the differences of home and decorating styles from craftsman to mid-century modern and boho/scandi to transitional. The chapter on budgeting has fifteen furniture hacks, a dozen wall/art ideas, eight bathroom suggestions, nine paint and trim tricks, six tray/vignette placings, ten fabric considerations, and seven lighting concepts. I appreciate the information on decorating each room using two methods of furniture and space layout. ~ Why Not ~ Those who are not homeowners or tenants who cannot alter their abode may not have any interest in this book. Others who are older, have decorated many homes, and know what they like or dislike may not glean any new information in this read that is targeted more to new homeowners or condo/apartment dwellers. While I have no issue writing Bible verses on walls or praying for those who reside in each room (compared to praying for the room itself), I am unsure about anointing an inanimate object with oil. I did not understand why nine food recipes, some with full-page photos, were considered interior decorating. ~ Wish ~ With the book having pages to fill out, many will not want to write in it, so an additional journal might be appreciated. Since I am more of a visual person, I prefer photographs of the many suggested ideas to see what they look like and how they are assembled in a room. ~ Want ~ If you are looking for a beginner’s book to understanding elementary interior design, this would work well for the young Christian woman who has recently married and wants to make her new home more attractive and comfortable while keeping the Lord in mind. Thanks to Bethany House for this complimentary book that I am freely reviewing. #BethanyHouse #ShannonAcheson #HomeMadeLovely #ChristianInteriorDecorating

Not sure how to decorate? Feel like you are way in over your head with all the trends? Can't define your style if your life depended on it? Home Made Lovely is for you. Shannon's book is beautiful and puts readers at ease while walking them through the basics to turning their home into the beautiful place they envision. Home Made Lovely is full of practical how to tips, hilarious personal stories of decorating mishaps and lots of that home-y-ness feeling we all love. The overall message that decorating does not need to break the bank, the fill-in worksheets and plethora of scripture verses to claim over each space of one's home are my favourite elements of this book. I have only read one other decorating book, The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith (aka The Nester) - whose idea "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" became my mantra in our old fixer- upper house. Now in a new home, with a husband, two small children and a dog, Shannon's Home Made Lovely mindset "decorating should be about those who live (in the home), rather than making your home into a magazine-worthy spread" is my new decorating guide! Shannon you are the Canadian equivalent to The Nester!