This is the 3rd in a multi-part series on home. In our first episode, we talked about the big picture/worldview of home. God was the first homemaker, creating our world and a beautiful garden palace in Eden where He lived and where we lived with Him. 

Because the story of the world began with home, we believe that “home” is embedded in our psyche. Not only that, God made the female body a home. Our bodies are literally a “home” for 9 months for that little boy or girl who we will eventually bring to another home: the one we have made with dad. So, when the apostle Paul says that women should be the “masters” or “lords” of their homes, we think he is stating the observable reality of creation. And we should embrace the power, strength and dignity of that role!

In our second episode We talked about home as a place to take off our masks and be ourselves, a place to rest, a place of refuge and safety. Are you home enough to rest there?  Or are you home just long enough to fling backpacks in the corner and grab a snack before heading to the next thing and the next? Do your kids and your husband feel like home is their happy place? Their refuge? If not, then you, moms, have the power to change that by slowing down and keeping the world (hear phones and computers!) at bay.

So today, we are going to talk about home as a place to foster our creativity: a place we can make beautiful in some way uniquely ours. 

To help us with this conversation, we’ve invited a mother-daughter duo: Our friend Melissa Skidmore and her daughter, Daisy Montgomery, who are both really good at this. Welcome!

Melissa and Daisy give biographical info here…

So, Joshua Becker gave us these statistics in an article on the website, Becoming Minimalist: 

The average American home has nearly tripled in size over the last 60 years, all while the average American family has decreased in members. And if all this increased space isn’t enough, 10% of us rent offsite storage and 25% are unable to park even one car in our garage.

The concept of home as an ideal for safety and comfort, of acceptance and belonging, is one that resonates with almost everyone. But somewhere along the way, we began chasing a different ideal. “Home” became a place to upscale, store an ever-increasing pile of possessions, and chase a never-realized perfection portrayed in Pottery Barn catalogs and Home-Improvement reality shows.

That’s why I’m so glad that you two are here. You are the queens of making things beautiful. You are undaunted by small spaces or small budgets. I know Melissa helped us (Renee) decorate back when the kids were in kindergarten and preschool – I think I even traded some dinners for your decorating expertise!

What is your perspective on homemaking?

What did you love about it as a young wife and mom, Melissa? What was hard?

What are you loving as a new wife and expectant mom, Daisy? What has been challenging?

How do you decorate on a budget?

What if you’re not good at it and you don’t have a Melissa or Daisy in your life? How can you get the tools you need to do it yourself?

How did making your home beautiful affect your husband? Your kids?

How can young moms balance creating a beautiful home and not being enslaved to it? That is, not making it a place that is a museum: where their kids can’t be themselves.

You both have a way of making your homes feel welcoming and warm–HOMEY to use a key word!  You not only do that for your own space, but you have dedicated areas in your homes to make beautiful things for others with your home businesses.  Your creativity isn’t just contained under your roofs.

Melissa—wreath making – published a book in 2019 called Beautiful Wreaths  (in my signed copy, you wrote, “You were created to create.”)  Before your book and wreath making, you repurposed furniture, made curtains/pillows, clothing…. 

Daisy–@FERNWAYHOME & the towels, notecards, prints of homes & towns;  How did you dream up this idea?  Was there something about your childhood home that fostered/encouraged creativity and creating?

Your 2 other daughters have ALSO started a successful business— Granola’d — of making delicious and healthy GF granola 

OUTSIDE:  your creative cups seem to overflow….  It’s not just the rooms of your homes and the businesses you’ve started, but your outdoor spaces feel like extra rooms, too, all made to feel inviting and beautiful….  Talk a bit about what you find inspiring on the outside. 

Conclusion

We think the best interiors are a genuine reflection of their inhabitants. In many ways, homes embody how we live and see ourselves. And these spaces evolve when we focus on what we think is beautiful or useful or both. We know this can sometimes be easier said than done, though. It requires reflection and thoughtful choices, but it is a rewarding process. When we create a place that meets our family’s needs and expresses our character, we enrich everyone’s lives.