Melissa Michaels
About the Author

Melissa Michaels is the NY Times Bestselling author of Love The Home You Have and The Inspired Room book. Her blog, The Inspired Room, was voted Better Homes & Gardens Readers' Favorite decorating blog in 2014 and 2015. Melissa is a church planter's wife and a mom to three human kids and...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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Comments

  1. Melissa,
    I’m thankful for my sunny kitchen in the morning. I love how the sun comes streaming in through the windows and the breakfast table is a cheery place to be. I try to find place mats on sale and I switch them up throughout the year – giving my table different looks. It keeps mealtime fun….kind of like dining in a different restaurant lol. Same with my front door. I find after season sales and keep them for the next year. It’s fun to have a new way to welcome friends to our home and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Great ideas!
    Blessings,
    Bev xx

  2. Hello Melissa,
    I appreciate your post. You have inspired me! My favorite place is at my dinning room table I can look out my window and see a beautiful willow tree. I enjoy seeing it dance in the wind. 🙂 thank you for your inspiration. 🙂

  3. This post is so encouraging to me–a decorating-challenged woman.
    One small thing that helps me to feel “finished” in my bedroom is the decorative pillows on our bed. Forcing myself to stop and arrange something pretty on the bed (completely useless and impractical, but lovely) makes a difference in how I feel about our room.
    And I agree 100% about the table cloth. I think my kids even appreciated a pretty table and adjusted their behavior to match.

    • I like your idea about putting decorative pillows on the bed. I have to decorative bears I have been putting on the bed since I read what your post and it does make me feel the room is more special. 🙂 Thanks for your comment post!

  4. Melissa, I had to smile when I read about the cleaning frenzy. My mom and I have talked about “working music” for years. Sometimes I’ll call her and she’ll answer out of breath, yell into the phone, “Hang on. Gotta turn my music down,” and then come back to the phone smiling (I can’t see it but I can hear it in her voice 😉 ). Turning music on and “going to town” as mom says to clean up makes the task so much more fun! And you’re right, we can get a lot down in 15 minutes. I usually do that very thing right before my husband and daughter get home.

    I’m thankful for our living room, more specifically our couch and cozy fleece blanket. I read Scripture there every morning, curled up in that blanket, visit with friends on the couch every Thursday morning, and gather with my family in the evenings where I am again snuggled in that blanket (and usually fall asleep once I get warm…I miss so many movie endings).

    Thank you for a great post. Blessings to you!

  5. Melissa – thank you for your sharing this morning – we did a full home renovation last year so I have been adjusting and enjoying every square inch – I have 2 favorite spots – the first, like Joey, I too, cozy up on my livingroom couch with a blanket and read from one of my devotionals every morning – the second, I sit, as I am inspired to do so, at my dining room table which is covered with a white lace table cloth, and houses 3 IPADS, a laptop, a bible, 4 devotionals, several books and printed materials – I am writing about my lived experience with complex PTSD through a spiritual lens – it has been through God’s grace and love that I am moving to a place of healing without pharmaceutical interventions – I have been so blessed! Blessings to all xo

  6. Dear Melissa,
    What good and godly thoughts you have about our homes! And very good ideas about how to care for them and our attitudes! What a help and blessing this is to me right now, as I am overwhelmed with backlogs of things to do in my home after much illness this winter and a trip. I finally had a day yesterday that I could work on the backlog, so I feel better. Thank you so much for your timely and very important topic!
    Blessings to you!

  7. This is timely. — No joke, I came downstairs this morning to ice cream all over the island (and floor!), and pizza too. Plus, BB’s spilled all over the island and floor. And BB guns and baseball caps and backpacks and shoes spilled every which way. Needless to say, this isn’t the kitchen I left when I went upstairs last evening! Is it possible to be frustrated and thankful all at once? If so, that’s me. 🙂 I’m so, so thankful for all the life that happens in our home. And, sometimes annoyed that I’ve apparently done a poor job of teaching these people to clean up after themselves. sigh. — But, still, in answer to your question, that’s the part of my home I’m most thankful for…the life within it. The life I prayed for back when I had no idea what I was praying for. 🙂 ♥

  8. This was a refreshing post Melissa thank-you for your delightful words. My home is a work in progress but I am very grateful for it. One of my absolute favorite spots is being out in the garden………..
    Blessings to all,
    Penny

  9. Melissa,

    We need to be thankful for everything God has given us. Our house/home is something to be thankful for. We have a roof over our heads & nice beds to sleep in. Admiral McRaven has a book “Make Your Bed Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World.” He talks about doing just one thing-making your bed. That could lead to doing more things & before you know it you’ve done a bunch of things. If you have a bad day you could come home & see one thing you did right. It only takes a few minutes & what a difference it could make in your life.

    Also love “work out” music. I am forever turning on music & cleaning the house. Love to sing & dance to good Christian music. You accomplish some things: house cleaner, got some exercise & praised God. Makes me happy all the time. Heard about the cleaning frenzy before. The idea is that you take a portion of a room & tidy it up. Don’t look at a problem in the whole, but tackle it bit by bit. Soon the problem will be solved.

    Blessings 🙂

  10. Loved reading this Melissa, as I struggle with contentment in our new (to us) home that Im longing to paint, decorate and renovate a little, but budget limits have everything on hold. Your words helped me step back and remember, even when it’s just like I want it, it’ll never be perfect or even finished. But there are lots of things I already love about this house and I need to focus on those instead of changes I’d love to make. I think a few fresh flowers from Trader Joes on our table might be all I need! 🙂

  11. Melissa, I appreciate this so much! I helped a family member today stage a few rooms of their house as they get ready to move. I had so much fun putting together happy places in her home, and then came home to my – well, less than happy places. Mess, dirty dishes, haphazard and incomplete decor… Was so tempted to be discontent. But instead I focused on one thing – I made a spring wreath that cheers up my hallway. So even if the rest of the house isn’t quite as lovely as a staged house (or not even remotely close), I can stand in my happy hallway. Lol Always appreciate your posts, Melissa!

  12. The Lord has blessed us with a beautiful home. With the welcoming sun now in Daylight savings time, I can see the snow-capped Tetons upon arising. One of my favorite spots is the large island in the kitchen, one end sometimes a catchall for mail, magazines, etc. But the rest is “open” for baking, my passion. We have a home business and most clients comment on the view, and sometimes the aroma if something has just come out of the oven. Sure, there are things we would like to improve, change, but the house is warm, inviting, and hopefully we are using it for the Lord.

  13. I am such an idea person! And this home, bought 22 years ago, was all we could purchase at the time. Certainly not my dream home, we have added on and done a couple major renovations….but I have more in mind! Thanks for the reminder that it will never be perfect, and that my goal should be comfort and love and peace, not Pinterest, HGTV, and Country Living magazine!
    To God be the glory in all things, including how I view and maintain my home!