Finding Another Decor/Puzzle Piece …

When we last chatted, a significant piece arrived for my kitchen. If you haven’t read the story of how it arrived, it’s a light read sure to produce a smile or giggles.

Find it here … Mr. Ghost Saga Continued

In my last photo, this is what you saw…

I promised to show you progress as my full vision for this part of my kitchen came to life.

I have found a another piece of the kitchen decor puzzle!

You’ll notice I styled a coffee bar on this piece. My coffee pot is too high to sit on my counters and open under my cabinets, so I knew an “off the counter” spot would be necessary. The large wooden board was a gift from my children two houses ago, and I love it. The problem is, in this new space I have no island or peninsula to style it on! It looked too high and clunky for my new counter configuration. I like it on the new buffet! The trash can is right beside the coffee station for dumping coffee grounds, and the frig is right beside it for filling the reservoir. I tried styling some mugs with it, but haven’t figured out how to style them to my liking. My coffee stash is right inside the first cabinet door.

My next quest was for a wall picture. Discussing my design choices with my daughter, we agreed a picture would serve as the window we do not have in this room! There is natural light from the front door that streams in, but no window view. All of my prior kitchens have had a window. When I first looked at the home models in this subdivision, it was a common thread. No kitchen windows … wah wah🙁.

I knew a carefully chosen print that drew my mind and thoughts beyond a wall would be a significant improvement.

If you recall, I moved from a lake house, which had a stunning water view. It brought me a lot of peace. The view would be impossible to repeat, but maybe I could find a print to create a window beyond.

I know that is asking a lot from a picture, but visuals speak to me, real or printed. Pursuing the quest was a worthy choice.

My own wall art collection contains nothing big enough for that big empty wall. I wasn’t at all hopeful that one or two stores would produce a perfect contender. I could wear my feet out going from store to store and not come up with a wall piece that’s even the right size. So, I took to “finger shopping,” aka the World Wide Web.

After hours/days, I found a few possibilities. Here they are …

Can you guess which one I chose?

You can see landscape/floral/water scenes were speaking to me.

I put each print onto a document with the kitchen wall and cabinet photo. If you don’t do this, it is helpful to imagine how it will look. It clarifies a lot for me.

Then, I consulted my favorite design styling partner, my daughter. I’ve mentioned before that she has an art degree and sees colors/design elements from a different viewpoint than me. We always have discussions which help me come to a decision.

With her input, I finally decided this was the one …

I couldn’t be happier!!

An added bonus … from my living room couch, the picture is almost perfectly centered in the kitchen cut out window.

After we hung it, my husband said, “Do you know what kind of flower that is?”

I replied, “A water lily?”

“No, it’s a lotus flower. They only bloom at night.”

Those words started me thinking and putting a few different puzzle pieces together.

According to the internet, “the lotus has a life cycle unlike any other plant. With its roots latched in mud, it submerges every night into river water and miraculously re-blooms the next morning, sparklingly clean.” Like a rebirth; every night darkness and a dive into muck; every morning beauty emerges. 

Or like Isaiah 61 in the Bible paints the picture.… God makes beauty from Ashes. A pile of burning ash, dark places, ugly places, mucky places riddled with sin/darkness. God can take those yucky undesirable dark places and bloom beauty out of the night! The likelihood is impossible; beauty to arise out of mud and muck. Yet, it happens and these flowers are physical evidence.

Honestly, it takes a healthy portion of faith to believe this could be true. If you’ve watched dark places in this world smoldering, maybe even personal places, we can be hard pressed to see any beauty possibly coming from the darkness! In those instances, I find myself repeating as Mark 9:24 says, “God I believe; help my unbelief”.

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Little did I know, upon clicking a purchase button, this simple print could represent so much to me!

I’m finding tremendous peace in it’s beauty and message!

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Has any least expected thing in your life spoken to you lately?

I was considering colors, measurements, the visual, frame/no frame, specifics of the print I would select.

I found so much more!!!

Crushing on Lotus Flowers,

One of a kind true story! Available on Amazon.