Behind Closed (Garage) Doors!!!

Today I’m giving you a glimpse into one of the hidden places of my perfectly imperfect life. Here is a peak at what lies hidden behind closed doors, garage doors that is:

and . . .

No, I am NOT a hoarder! In fact, I believe that I am the least likely person in my immediate family to be a hoarder. When we were searching for our current home my wish list included a separate, detached garage/shop area for the person in my family that leans a little more toward a “collector’s” mentality! My prayers were answered down to the last detail, including my VERY OWN garage. I have loved having my own garage and though it has become cluttered at times, it has always cleaned up in fairly short order. My garage love has been so great that I’ve even been known to vacuum and mop the floors, and then boast about it (oh boy . . .pride goeth before a fall)! I’m just sorry I don’t have a BEFORE picture to share with you. So what happened???

 

A passion for restoring old furniture was born!!!

Almost two years ago, we decided to remodel the little 1940’s fishing cottage that sits behind our house on the lake. When we tore into the walls we found our little cottage was in pretty bad shape and the repairs were more costly than anticipated. As a result, we really needed to furnish it “on the cheap”! Every piece of furniture that went into the cottage was either free or purchased second hand. The above picture is of a plain pine TV cabinet found on Craigslist after it was transformed to become a French Country armoire! This was my very FIRST attempt at furniture restoration and served to fuel the fire for MORE!!!

After finishing the furniture for the cottage, and doing some pieces for my own home, I didn’t want to stop! So the next logical step was to begin a small business and sell my furniture to others. This led to shopping for really good deals . . . buying when the price was right . . . and adding them to my project pile. This has resulted in a very, very full garage (actually two garages, mine AND my husband’s). I am so excited to have all of these wonderful projects to look forward to. Take a peek:

This one was my husband’s choice. He says he can easily repair the radio if I’ll paint it. Of course I will!

This is a funny little picture I found with decoupaged birds. I can see such potential. How about you?

What do you think of these two little chairs? Not so pretty right? But just wait until you see the transformation that has already taken place in my imagination!

This side table is going to be sooooo . . . cute!

And here are just a few more projects I’m looking forward to tackling . . .

 

 

 

So, I’ve given you a glimpse into some of the “hidden” places at my house. I’ll admit, it is sort of embarrassing. What about the hidden places in our lives? Those things we are ashamed of or that we’ve promised ourselves we’ll “take to the grave” rather than EVER let anyone know about us? We tell ourselves that if we just “stuff” those things deep inside and FORGET about them, everything will be okay. Is it? Really? In Freedom Session we teach that these are the things that don’t allow us to move forward into the full potential God has for our lives. In other words, these are the things that keep us “stuck”. My husband and I have pretty much exposed every area of our lives and what we’ve found is that as the dark and shameful things of the past are brought into the light . . . they lose their power to hold us in bondage to shame any longer.

I’m so excited to start working on my furniture restoration projects, mostly because of the feeling it gives me of making something beautiful out of something old, dirty or damaged. I’m also becoming very excited that Freedom Session will be starting up again this Fall, and for the small part we will be allowed to play in seeing lives transformed. Truly . . .I am living a BLESSED life!

For more info on Freedom Session I’ve included a link to their website: http://www.freedomsession.com/

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