Sometimes I choose to simply pretend it is 2010-ish random blogland, not 2025 assorted-anxieties-with-misinformation-everywhere world. Ya know? Not sure if you still frequent Pinterest (please frequent my boards!), but do repin, pin, save and share to keep the momentum going. It helps as a one woman show of a small business competing with design giants and influencers. Follow my boards? They need love and repinning help. Plus, if you have missed any of the stories below, maybe you’ll discover a gem…there seems always to be surprises along the way.
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Random & Hello Lovely Stories to Visit
Here’s a peek at our summery backyard. There’s a beautiful forest preserve with a trail adjacent to our property.
So much beauty blooming and nature on the prairie to enjoy across the seasons. Once upon a time, I wished I had started the sort of blog with only content from daily life instead of inspiration spotlighting others.
But now I’m relieved I don’t have that haunting pressure of re-inventing, re-packaging, and ever feeling pressed to impress with my own endeavors.
It’s honorable, hard work, but oh gurrrl, I tire of myself quickly.
Plus, if the goal is maximum engagement, and you somehow manage to snag it, you become the subject of intense scrutiny from decorators and unhappy trolls.
It takes a measure of courage, maturity, thick skin, and insanity to roll with random strangers explaining how you’ve customized your room for your needs all wrong. I’m not naive. I know influencers hire social media managers to field all the good, bad, and ugly. In fact, many folks don’t realize they are interacting with an overseas representative, not an actual author or site owner.
Hello Lovely Interiors Inspiration Stories to Visit
See more beauty from the Giannettis in this:
So much beauty is shared on this inspiration blog, and if you blink, you could miss a treasure trove of beautiful design goodness!
I have shared our living room (HERE) and family room (HERE):
What a relief when you can simply keep refining finishing touches rather than inhale dust and serve as cleanup crew!
It’s fun to dream of plans for the walk-out basement, but we’re getting older and need to be sure we are healthy enough before real planning could commence. The courtyard was a rewarding project!
Did you see the beauty happening for fall in this story with inspiration from Amber Lewis?
And don’t miss the inspiring work by deVOL in an amazing castle:
The older I grow, the more I think if you spend your day with the determination to have a good time, you will undoubtedly change the world for good. 🙂
I recently shared ideas for everyday saves and splurges in THIS.
Coastal chic never falls from favor, and if you love the sets of Nancy Meyers movies like HOME AGAIN, consider this:
Calm vignettes like this inspiring one have enchanted my Pinterest followers:
There’s just something irresistible about cozying on down with candles, a good book, and a mug of deliciousness on a rainy day, and I think that shot with the lunaria captures the quietness.
See what timeless white kitchen inspiration has me inspired in THIS:
There are days I live in pajamas (thanks to chronic illness…read about how I deal).
Calm and cozy finds are always on my radar.
and you know I love me some beauty and skincare…especially skincare makeup with a minimalist vibe:
Speaking of minimalism…I so admire how these antique dealers decorate with a light hand:
Another minimalist we often spotlight here? Michael Del Piero with her amazing book and multiple locations in the Hamptons and Chicago:
The ups and downs of life may leave us vulnerable to cynicism, despair, and hopelessness. Certain inspirational messages (Count Your Blessings!) can even make me feel worse.
I find this comforting, helpful, and less likely to trigger shame:
You simply get started with one itty bitty thing. Get inspired for the holidays with this French Christmasy romp:
Most of my prayers these days are wordless or “are you here?” or simply:
What a blessing that when strength leaves, there is a prayer beyond words the Spirit prays in me. If you have lost someone precious, then you know. There are these chapters where the unneccessary falls away, and we can see more clearly.
We just don’t know when we’re in the middle of the good ol’ days, friends.
I have been wrestling with technology’s unhealthy influence and getting notalsgic for pre-iPhone eras.
Too much is lost or incomplete with texting and social media posting. Face to face interactions include tone, authenticity, and less animosity.
I need to reminders to seek the grace to be brave and talk about these issues with others rather than feel locked out of the culture. I need to remember we are all fighting battles whether the battles are acknowledged or not.
Such acknowledgement increases compassion and humility.
We’re living at a time our systems encourage us to align with others just like us in order to feel safe or less lonely. Part of the problem is the assumption there is a clear us and them.
Not sure where I would be today if I lived with such exclusivity. If I did not know the stories of others far different than me.
The stories of others have changed, deepened, softened, perplexed, challenged, and stretched me to see in fresh ways.
Seeing in a pure way is still a deep desire.
Even that desire gets me in trouble. What about the other senses? What about all there is for me to taste? I keep getting it wrong, and it’s humbling. So I continue to step over old ideas, recall the old consciousness even as I approach THE NEW, THE MYSTERY, THE UNCERTAIN AND THE UNKNOWING.
What does a spiritual journey have to do with interiors blogging or paint colors? It’s easy to see decor as a superficial pursuit. Yet I am prone to surrender to the mystery of all of it. I need not understand the mechanics inside realms we cannot see. Who can say how God comes disguised to each of us in the lives we have been given? If all of the pillows and paint pass away, and my life is simply bird watching or golf, I fully expect to be met on the journey because what is true is always true. And what is true at this moment is that relaxing blue colors to sample are within reach.
Need a relaxing blue paint color idea?
Step inside this Parisian style mansion HERE!
Find even more inspiring quotes from Brene Brown in THIS.
So many gorgeous country French kitchens shared! See THESE pins for more inspo, and pin this for future reference:
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
Thanks for shopping RIGHT HERE to keep decor inspiration flowing on Hello Lovely!
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Hi, have been receiving your blog for a long while now and appreciate your realness. I keep having a question—who is the interesting lady in the art above your mantle?!
Author
Thanks for reading! It’s a print from photographer Hendrik Kerstens – the subject/model is his daughter who has toilet paper rolls on her head. It appears to be a serious Dutch painting but is actually silly so there’s this paradox happening. She makes us smile, reminds us to not take ourselves too seriously, and embodies beauty and humor.