Designing for the King: Bringing Christ into the Home

Good morning my dears,

I recently read this article on the CBN. It resonated with me, both as an interior designer, and as a Christian wife and homemaker.

Designing for the King: Bringing Christ into the Home

by

Deana Murphey

"What do you generally think of when hearing interior design? If you’re like most people, you think of decorating a space and making an environment beautiful. More importantly, interior design carries the responsibility for everyone’s emotional and spiritual well–being. I see a real need to not only make our places of habitation functional and beautiful, but also to bring order to the environment so that it can be the safest, happiest, and most fulfilling environment we know.

Imagine living in the same environment year after year without adapting it to personal lifestyle changes, desires, needs, comforts, growths, or expansions. Imagine designing only to fulfill your selfish motives. Imagine not engaging in the design decisions of your home. Imagine your home void of family unity and deprived of peace and safety. Imagine expecting a spiritual foundation in the home while only living and designing by the world’s standards. Imagine your home environment as one of chaos, fussing, and arguing with no signs of peace.

Chaos? But I’m a Christian!

Yet this is occurring in Christian homes today. A beautifully designed living or working environment is not necessarily an orderly or peaceful place. A simple solution may seem to be designing your environments in the latest trends; rearranging some pieces; making upgrades; purchasing new furnishings, big screen TVs, and toys; changing the colors; copying the designs of someone else; replicating a design from TV or a magazine; or perhaps removing a wall to expand a space. Then your new upgrades may temporarily appear to reorder the fragments of your emotional life. But without inner restructuring, you will, over time, become discouraged with the further likelihood of being frustrated and stressed, which, in the end, leads to chaos.

Chaos is an appalling, unsettling word, creating feelings of confusion, disorder, disarray, turmoil, and pandemonium. No one wishes to be associated with such a word, let alone connect it with your living spaces. Chaos suggests designs that disconnect you from your lifestyle, history, memories, values, personal tastes, disciplines, social needs, godly desires, and God. Chaos connects you to selfishness and leads you into deception. You then become void of peace, wholeness, individuality, morals, and celebration of self. You live in chaos as a result of the way you think, which results from what you have been exposed to. You must change this because it robs you of the values of life. It opens the door to fear, and fear is a direct weapon the devil uses to deceive and steal from you.

The Christian Home

Your home environment should reflect the same nature and genius of God. It should embrace order and life. And it is much more than just having everything neatly placed, put away, or organized. Many people think of chaos as untamed space filled with clutter that can alter the crisp composition of a design. But there’s chaos in people’s homes, whether it’s visual, atmospheric, audible, physical, or environmental, simply because of the way the world system is set up. But if you are a born-again child of God, though you are in this world, you are not of this world. And your assignment here is to first bring order to the chaos within for a clear behavior path to bring order where you live.

What if you could move beyond the limitations of your mind, remove the anxieties and negative emotions, and design your home to please all of its inhabitants, enhance your relationship with your family, and develop a deeper friendship with God? You can infuse your living environments with peace, experience joy, and become energized with the power that’s linked with design solutions and spiritual well–being.

After five years of researching, studying and praying about the Christian home, I finally was led to create a step-by-step guide on designing a sanctuary to escape the stress of this world! Do you want to reverse the chaos in your life? Would you like to create a home that is beautiful, yet functional? How about designing a healthy, stress–free, peaceable, orderly, fun, and spiritual environment?

The Answer

There is only one way to accurately answer these questions. You must go to the place where design originated—creation in the Bible—to see how design was divinely introduced and brought order to a chaotic environment—and ultimately to your life. It is best summed up by the InterVarsity Press Bible Commentary on Matthew 15:

Among those who accept the Bible as God’s Word and as canon (a measuring stick), the test of a statement’s authority should be its conformity to biblical principles. Yet many of us, for all our insistence on the authority of Scripture, pay surprisingly little attention to it; little time researching context, background or other factors essential for understanding the Bible. We may work hard to assimilate various trends of popular culture yet spend little time assimilating our lives to the Bible’s teachings.

When divine order and structure prevail where you live, it is evident that first the same emanates from within. This is how God designed you and the way he desires you to live—out of the good treasures of your heart. The present world does not reflect the kingdom order originally intended for your enjoyment on earth. Designing your life and your home the world’s way enslaves those who participate in it, thus controlling you and becoming your master, falsely promising freedom. The Bible clearly reminds us that no man can serve two masters, either he will hate one and love the other (Matthew 6:24, NIV). However, all of God’s children have the creative ability to eradicate chaos and create order in the earth by design. The design begins within your heart and spills over into your home environment. This becomes the spiritual aesthetic element in your home.

Integrating your Faith

The spiritual application of design also begins within. My Designing Within S.Y.S.T.E.M. helps you Shape Your Spirit To Eliminate the Mess so you can:

• Fill your thoughts on God’s word;
• Direct your conversations based on God’s truths; and
• Determine your actions in accordance with God’s direction

It will help you understand how meditating on spiritual truths is vital to life, home, and family. It will bring your mind in agreement with your spirit. Designing within will make your home design experience more stress–free, rewarding, and successful. It will reveal the purpose and directives to designing in view of God and family relationships."

You can view the book here.

“The most important of the Lord's work you will ever do will be the work you do within the walls of your own home.”  

Harold B. Lee

~Kiki Nakita ~

You can follow me on Instagram, Pinterest or Bloglovin'.

Throwback Thursday...

 ...to Sophie, playing in the snow eight-and-a-half years ago.

Sophie is such a precious dog. She is kind, caring, and always there to lick your tears. She is well-behaved except for when someone she doesn't know comes to visit.

Bless her heart.

~Kiki Nakita ~

You can follow me on Instagram, Pinterest or Bloglovin'.

My Word For 2017 Is...

...Progress.

Progress on organizing our family history.

Progress on our wellness and starting a family.

Progress at helping our community and making friendships.

And lastly, progress on finishing our home and garden.

Today, I thought I'd share a glimpse into the latter.

Sometimes, I wish I was as organized as I was in my teen years. I was recently looking through old photos and found these pictures of me in my childhood bedroom from around 2002, when I was about sixteen years old. For a teenager I was a little obsessive compulsive about straightening everything, including my watch, hairbrush (which matched my pajamas), and my lip gloss apparently.

"There's this beautiful thing called imperfect progress... slow steps of progress wrapped in grace." @LysaTerKeurst

So as promised, here's a glimpse of our master bedroom, and closet which has been in progress, since we moved in almost three years ago.

You may have spotted Milly, she's the only pet who is sleeps in our master bedroom. She's an indoor cat so she's pretty clean, and she is the cuddliest little girl, much like a teddy bear.

We have pairs of birds in all the rooms in our home. They symbolize my maternal grandparents whose last name was Bird.

We also have a cherub in our closet, which reminds me of my paternal granny, who used to collect cherubs and angels.  

In our closet, I keep all our sentimental clothes in the boxes on the top shelf, preserved and wrapped in tissue paper. I have mine and my sisters baby clothes, my sweet sixteen dress, my leavers ball dress (like prom), our first date dress, and a few other "favorites" from years gone by.

The table in the window is where Milly likes to watch the sunrise and sunset.

On my hubby's bedside table are the pictures from Christmastime 2015, and Valentines 2016.

On my bedside table is a picture from Christmastime 2015 and my essential oils. We usually diffuse lavender, or eucalyptus.

My cutie pie.

Still on my to-do list is to find a pleated bedspread  and to organize the two baskets under our television console. Perhaps, my organized and obsessive compulsive teen years self will get on that!

This past Sunday, I spent the afternoon watching garden tours on YouTube (which I connect to my TV with chromecast) and sipped on loose tea leaves, while nibbling on blueberries and homemade snowball cookies in bed.

My china is all made in England, and the teacup is from my Churchill tea set. The tea towel was a gift from my mum and sister from the National Trust.

Because sometimes progress need to be savored, and enjoyed.

What's your word for 2017?

~Kiki Nakita ~

You can follow me on Instagram, Pinterest or Bloglovin'.

My word for 2016 [Relax]

Linked up to:
Share your Cup #233

Girls Day Out

Good afternoon my dears,

I have a few more pictures from when my mum and sister came to visit. It's been almost two months, so I've enjoyed looking back and reminiscing about the time we shared together.

Monday, November 28th

One of our favorite pastimes is going "antiquing," or "picking" as some would say. While my mother and sister were here I took them to The Depot at Gibson Mill, the largest antique mall in the South.

For a hundred years, the historic plant produced fine American-made bedding until manufacturing went overseas to China and India, and the once proud plant was closed. Today, it has over 600 antique vendors, each with a varying style. Like this Chip and Jojo farmhouse style:

Or this pioneer, or prairie style:

Some vendors also sell vintage dresses, hats, gloves and purses:

Tuesday, November 29th

Every time my mum and sister come we always venture to the South Park Mall. It's fun shopping with my hubby, but you notice things from a different perspective when you shop with your mum and sister. We always like to browse Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Sur La Table, Anthropology, The Container Store, and The American Girl Doll Store.

We stopped for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, and my mum was surprised shocked at how large the slice of cheesecake was.

Wednesday, November 30th

On the morning before my mum and sister left we reminisced over breakfast before saying,

BON VOYAGE.

Kiki Nakita

You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Bloglovin'