:: Kitchen Design & Preston's Prayer Pager ::

A few months ago I worked with my friend Mandy to select paint colors, lighting, and design elements for her kitchen remodel and it turned out so fantastic, I had to share some before and afters below...

Before (see below) her kitchen was divided into three parts - kitchen, eat-in breakfast area, and keeping room.  By moving the keeping room area to the front of the house and taking over the breakfast nook as part of the kitchen, Mandy was able to utilize valuable space and make her kitchen feel three times bigger.  The cabinetry was designed and custom made by Oak Mountain Cabinetry and all lighting is by Circa Lighting.  The dining table specifically features two Thomas O'Brien "Hicks" Pendants.

Mandy wanted to lighten things up and get away from the more earthy tones of her original kitchen, so we selected cool colors for her new kitchen.  Benjamin Moore Glacier White went on the walls and ceiling, because it is a good, crisp white without a lot of yellow undertones; the cabinets were painted Benjamin Moore Deep Silver, which is a deep, slate gray I am in love with.  

We decided to install double arm sconces on either side of her downdraft hood for added interest and task lighting, and I love they are unexpected, yet functional.

Because her formal dining room would now be part of her new kitchen, Mandy worked with Oak Mtn Cabinetry to design a built-in china cabinet that is sheer genius! 

Here's a before and after side-by-side.  The transformation is incredible!  

A "mommy" work desk was built-in next to the china cabinet and provides a convenient place for Mandy to stay organized. 

Free floating shelves, painted to match the cabinetry display family pictures, baking goods and a pretty collection of bowls.

The beautiful "hicks" pendants up close and personal...

The chalkboard was an antique store find by Mandy's husband.  This Christmas we went to a party at their house and Mandy had written a Christmas message on it... "Wise Men Still Seek Him."  I love that!

Below is the before and after of her living room space we selected paint for...

We re-vamped the couch by having one solid back cushion custom-made to replace the 2 traditional cushions that came with the sofa, recovered the two bottom cushions, and added two round bolsters.  My favorite detail is the large "W" monogram on the back.

Instead of getting a new tv cabinet we decided to paint her old one her new trim color and now it looks like it is a built-in piece!

I couldn't resist including this one of Mandy's oldest enjoying the new keeping room on his bean bag...

Or this one of her youngest enjoying his afternoon snack at the new kitchen table...

I think it's safe to say the whole family is enjoying the new selections!  Email me at info@oliviacharlesantiques.com if I can help you with paint, lighting, or design selections in your home and stay tuned for more before and afters of a the projects I currently have in the works! 

And I couldn't leave out a few snapshots of Parrish's first basketball game on Saturday.  I was truly expecting less of a game and more of a free-for-all when I walked into the gym that day.  Basketball is a hard skill to master, in my humble opinion, and I expected that 5-7 year olds, some of which had just learned to dribble, would be less than stellar, but let me just tell you....that was a full-fledged basketball game!  So entertaining and fun to watch!  Go Mavericks!  :)

As you can see Knox also thoroughly enjoyed the game...

And later that day on his way to hunt with his daddy, exhaustion from the game finally took it's toll on Parrish.  

I want to close with a prayer request...many of you have been following Preston's story and recovery on Facebook via his "Prayers for Preston" page and I wanted to let you know that we sent his family a prayer pager from Olivia's Foundation.  The number is 334-705-9227.  Please continue to keep Preston and his family in your prayers and then page them by dialing this number and then following the brief voice prompts.  Our prayer is that the pager will be a comfort to them during this time....as it was to us.

We are in the process of getting a pager to the family of sweet Anne Reese Grote as well and will post that number as soon as it is delivered.

As usual, when my attention is brought to new pain and suffering in this world, I wonder how on earth I went 30 years without really grasping the depth of the sadness that is all around me.  I suppose part of it is just getting older and being more aware, but being touched by tragedy opens your eyes to the brevity of your life and awakes in you a desire to make your life count.  As we anticipate what would have been Olivia's 3rd birthday at the end of this month, I am amazed at what all she accomplished for the Kingdom in her 9 short months on earth.  We miss you and are so proud of you, baby girl!  

"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered--how fleeting my life is.  You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.  My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath....And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?  My only hope is in you."  Psalm 39:4-5, 7

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:: Prayer Pager #? ::

I've lost official count of the number of prayer pagers we have out there - and that makes me very happy because it means that we are reaching lots of people and ministering to them in a special way.  It is with a heavy heart that I ask for your prayers for The Colquitt Family.  They lost their 2 month old daughter Emie to SIDS a few short weeks ago.  Although I do not know this sweet family personally, I do personally know the dark, unbelievable days they are walking through right now and I beg you to intercede for them in the coming days, weeks, months and years.
I am thankful that God used their sweet friends (who were friends of friends from our old church) to contact us to let us know about this prayer pager need.  God has already surrounded them with the love and support of His people.  Please pray and page them at 334-705-9223.

I also ask you to continue to pray for my precious friend Elliot Williams.  I posted her prayer pager number months ago after she discovered she has ovarian cancer.  The doctor's thought they had just about gotten all of the cancer, but it has returned in addition to a embolism in her lungs.  Please pray for healing for Elliot, pray for her husband Chris and their sweet children Wyatt and Bradford, then page them at 334-705-9220.  You can hear Elliot's testimony by clicking here, scrolling down to March 29th, clicking "more" and then downloading the "Elliot Williams" audio.

Thank you for your prayers for these hurting families.

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:: Nursery & Master Re-Design, Part 1 ::

We're so excited about our new baby boy!  Plans for his nursery are in full-swing.  I finally decided I was tired of obsessing over whether this fabric and paint combo was "it" and just pulled the trigger this week.  Not pictured are the wall and breadboard colors, but they'll be BM Silent Night (on the walls) and BM Rock Gray on the trim band we're doing around the tops of the doors and window frames and also on the antique Olivia Charles bead board we're installing above them on the wall.  The ceiling will be BM Oregano (pictured).  One of our OCA piece of furniture has black, green, white and brown and I think it's going to work as the changing table so I can pull some black into this design too.  Maybe for the floor rug - a black and white chevron or something along those lines.

The leaf fabric will be a crib skirt (got the great idea for only making it 3-sided since it will be up aganist a wall and for making it with tie tabs so I can adjust it to floor level as we adjust the crib mattress on Erika's amazing blog, Urban Grace.  My sister-in-law's glider (which is thankfully much smaller than ours) will be partially (bc that's all my budget can handle) covered in the green and gray velvet stripe (my favorite fabric).  The geometric will be a changing pad cover a small round pouf.

I'm getting pretty excited about it all coming together and me finally getting the ball rolling on everything.  I'll post more pictures as the room comes together.

 And because why take on one project when you can take on two?  We're also re-designing our master bedroom.  Well, I shouldn't call it a re-design because really it was never "designed" in the first place.  It is just a hodgepodge of hand-me-down furniture (some of which we still love and will keep for both sentimental and aesthetic reasons). Why is it we always seem to design every other space in our homes before the master bedroom?  I know I'm not the only one.  It's the place we go to quietly retreat and reconnect - why shouldn't it be a place filled with fabrics, personal momentos and paint colors that make us smile?


The medallion fabric will be euros and a throw backed in the small blue cheetah print.  The yellow octagon velvet will be a DIY headboard.  The yellow streaming dots will be large bolsters, and the solid linen will be a bedskirt with the blue greek key trim.

So after 9 years of marriage, we are finally going to freshen our room up.  We are adding a bookcase "headboard."  I saw this in Southern Living years ago and loved it, then got to see it recreated beautifully in my friend Mandy's home.  So now we're putting our own spin on the bookcase by adding a cabinet on the bottom for some concealed storage and a place to lay our books at night.  Here's the inspiration picture from Pinterest:

The room itself will be lightened up with some neutral tan walls and I'm thinking the backs of the bookcases will be painted the dark peacock blue color.  I may get brave and paint the ceiling the greenish yellow and the bathroom will be the lighter blue.

We've had electrical run for two pendants to hang from the ceiling on the left and right sides of the bed in place of lamps.  We saw this in a hotel we stayed in once and loved the idea.  I got these cool fixtures for my anniversary present last week:

I can't wait to see all of this come together.  The bookcases will be installed next week (yay!) and then the painting won't be far behind.  I'll post pictures of progress.

And changing gears - a prayer request.  This week I learned of a 11-year-old little girl in our community who has been diagnosed with osteosarcoma, which is a form of bone cancer.  The treatment is very intensive and most of her extended family lives far away in Ohio.  They are coming in shifts to help out mom Christina, dad Trey, and baby brother (1 year!) Elijah and my moms bible study is taking them meals.  In addition, yesterday I mailed them a Olivia Charles Foundation prayer pager.  Please pray for Ally and her family and then dial 334-705-9213.  Thank you!

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:: Prayer Pager #5 ::

One of the things we love most about our neighborhood is the sense of community. There are many friends here we consider to be our Mt Laurel family and Matt and Courtney Cash are two of those people. Matt's dad Bill will undergo his 3rd brain surgery tomorrow morning to remove a recurring, cancerous, brain tumor. He has been bravely fighting this battle over the past four years. Please pray for Mr. Cash and his doctors and then dial his prayer pager at 334-705-9212 to let him know you have done so.

Thanks for lifting this sweet family up!

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:: Help Others to Help the Pain ::

Yesterday was a really emotional day for me. Some days are just like that. The minute I open my eyes I want to go back to sleep and forget that this is my life. I want to hide in bed all day and go back to the blissful, unaware state of sleep. Thankfully I don't have a choice but to get up and struggle through the day. Working out helped, but that doesn't mean I wasn't crying while I was doing it! And of course, everywhere I went there were tons of PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS babies which made the gaping hole in my heart tear open even wider. (Note to self, if having a very bad day, don't go to Target-babies are everywhere!)

Then last night as I was lying in bed I started flipping through my devotional book (The One Year Book of HOPE, by Nancy Guthrie) and stumbled across a page with the title, "One Thing to Help the Pain." Desperately needing some salve for my hurting heart I read on and this is the verse she expanded on:

"Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing." Phillipians 2:4

I had been overwhelmed with all we've had to do with the move, Olivia Charles Antiques, the foundation, and prayer pagers for several days, but on Sunday I took a time out and left everything around me in chaos to sit down and mail the pagers to our next recipients. In writing letters to each of them and sitting to pray and think about their different struggles, I felt the peace that comes with putting the menial, unimportant stuff on the back burner to minister to others in the name of Christ. Then a few days later I read that devotional verse and I realized that sometimes the best thing you can do to ease your pain is to love and serve others unselfishly.

So with that in mind, I am posting the names and numbers of the newest prayer pager recipients.

• 334-705-9216 - Cindy Shafer - she lost her husband Shelby in a boating accident and has three young children
• 334-705-9217 - Jacob Dubois - a precious 3-year-old boy battling Pre-B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) - visit his caring bridge site here
• 334-705-9218 - Donna Brown - mom to one of our dearest friends Karl - was diagnosed with colon cancer recently - she is doing both chemo and radiation now with surgery to follow
• 334-705-9219 - Lauren Nickles - mom to 2 very young children who is battling a very aggressive and rare form of cancer called Desmoplastic Small Cell Cancer with round blue cells - visit her caring bridge site here
• 334-705-9220 - Elliot Williams - mom to two precious young children and friend of mine from our days working at Southern Living who is battling ovarian cancer - visit her caring bridge site here

The 800 number to dial and page all of the pagers at once is: 1-800-684-0998, when the voicemail message begins, dial 111# and then hang up.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Phillipians 4:6

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:: New Home & New Products ::

I've been MIA from the blog world for the past week moving and getting settled in our new home (which I am in love with, btw!) Moving is always so much harder than you remember it being the time before...probably because with each move there is more STUFF! It's been good to clean out and organize, but it just takes a while. The main living area is pretty much settled, but the bedrooms and playroom are still very much a work in progress.

Here are some pictures of the kitchen. The cabinets were dark wood before we painted them and I wanted to lighten them up, so I used Benjamin Moore Fieldstone paint on the bottom cabinets and island and then chose a lighter, blue tinted white for the top called Benjamin Moore Moonshine. I was worried that the cooler cabinet color choice wouldn't mix well with the warm granite countertops so I chose chunky antique brass hardware to pull the warmth of the countertops onto the cabinets.

Cannon hung the art deco pendants we picked up on a trip to Mobile above the kitchen sink and they pull the whole thing together. My kitchen just makes me happy when I walk in the door.

And here are my new bar stools. The only furniture we had to purchase for this house were new barstools and a new couch (it's on order). I really need a tall skinny china cabinet for the dining room, so if anyone runs across anything I need to know about, please let me know! Anyway, the barstools came from the Alabama Furniture Market in Calera and are the "Julia" barstool by Four Hands. I am so smitten with them. I love the lines, the tufted backs, the oatmeal fabric and the antique brass hardware. CC used several cans of scotch guard on them so maybe they'll stay this pretty for a while anyway! :)

I hung natural colored grasscloth wallpaper in the sunroom/office where I am sitting and typing this post. I love looking out the huge windows at the birds eating at the feeder I hung just out the windows. This house feels like a tree house nestled in the woods and I couldn't feel more at home. I love this room because of all the natural light and it's proximity to the rest of the main floor and porch. I saw the idea to hang pictures from you window trim in a magazine a while ago and decided my office was the perfect place to try it and I love how it turned out.

Cannon and Grandaddy "E" just had to laugh and roll their eyes at me when I told them I bought a light fixture with European wiring. Thankfully E knows a thing or two about electricity and was able to come light it on Monday. It's one of the first things you see when you walk in our front door and so worth all the extra work (at least I think so anyway!)

The half bath was red before we hung the grasscloth wallpaper and my favorite framed coral. When I was working for Southern Beauty Magazine they sent Cannon and I on a yoga retreat in St John, USVI. While we were there we met the nicest older lady named Ann who said we reminded her of her and her husband at our age. I told her I was on the look out for some coral on the beach that trip and to my surprise, when we got back to Birmingham there was a package waiting on us from her containing gorgeous coral fans that she and her husband found on a trip to Turks and Caicos years earlier. I had two of them framed in shadow boxes and they will always be a special reminder of Ann and that great adventure. The frames are dark brown so I had the mirror, trim and doors in the 1/2 bath painted to match them and the ceiling painted the same BM Wythe Blue of our porch ceilings.

Now that I've shown you some pretty pictures of the parts of my house that are unpacked, in the interest of keeping it real I thought it only fair to show you what the rest of the rooms in my house look like right now....

Yep, they're piled high with boxes and packing paper and stacked with artwork and pictures I'm trying to decide what to do with...just taking it one step at a time! A neighbor reminded me yesterday that we all rush to get it settled and then are disappointed when all the decorating is done, so I am enjoying the process and taking my time. The laundry/mud room is almost done and I'm excited about the fun ideas I have to share with you, so I'll post pictures of that soon.

Ceiling Tin Square $65 each with shipping or $50 in Birmingham

I feel like I've neglected Olivia Charles Antiques during this move, but I'm gearing back up to get the website live and FB and etsy shop updated with our new items for fall, some of which I've pictured above.

We're now offering antique tin ceiling tiles that have been fastened to 22" square wooden frames. I'm planning to hang a few on the exterior wall of my house under my screened porch but they also look great above a mantle or on a feature wall. We have different colors and metal finishes. I love the idea of grouping 4 of the same ceiling tile in 4 different finishes together. These are currently for sale in our etsy shop - shopoliviacharles.

Porch Bed Swing $895 with shipping or $650 with pick-up in Birmingham

And my most favorite new item for fall?? This fantastic porch bed swing that fits a standard crib mattress! The red one pictured here is on our front porch and it's fast becoming our family's favorite spot. Parrish read books there yesterday listening to the rain and at the end of the day I love to sit and swing and have a glass of wine to wind down. We'll have a peacock blue swing for sale at the Preserve and Mt Laurel fall festivals the next two weekends, but we can also have any color custom made for you and then shipped, so just shoot me an email if you're interested!

Also, please remember to pray for the families that have the prayer pagers and then dial 1-800-684-0998.

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:: Pager #4 Correction ::

Please pardon the mistake, but I listed the wrong pager number for the Sheppards (pager #4). Their CORRECT number is 334-705-9215.

Our 5th pager has been given to Tracey Menotti, a young mother raising two children while also battling breast cancer. Her pager number is 334-705-9214.

To lessen the confusion in the future, we have set up a 1-800 number. Dial the number listed below, and all of the Olivia Charles Foundation Prayer Pagers will be paged at once. Hopefully this will simplify things from here on out. Each recipient will still keep their individual number, so if you are praying for one specific person or need, please continue to use that instead of the 800 number.

So, to recap, here are all of the pager recipients names and needs:

1) The Zeigler Family-lost their 2 year old daughter Ella a few months ago

2) Sherry-recently lost her husband and has two children

3) The Mims Family-18-month-old daughter Arlington just had cochlear implant surgery

4) The Sheppard Family-6-month-old daughter Mary Graham has scoliosis, hip dysplasia, and in undergoing genetic testing

5) Tracey Menotti-mother of two children battling breast cancer

To page all of the recipients at once dial, 1-800-684-0998.

Sorry for the mix up and thanks for being faithful to pray for these individual needs.

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:: Arlington Update & Thoughts ::

This is sweet Arlington on her way home from the hospital early this morning. Yesterday she had her cochlear impant surgery and it couldn't have gone better. I sat with Terri & David at the hospital yesterday and was amazed at the sheer number of prayer pages they rec'd while I was there. During the 4 hour time period it was easily 50 pages or more. It would go off while the doctor called from the OR with an update, it would go off while we were praying with their pastors, etc, etc. It was an emotional day for me. It was the first time I have talked about the pager ministry and why we started it to strangers. That was hard. But it was also a day of being extremely proud of my little girl. As the pager went off, I would silently tell her that she did this. Because of her, so many people are being comforted by Jesus's people. It still amazes me that she accomplished all of this in such a brief time here on earth.

Sunday when we were at church we sang a song that has resonated greatly with me. Here are some of the lyrics:

"When the oceans rise and thunder's roar,

I will sail with you above the storm.

Father, you are King over the flood,

and I will be still, and know You are God."

I've found myself silently singing these words over the last few days. There is a since that as life swirls out-of-control around me I can soar above it all with Him. I am doing a study that I would highly recommend by Nancy Guthrie called, "The One Year Book of Hope." She has a very heart-wrenching story of loss of her own, but what is more remarkable to me is the choice she makes every day to use her life and circumstances to glorify Him and help others. In her book she says to a woman who also lost a child that..."Your son has given you an incredible gift. He has given you the gift of being forced to reconsider the very purpose of your life. Those who are sailing through a comfortable life at this point have not yet been forced to carefully consider their lives and surrender their dreams. But because you have been shaken to the core, you see clearly that if you cling to your own plans and desires, you will never discover the freedom and joy found in losing your life for Jesus."

Last night I was reading Ecclesiastes 7 and came across these verses:

"The day you die is better than the day you are born." Ecc. 7:1

"Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool think only about having a good time." Ecc. 7:3-4

I can't say that before Olivia passed I ever really thought about death. It was not something I wanted to happen. I'm sure you feel the same way. But it is undeniable. We will all pass away, whether we live long lives or short, it is the inevitable end to every human body. But with Christ we have victory over death. I remind myself that this is only the beginning, and I have the hope that the ending will only be the beginning to an eternal life so much better than even the best things in this life.

As the weather changes and I see leaves start to fall, I get sad. A time of year that used to be full of excitement for me is now a reminder of the one year mark of loosing Olivia that is right around the corner. Much of me wants to press fast-forward through the next five months of holidays, anniversaries and birthdays. Please pray for us over these coming months of lot of change and stress. I pray that this anticipation I am feeling will be much worse than the actual days we are dreading, which is usually the case. Pray that one day we will be able to be happy that the leaves are changing and the weather is breaking.

Thanks, friends.

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:: Prayer Pager #4 ::

Yesterday I delivered our 4th prayer pager to the Sheppard family. Their precious (and I DO MEAN PRECIOUS) 6-month-old baby girl Mary Graham has scoliosis, hip dysplasia, and is undergoing genetic testing. Next month she will get a body cast to help prevent her spine from curving any further. Her mom Jennifer and I are friends from our Covenant Pres days and her dad Lee's father was my pediatric dentist growing up in Tallahassee!

Sweet Mary Graham let me give her a bottle during my visit yesterday and rewarded me with lots of smiles. The minute I saw her I cried because that bright, gummy smile she was giving me reminded me so much of Olivia. Parrish was also instantly in love. When he wasn't dressing up like a super hero or "working" in the creek with his buddy Loftin he was rubbing her head and saying, "Mommy, isn't she cute?" He has a serious affection for "girl babies."

Please keep MG, her parents and her brother Loftin and sister Lucy in your prayers over the coming months and then page them at (334) 705-9214. There are many uncertainties in their lives right now, but I am so thankful that they are believers and are trusting that God "saw Mary Graham before she was born. Every day of her life was recorded in his book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." Psalm 139:16

Jennifer keeps their blog updated with the latest news and prayer requests, so visit seekingdailybread.blogspot.com for updates and more of their story.

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