Hooray! It’s here…Laurie Smith’s book designed with us in mind. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of this beautiful and practical treatise on home with heart. And now that it’s here I can't stop thumbing through all the pictures, ideas, and instructions Laurie offers.

You might remember when Trading Spaces (a decorating show with twists of the unexpected) first came on the air and then grew to unbelievable heights of popularity. That’s when I first was introduced to Laurie. She was a face, and what a face, on my television screen. My husband, Les and I, had a date at 4:00 each afternoon to watch (Trading Spaces) the transformation of a room under the tutelage of gifted decorators like Laurie.

I never dreamed that one day Laurie would actually step through the screen and sashay into my life. Okay, maybe she didn’t exactly sashay, but she entered the green room at a Women of Faith Conference and I promise you, the environment was enhanced by her arrival. And here’s the bottom line; Laurie is even more beautiful in person than on TV, she is kind, funny, creative, and she passionately loves Jesus.

This red-haired darling knows how to not only tame chaos in her house, but how to rearrange our thinking in regard to the spaces in our homes. Laurie’s goal is to help us find our own style and create harmony between our surroundings and ourselves.

Laurie and husband Brad bought a mid-century split-level home in Jackson, Mississippi for them and their young son Gibson. And while the location was perfect the home was in great need of Laurie’s gifts. So during the redesign she took careful notes of what worked and what didn’t, along with tons of photographs, to share with us. Now you may or may not be a fan of the 50’s approach that Laurie used in her home; she’s not suggesting her choices fit everyone, but her principles on approach and execution are timeless whether you live in a farm house, a castle turret, a modular home, a condo, a Victorian mansion, or an arts and crafts bungalow.

I loved as I turned the pages being a part of the re-creation of Laurie’s rooms and learning the principles of good design, the importance color plays, the enhancement fabrics bring, and the importance of light. I enjoyed knowing she had incorporated souvenirs from their travels, aha-finds from flea markets, and treasures from family. She reminds us of the design elements in something as basic as a pear, the warmth in wood, and the pleasure in placement. And never once does Laurie suggest we should try to do everything at once (whew), but instead to think of our developing home-sweet-home like we do our lives…as a journey.

In Discovering Home Laurie leads by example as she tips us off on how to hang art, how to use anything from a glass shell to a family heirloom as an inspiration point for a room, and how to change our environment simply by rearranging our furniture in unexpected ways…like coloring outside the lines, she gives us permission to be creative.

I confess after multiple excursions through Discovering Home I’m more of a Laurie Smith fan than ever.

I think you will be, too.

“Home is a place where we can be silent and still be heard…Where we can ask and find out who we are…Where sorrow is divided and joy multiplied…Where we share and love and grow.” (opening quote in Discovering Home)