I know firsthand how a house can swoop in and rescue someone.  Mine sort of rescued me from some harsh life circumstances and that’s exactly why I’m so giddy over and proud of it to this day.  Stories about homes and how they have enveloped a home owner are stories that I love to read.
The Bee Cottage Story and How I Made a Muddle of Things and Decorated My Way Back to Happiness is certainly a title that I could have penned myself.
Journalist, author, and TV personality Frances Shultz is a Southern girl (from North Carolina) like I am and this book is inspired by her popular House Beautiful magazine series on the makeover of her house, The Bee Cottage. Â In fact, I did a Feature Friday on Bee Cottage back in 2011 and thought it was such a fun transformation of a cottage in East Hampton.
I have just started reading the book and can’t wait to get into it further. Â I absolutely love the way that Frances decorated this house, so feminine and classic at the same time. Â I know this book will just dive in deeper than the magazine series did and I can’t wait to read it all.
Of course, with my love of green, this picture just takes my breath away.
After a broken engagement, cancer, and a series of devastating losses left her struggling, Frances started to rebuild her life in this cozy cottage called Bee Cottage and really got to know herself. The renovation of Bee Cottage became a metaphor and a means of healing and personal discovery for Frances and she unravels the question of how a mature, intelligent, successful woman could have made such a mess of her personal life.
Oh, how I can relate to that! Â And I totally can see how a house can come along and capture a heart and change a life.
From the book: Â Part memoir, part home decorating guide, The Bee Cottage Story has 125 beautiful full-color photos to illustrate Schultz’s journey and to inspire readers traipsing through their own “Great Muddle” to examine and discover their own “truth” in decorating — and life. Â
Here’s the fun news! Â The editor of The Bee Cottage Story sent me a copy for myself and they are giving away a copy to ONE of my readers. Â
Be sure to click the Rafflecopter widget and sign up with your email.  Then all you have to do is leave a comment telling me if you’ve ever made a great muddle in life and started over?  I think most of us can relate to that in some way and lived to tell about it.  Starting over can sometimes be the best thing that ever happened to us! Â
Just sign in on the Rafflecopter widget and leave a comment here on the blog! Â Here’s to decorating our way back to a beautiful life!
More times than I’d care to admit 🙂
Absolutely!
Thank goodness for second chances!
Yes too many times
Feeling a little “muddlely” right now & would love to be inspired by her story and wonderful photos!
Looks and sounds like a wonderful book. I would love to win the giveaway.
Yes! Many times.
Two major life changes but I’m a survivor!
One of the reasons that I began to follow your blog was that you were picking yourself up by the bootstraps and starting over. Have had to do that also.
I have made a success from a muddle in life.
I love the cottage and all of the bees
Wiser and smarter the second time around.
Absolutely!
Oh I love this book and how it all turned out for the author. You see, I am a devoted lover of green!
Then when I saw blue & white plates
in the kitchen I knew I wanted to know
more about this cottage. I haven’t seen inside the book yet, and would
Love to win a copy! Thank you!
Breast cancer changed my life…in some good ways and some not so good. The word survivor takes on a whole new meaning…
My “Major Muddle” happened in June of 2011 when I left my philandering husband, demanded custody of our two mini-dachschunds, Rose and Fiona, and moved from Oregon to North Carolina. I bought my 106+ year-old farmhouse, Crone Cottage, and have never looked back. My one grandchild lives just eight miles from me and life is good! God has blessed me beyond measure and, at the age of 69, I am grateful for this life altering journey.
More often than I like to remember!
Yes, muddled more than once!!
The important thing is to learn and move forward and forgive ourselves.
This books looks wonderful….such an uplifting way to cope with difficulties!
Sometimes I feel like I have to start over every day. I would love to read this story!
only once!