It’s Super Bowl weekend, and since we live in Atlanta, it’s got us locked down in our neighborhood. Much to my husband’s chagrin, this means I’m contemplating projects.

I’ve been working on making our daughters’ rooms more functional spaces for them. We’re living in a rental, and while I can’t paint the walls and do some of the things I would do if it were our own home, I can do things to make it “ours”. As I’ve been doing this for the last few months, it’s occurred to me that there are so many of you out there, trying to style a place that probably feels less your style than you’d like, or more sterile than you’d prefer.

This is the first in a series of how to make a new place feel like home. I’ve done this 12 times, and with each move, I’ve gotten better and better at making a house a home, or a flat a home. This doesn’t just apply to rentals, but I just wanted to make sure you renters realize that these are all rental friendly fixes.

We’re going to start with shelving. We’ve had so many different kind of shelving situations. The infamous “cube” shelving from Ikea, standard bookshelves, traditional built-ins, and modern built ins.

People get really bent out of shape about styling shelves. Let’s stop for a minute. Take a breath. Think about things that you really love. You could Maria Kondo this and think of ‘what sparks joy’. Now, think of things that make sense paired together. We have items from our travels on our living room built ins, as well as coffee table books that we’ve collected from our favorite places. We also have some beautiful children’s books.

I think most people have some beautiful things that they’re proud to showcase, but have zero idea how to style it. First, let’s start with the rule of 3. I typically follow the rule of 3. This isn’t a hard rule, but it’s a healthy places to start. Take three things that make sense, for instance, pottery in the same color scheme, three books of similar theme, a row of 3 shelves such as the ones we have, where there are three strong, balanced items, similar in height. Trust your initial reaction. If things appear too busy, they are.

Height is a big thing for me. It’s okay to do things in a wave- low, high, low. Just make sure that when you look at your shelves- and I don’t mean stare and overthink them- they feel balanced. Look at the diagonal. Does it have a good flow?

Lastly, you may have a lot of beautiful things, I know we do! I like to put things on our IKEA cube shelves in our storage room where I can see, them, so I can easily change out what’s in our living room, or in other areas of the house. It keeps things fresh. I’ve been to so many homes where it looks like the shelves have been thrown up on, and if they were just willing to switch things out from time to time, rather than have 800 things out at a time, they’d really enjoy their home more.

Most of all, trust yourself. Whether you’re renting or not, it is your home. Make it yours! Don’t allow yourself to get frustrated, and just keep the shelves empty. Unpack, try some different configurations, and do what feels right.

I met Michelle Dawson while living in Florence, Italy. She is the owner of Timbermark Designs. She customizes wood platters in Beaumont, Texas.

Hi Michelle! I’m so excited for your new venture. How are you finding living in America again, after living in Florence for 10 years?

It feels like home, and yet I don’t quite FIT the way I did before I left. It’s like the puzzle piece that ALMOST fits, but is a little uncomfortably tight. Everything is the same here in Texas, I’m different. Being away has given me fresh eyes on America and Americans (myself included!), for better or worse!

How was the transition from living in Europe to living back in Texas?

We very quickly made friends and found our people here. It is surprisingly easy to make friends when you don’t have a language or culture barrier! Quickly finding friendship helped us transition easily. If we ever move again, I’m going to be SO intentional about finding friends and being friendly! People make such a huge difference in the quality of your life!

We miss the beauty of Italy. Perhaps even more we miss the APPRECIATION of beauty. Italians have a fierce love of beauty, which seeps into how they interact with the world around them. Sometimes it can feel like we live in a concrete town with an endless supply of strip-shopping centers. And most towns in American probably have that same feel.

But as I told my mom when we moved here: If the town we live in is charmless, we’ll bring the charm with us! And that is our goal. Truthfully, you can find beauty basically anywhere if you have the right eyes to see it.

How do you think living in both places has affected you creatively? Were you creatively driven while you were in Florence, or did leaving awaken that creative spirit in you?

I have always had a creative soul. As a child I wanted to be an author, then I shifted to loving music, and then in college I shifted to loving God, and now I’m seeing how all of those things are connected. We can truly see and experience God in unique ways through the arts.

Florence woke up in me a love of visual arts – every street you wander down is filled with beautiful details. There is visual inspiration completely surrounding you there. I found myself inspired by drainage covers! Italians have taken care to infuse beauty into the tiniest places.

What inspired Timbermark Designs?

Selling these boards was an idea that has come along once my kids got old enough for me to dream a little more. I will create in some capacity no matter what stage of life I’m in, but having a little flexibility and independence sure helps.

The name Timbermark is was born basically of the idea that we are all like a piece of worn wood, marked uniquely and designed by the creator. Some of those marks are painful, but they create beauty and are what make us ourselves, even more beautiful in how we are different from one another.

How did you learn to do wood burning? It’s so beautiful! I love that you were inspired by the charcuterie platters in Italy. We collect olive wood platters in our travels, and I think what you’re creating is so original and special.

Thank you! Yes, charcuterie platters are our favorite! In Italy we often took dates at La Beppa Fioraia, this tiny little restaurant overlooking Florence’s city walls. We always ordered the charcuterie plate, which came on a slab of wood the size of the table itself.

Two years ago I decided to give charcuterie platters to all of our friends and family for Christmas. I wanted to personalize them somehow, which is how I discovered the art of wood burning. I played around for weeks on an old cutting board and began to love the slow process, smoky smell, and endless possibilities of it.

I’ve been selling locally here in my tiny Texas town for several months, but just opened an Etsy store in the past few weeks.

Will you please share some of the process in how you create your boards?

I design the customization first on the computer. Then I transfer the image to the board and use a wood-burning pen to hand burn it in.

When I first started, I tried using my husband’s old soldering iron I found in the garage! That was a mistake. Then I bought a cheap wood-burning pen from the craft store, which actually can do quite a lot! I upgraded to a professional pen this year, which makes the process much more enjoyable.

My very favorite part is seasoning the board. Once I’ve burned it, I use a blend of mineral oil and beeswax to condition the wood. There is something so strangely satisfying about rubbing that oil into the wood.

You have two young children. How do you find time to create your wood-burned platters?

Yes, my son Bennett is 7 and my daughter Elisabeth is almost 5. They are an endless fountain of creativity and laughter. I love spending time with them – and I know they won’t stay little for long!

Time is always a challenge. My kids go to a university model school in which they go to school only 2 days a week and stay home to do school here the other days. We love that this model gives us the gift of TIME with our kids and flexibility about how we do school on our home days. BUT, I do often think about how much MORE time I’d have if my kids went to public schools! It’s a trade off I’m willing to make for the joy of being present during these little years.

I work hard during the days they are at school, and sometimes I stay up late working on wood projects after they are in bed. I like that I control the pace of the work. I can turn it on or off when I need to.

Is each board custom made?

Yes! All the burning is done by me, by hand.

Do you ship internationally?

Since I’m just in the very initial days of selling on Etsy, I’m still figuring it out!

Lastly, do you have any advice for moms out there, trying to start their first business venture?

If you wait to be fully prepared and ready, you’ll never start. You need to take a leap just a bit before you are “ready,” because “ready” rarely comes. As cliché as it sounds, perfect can be the enemy of good and you are most certainly your worst critic.

You aren’t going to figure the whole thing out in a day. You will, however, get better as you go, and it feels really good to get better at something! New skills are awesome. We should always be cultivating fresh talents in ourselves!

My son was worried the other day about another boy who had more toys than he does. And so we talked about that old idea that comparison is the thief of joy. Of course, his 7-year-old brain immediately imagined a LITERAL thief, lurking around in black, waiting to break open your window when you aren’t home. The other night at dinner I started telling my husband about a friend’s new house, “It’s like a magazine….” When my son blurts out, “MOM – COMPARISON IS STEALING YOUR JOY RIGHT NOW!!” and then starts shooting imaginary bullets at comparison sneaking up on me. Busted.

For real though, be careful. Comparing ourselves to other women does little good and can lead to a world of real and imaginary problems.

Young mamas, give yourself loads of grace and patience. Babies be crazy. It gets easier and they don’t demand nearly as much as they grow! Love those kids like it’s the purpose of your life – and let the rest of the details fall into place.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! I’m so grateful to know inspiring women like you. I can’t wait to see what you create next!

Visit Timbermark Designs Etsy Shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TimbermarkDesign