About Me

Brenda Kraft. Owner, Fresh (re)Design.

Disciple of Jesus. Married to my high school sweetheart for over 20 years. Homeschooling Mama to three teenage boys. I adore books, gardening, cooking comfort food, decorating my nest with vintage finds and laughing, loudly and often. I'm deep enough to cry at poetry but shallow enough to laugh out loud when people fall down the stairs. and I'm totally okay with that paradox.

 I haven't been to design school (yet. These boys of mine will be grown and gone far too soon). I study interior decorating voraciously if you count collecting books, and reading fancy $15 magazines for free while sipping coffee at Barnes and Noble. Education has included following home decor blogs since the Internet was a wee babe, and watching copious amounts of HGTV, when I get the flu and take to my couch with kleenex and soup. (I love to count how often the designers use the word "whimsy") then "playing house" for myself, and grateful friends. 

Now. Despite a lack of accreditation, I do have a design philosophy, and I'm guessing it might be similar to yours...

I believe that wherever my bunch of crazies are? That's home to me. Whether it's your forever dream home or a temporary rental, if you LIVE there? It's home, and so it should feel like it.

I believe that decorating a house shouldn't cost an arm and a leg. That it should add to a family's comfort and ease, and not take away from it. That the best solution to a room (or a wardrobe) is to keep the majority simple and classic, but then add in small touches of fun and modern to lighten up.

 I think the right color can change everything. That too much clutter is "visual noise". That books don't count as said clutter. That pets and plants and progeny are a real hassle and a daily mess, but totally worth both.

I believe most people buy what they like and actually know what feels like home. Many simply aren't sure what's missing or not working, and that my job isn't to be an expert and/or tell them what to do, but just to offer some practical help in bringing it all together.

I feel that a house should look lived in, and always reflect the ages and stages of the inhabitants...at our house that means an unhidden crock of utensils by the stove (I love to cook!) a big screen and recliner in the living room (though its every designers nightmare) because it makes my husband so very happy. There's often an unfinished puzzle spread across the coffee table for our oldest son, a loaded BB gun waiting in the entryway for the middle son, and plenty of Legos to scar your bare feet, courtesy of our youngest boy.

Most of all, I believe that design matters. Paint and pictures and furniture aren't necessarily meaningful, but that doesn't make them meaningless. Corrie Ten Boom writes of how she found her sister in Auschwitz, because one cell had a piece of red tissue paper hung up to soften the bare lightbulb. So she knew it was her cell, for her sister created beauty everywhere she went, and if prison was now her home? She would make it as lovely as possible.

No, it's defintely not Auschwitz, but life isn't exactly easy, is it? This world is dark, and hard, and cold. Our homes can (and I'd argue should) be a haven for the hurting and broken, whether that's our friends visiting it, or our family, living there. There should be warm light, soft seating, lovely music, fresh flowers, something to eat, interesting artwork, great conversation. There should be a spirit in our homes that says "you are wanted here. you are loved and accepted. and you can safely rest up for whatever battle lies ahead outside these doors."

I grew up with a single Dad who worked constantly, and partied hard when he wasn't working. He made good money in real estate and soon our house had a swimming pool, tennis courts and many rooms, all filled with antiques and art. But for my little brother and I wandering it's halls? It wasn't beautiful. It was only cold, messy and lonely. When I was eight years old, instead of the usual young babysitters, an older woman moved in to care for us. I will never forget coming downstairs for our usual cold cereal in a dark, dirty kitchen before walking to school. Instead, all was new. There was a cheery fire in the woodstove, and warm waffles waiting for us on bright blue plates. Soft music on the radio. Yellow daisies in a vase, placed in the center of the newly scrubbed oak table.

I recall feeling a surge of joy and optimism, that perhaps things were going to improve. Alas, I was wrong about that, but how an atmosphere could affect my heart so quickly, and give such hope? This had a profound effect and left a wonderful, permanent impression on my heart of the power and importance of creating a home.  God is a God of both order and beauty. I believe we are working hand in hand with Him, when we seek such things for our homes and families. I count it a great privilege to help others do that!