Day 3

Yesterday we talked about the purpose of our home.
Take those words. The ones you thought of after reading yesterday’s post, and look around your house.  Do the words you choose describe the space? Start with one room, maybe the family room.  Are you accomplishing the goal you have for that room?

Here are some of the words that we said we wanted our home to feel like:

There’s no right or wrong answer for the purpose of YOUR home–YOU get to decide.  But I have noticed something…
No one ever says they want their home to feel unwelcoming.  Or cold or unfriendly or unaccepting or harsh or lifeless or have a sense of fear. No one ever says they want their home to be boring or vanilla or average or store-bought.  No one wants their home to be stressful. Believe it or not I don’t think I’ve ever heard any real, non-TV person say they want their home to be prettier than all their friends and full of the nicest, most perfect specimens.
But sometimes we approach decorating and designing in a way opposite to how we hope our home will feel. We make decisions as if we are being graded. We are afraid to create the home we’ve always dreamed of because we are afraid of being judged or laughed at or mocked.  We worry and fret and procrastinate and ultimately waste years not enjoying home and making our family miserable along the way as we whine and complain and wish and verbalize our disappointment in our home.
Not that I’ve ever done that or anything.
The purpose of your home isn’t about the stuff, it’s about the people. The people who live there, the people who come there.

A home’s greatest purpose is to serve people. Amen.

Creative.  That's the word I chose.  Our apartment feels like all our stuff just thrown together, but I hope for better things when we move.  However, I suppose fitting all our stuff into this apartment is creative.  I guess another word I like to use is cohesive.  I love when things match and coordinate and look really good together.  I was studying a friend's house the other day and trying to decide why I dislike the decorating.  I think its this idea of cohesiveness.  There were just too many things thrown into the room, and nothing that pulled it all together.  I thought that a paint job and a few large pictures would probably do the trick.

That's what I want to be able to do in my new home: have a "look" for each room that is pleasing and restful.  That's another word to describe my home, restful.  I'd like the colors, and especially lighting, and pictures to be soothing and relaxing and restful, instead of making me feel restless, discontent or anxious.  Maybe that's something else I dislike about that other house.  I feel a bit stressed just by entering.  And I don't think it's because there are usually toys on the floor.  I think it's a lack of soothing colors and lighting.  The house is very dark and the lights in it are harsh.  For our new home, I believe there is plenty of natural light.  I want to accent that with pretty curtains, and have light, pleasing colors in the rooms.

Actually, I think our home now is rather restful.  There's plenty of natural light, and the colors, at least in the living room, are soft greens and blues, and the cream walls are mostly covered with pictures, so it doesn't look so stark.  I've always liked soft light from lamps, instead of overhead lights, and I like pastels, instead of darker colors.  Another thing I'd like for the new home would be to have more cohesiveness in the bedroom.  When have a nice, matching bedroom set, which is a start, but a dream of mine would be to have a lovely coverlet and pillows, for color and comfort in the bedroom.

I think the challenge I am coming away with today is to not settle for less than what I want, but to also be patient while I create it.  I can't afford much, so I need to be resourceful in my decorating, but I don't want to just throw together cheap stuff.  On the other hand, I've inherited many things, and I need to think how I can repaint or refinish them to fit my "look".  Finally, I need to remember that people are the most important part of a home, and Bobby and Grace are my first priority, no matter how much I might want to devote lots of time to decorating.  I need to remember to be patient with myself and them when the time comes to move into the new house.