Home Sweet Home

This weekend I saw this quote and it got me thinking:

If you wait until you have enough money to decorate and make your home your own it will never happen. If you wait until you can afford to buy everything new you are missing the point. 

It is the old, the new, the made, the hand-me-down, the collected, the worn (but loved) things in your home that make it your own. 

 - Stacy Risenmay 

 

 (Click here to go to Stacy's blog and she has that quote as a free printable)

I think my love of decorating started when I was a young teen. I shared a room with three of my sisters (there are five girls in my family and yes, it was a HUGE room) and I got to pick out the paint colour (much to my sisters' disdain. It was blue. And I guess they didn't like blue) and I chose to decorate it with the theme of pansies. Yes. Pansies. The flower. What? It was cool. 

I then upgraded to my.own.room. This was a big deal. I chose the paint colour (I went for pink this time. Still not sure why.) and decorated my room to my heart's content with pictures, knick knacks and things I found that I thought were pretty. It was lovely. It was my own space. 

Then I moved to college to a dorm room that I shared with another girl. I decorated my side to the max with pictures covering my side of the room, a cozy throw that my Oma had made for me, a little lamp, twinkle lights, a glade scented plug in and pretty throw pillows on my bed. Wouldn't you know it, but our room was one of the most popular places on the hall to hang out.

Fast forward to when Jesse and I got married and I got to decorate our first little home that we were renting on campus. I was stoked. My.own.house. It didn't matter to me that we had hand-me down couches and table, huge speakers that were our bedroom side tables (put a doily on top and they actually didn't look too bad), a bookshelf that was picked up from the side of the road on garbage day and lamps that didn't match; it was our first home together.

We moved five times before moving into our current house that we bought almost two years ago. We never dreamed that we could have bought a house as quickly as we did. 

 We had spent years looking at MLS websites, dreaming about different homes; what we liked, what we disliked. Finally it was our time to actually make those listings a reality. We looked at a few houses before touring our house. I almost wasn't going to agree to look at it because the pictures online looked terrible. However, Jesse really wanted me to give it a chance and when we walked in the front door, I fell in love with this little house. 


The stairs, the floors, the arch in the doorway into the living room, the master bedroom size, the original baseboards...there were so many things that immediately made me say, "Yes. This is our house." 

Of course there were things to the house that we didn't like. Such as the bright blue colour going up the stairs and the ceiling. Easy fix: paint (and eventually, trim). 

The kitchen was/and still is not the best use of space (Seriously. A fridge and stove right beside each other? Without a cabinet between?). The bathroom is atrocious (Too small and falling apart). The beautiful floors that won me over, creak. We have to find the quiet spots as we try to tip toe out of Gavin's room trying not to step on a creaky part of the floor. The basement needs refinishing, the windows need updating, the front door needs a good sanding and repainting, and don't even get me started on the backyard. 

When I walk in my front door though, that's not what I look at. I see my bookshelves lined with books that I have gathered over the years. I see the many little treasures that I have bought at yard sales or thrift stores. 

I see the pictures of family that line the walls and in frames on the bookshelves. I look at the baskets that hold magazines, pillows, and blankets. I see the canvases that I have decorated over and over again. I look at the lamps that I spray painted (and all the other spray painted things) to match our decor. 

(This was when we first moved in) 

That time that I spent decorating, wandering through thrift stores and yard sales, and making crafts, those are the things that helped turn this little house into our home. It hasn't cost a lot of money. It doesn't need to cost a lot of money or any money at all! 

 I love making our home a safe place for Gavin to grow, learn and develop. I want our home to be a place of comfort, where guests feel welcomed once they step through our front door. 

This can be done. Without spending a lot of money. Being grateful for what I have. Not being jealous of other people's gorgeous homes, but taking it one day at a time, continually making our house our home sweet home. 

So. How do you make your house your home sweet home?