Home Sweet Home

It's amazing to me how making a place feel like home can have such an impact on your life. We have been in our house for almost one and a half years. The first year we didn't really do much with it. The heating and air went out and the house came with no appliances so that ate up every bit of "extra" money we had. Not to mention all those little things that you realize you need when you buy a house (like a lawn mower). This year we have managed to make a few changes around our home and the impact has been wonderful. Mostly what we have done is paint. The house used to be filled with lots of browns, tans, beige and white. There was a lot of wallpaper border and one cranberry wall. After renting for several years we had really grown tired of living in a place with very little color. So having a house with very little color made us never really want to be in it. We were constantly finding excuses to go somewhere; shopping, eating out, visiting. All because our house just didn't feel like home. Fast forward to now. We have discovered that we are really a colorful family. We have greens, orange, blues, and are in the process of adding yellow and red. I have adopted the new mantra of "let's try it". It's only paint we can always paint over it. With this mantra we are more willing to try bold and different colors. We are also more willing to let the kids have a say. Now Lego has a grass green room (instead of tan) and Wheels has deep blue walls. They love it and so do we. One thing I have noticed is that as we have truly started to make this house our home we want to leave it less. We look for fewer excuses to get out and about. We play Legos, dig in the yard, have family movie nights and more. This is truly starting to become our retreat from the outside world. Another lesson that I have learned is that it doesn't have to be perfect. The walls don't have to be perfectly smooth. The yard doesn't have to be dandelion free. And my postage stamp of a kitchen doesn't need to be gutted and redone. If I am willing to work with what I have been blessed with the results can be better for my family than the latest show room design. As I read on another blog, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful."