Sunday, April 10, 2011

Love The One You're With

I ran across this blog post the other day and I loved it so much I thought I'd share it in case it was just the thing any of you needed to hear, too. It's in a category of posts about decorating and decluttering, by the author of the adorable Clover Lane blog, and it's called "House Love." It's basically just about how to embrace and love the home/furniture/stuff you have right now, rather than constantly plotting and wishing and envying for other, better things.

It was perfect for me to hear right now, when I am often feeling a bit squished in our current home (just a BIT, but it's making me panic about what it would feel like to add even more kids!) and when I'm wishing the market wasn't so wretched and that showing a home wasn't such a staggering pain in the butt so that I could actually contemplate moving. This post reminded me that any house can be a dream home with a bit of love, work, and the right perspective: that is, that home is who you're WITH, not the composite of granite counter tops and double closets and professional landscaping. The happiness you feel in your home has very little to do with how it looks, really, but is more about how it feels. That's something I can improve no matter how much money or flexibility I have, right? That's a heart thing- if I can invest love in my home, even just by cleaning it or rearranging a chair or fluffing a pillow or watering a plant, I've made it feel a little better and more welcoming to me as well as my family and guests.

It also helped me to remember that what we HAVE in our current home (a truly perfect location, with wonderful friends both right down the street within walking distance as well as just a few minutes away in either direction, relatives five to ten minutes away on all sides, church five minutes away, SCHOOL five minutes away, Jim's office ten minutes away...) is something no other house could replicate, unless we magically found our dream home within a one mile radius. We have been very blessed in our location, and if we have to work a bit to make the home more comfortable and livable, well, that's a fairly small price to pay, and can even be kind of fun if you dig up the right attitude.

Here's what I did last night in our front hall to "love" my house a little more:



What helps you feel more content in your home when you're having one of those dissatisfied kind of days?

6 comments:

Chelle said...

That is a beautiful saying. Is it stenciled paint or adhesive backed and, how soon could you come to my home to do one for me? ;)

Fran said...

I agree! We are currently doing a lot of little things to love our house and it feels great :)

Jessica said...

Which wall? I love it!!!

And I needed to hear this today too. Thanks for the link.

Nik-Nak said...

Is Spring the general time frame for these feelings to arise? Because I am feeling them right now too. And we ve only been in this house five months....not good.

Kelsey said...

This is good timing for me too - I have to work to remind myself that the home my parents live in now is nothing like the home I lived in when I was a small child... it takes time make a place all you want it to be. I just found two holes in our couch in the last week or so - but they are small and it is still functional. Learning to love what we have is a good, good lesson.

d e v a n said...

De-cluttering always makes me feel better about my house and the amount of space!