The Story of Us...In Our Home

  

Yesterday I started to answer a couple of questions about our home and decorating style, but my first answer ended up being so long, I saved the second one for today. The second question was…how do we choose our decorations for our home?

We actually have two rules regarding this. The first is that anything in our home should reflect our family story, and the second is that anything in our home should work for us and the life we live.

What does that mean? Well, before I explain it, allow me the disclaimer that this is our preference for our home. It doesn’t mean we think everyone around us is terrible if they choose to decorate in a different way. We don’t all have to match!

We love for the decorations around us to tell a story and hold a memory. It’s rare…so rare that I can’t even think of an example…that we choose to put something in our home because we think it is a decoration we need. All our belongings tell a story.

…Like the wreath our WillowBridge coworkers made for us as a going away gift when we left.

…Like the USA photo map I gave Ryan for our tenth anniversary that holds pictures from the states we’ve visited – and has room for those we have yet to see.

…Like the “Be still, and know” wall art a women’s group gifted to me for speaking at their retreat.

…Like the pottery we used to wash each other’s feet on our wedding day.

…Like the pictures of newspaper clippings about our grandmothers who both loved baking cakes.

…Like the watercolor paintings of our homes.

…Like my dad’s vintage typewriter that he gave to me because I’m a writer.

…Like the reclaimed wood bookshelf we picked out together on a date when we first moved to Kokomo.

You could point to anything in our house, and we could tell you the story of when we chose it or who gave it to us or what season of life it represents for us. Just from my perch on the couch, I see a hand-painted tray gifted to me from my friend for my 40^th birthday, a flower arrangement from Ryan, a wedding gift from our church, a picture taken on our honeymoon, a framed Scripture passage from our Realtor, a memorial lantern from Allen’s funeral, a picture from when Ryan proposed, pictures of our families, a plant from Nita’s funeral, and all the stones signed by guests at our wedding reception.

We also try to make sure everything in our home serves us for this season of our lives.

Our guest bed works for us because it stores in a small twin-bed state and doesn’t take up the whole room, but it pulls out to a king size to make room for couples when they visit.

Our bed has storage in the headboard and footboard, which is really helpful since we need dresser storage in our room.

Our island has a drop down counter, which gives us plenty of extra counter space when we are cooking, but it doesn’t hog the whole kitchen when we’re not.

Our coffee table stores blankets, so we don’t have to have yet another piece of furniture in the room to hold them.

Our dining room table has a leaf so we can make it bigger if needed, but we don’t have to make it so large every day.

We didn’t keep a few of our pieces when we moved because they didn’t fit our space and there was no need to hang onto them.

I happen to really love things that serve multiple purposes.

A couch that is also a recliner? Space saver!

A bench that holds shoes? Two for one!

A cabinet that holds my trash cans and gives me a top for the coffee bar? Perfect.

            For things we want to own for many years, we try to invest well in quality while still being good stewards of our money. We hunt sales always, and if we can find something we need at a thrift store or garage sale, even better!

And of course, free is the best! When we moved in here my and my parents were willing to let us take the Hoosier cabinet from their house, it was such a blessing! It actually helped them, because they’re in a downsizing time of life, so it removed something from their home. It gave me a pantry, since this house doesn’t have one, and it also gifted us a little extra heritage, since this used to belong to my grandmother.

We are in a stage where we probably will exercise the something-in-something-out plan. If we find something that we like and feel would be a good fit for our home, we won’t be afraid to add it, but probably something else will need to go out to make room for it. I don’t like feeling cramped or cluttered, so I don’t want to max out every corner of our home.

I hope that answered your questions, Paula, and maybe some of the rest of you could find an idea or two that works for you! Remember! It’s your home, so choose the pieces and decorations that work best for you. And you don’t have to have it all figured out in a day. We’ve been working on our home(s) for a decade. Always a work in progress!