I love living in a home that makes me happy when I walk through it. Not just happy in the “wow, I am so happy I made this look pretty” sort of way, but the “I feel inspired by the blessings of life” sort of happiness. There is a difference.
I have no idea how people can live in a home that is “just pretty” but lacks real meaning. Pretty only on the surface can be so, well, shallow.
Creating a home with meaning requires surrounding yourself with layers of memories — not just random objects. When everything was bought to simply to serve a purpose or to fill a space, and nothing was collected through living life, a home feels flat and one dimensional. A surface “decorated home” misses out on the stories and character that can only come through decor that is a reflection of life experience.
I just re-framed and hung the etching my husband and I bought in Hawaii
19 years ago on our one and only special trip away from the kids!
Every single time I see it good memories rush to my mind.
Cheap therapy, I tell ya!
I feel it is so important to connect emotionally to the things you are surrounded by at home.
Your home and what is in it should have soul, not just surface beauty.
Disclaimer: This doesn’t mean you can’t have things that are simply pretty, I have lots of things that are just there to be functional or pretty. But sprinkled throughout my home are gentle reminders of the good in life. I love having things in my home that have a story. If you look through your accessories at home and do not feel your heart strings being tugged in some way, it might be worth adding in some meaning!
Treasures from our family’s past give us a sense of history at home.
They tie our past and present together.
Objects like my old postcard can enrich our life
because they make us ask questions and tell stories about our ancestors.
As I look around my home, I see framed photos of my children, art collected to remind us of vacations, shells picked up while walking along the shore, maps of places I’ve been, books I’ve loved and read over and over again, treasures and hand written notes and recipes from grandparents and sweet reminders of my childhood.
When I am surrounded by these things, my home is beautiful to me.
Jars can hold all sorts of collections and memories: photos, shells, trinkets.
This jar always reminds me of my childhood craft, painting clothespins!
Even subtle reminders of happy memories can make me smile.
That is the kind of home I love to live in. I want my home to feel authentic, warm and inviting. I want to achieve that not just with my time or money invested in decorating, but through LIVING.
Remember my motto, “When Life Inspires Your Home, Your Home will Inspire Your Life”? When you’ve lived fully (you’ve traveled, created memories, loved, cried, laughed and lived not just for yourself but for and with others), your home can be filled with beautiful reminders of what has mattered most to you. 
My grandma’s meatloaf recipe, written out with love for me.
She is no longer with us, so this is priceless!
My husband gave me a giant tea cup for a gift –
I adore it more than any other “accessory”
I could buy at a discount store.
And when you decorate with heart and soul, your home will inspire you to continue to focus on all that is right and good in your life. You’ll remember the good of the past and be inspired to live in a more positive state of mind.
The family wall. Image from: Living with What You Love
Tip: corral small frames on a tray. From: Living with What You Love
When I ran across this new book (in a post at my friend Holly’s blog), Living With What You Love by photographer Monica Rich Kosann, I knew I’d found a kindred spirit. Monica so kindly sent me a copy of the book. It is filled with her beautiful pictures and inspiring ideas to create a home with family photos, heirlooms and collectibles. Love that! I know you will all be inspired by her ideas, photos and tips as well — Monica has offered us a generous giveaway today!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! THANK YOU FOR ENTERING!
A FIVE WINNER GIVEAWAY!
One copy of Living With What You Love
will go to FIVE LUCKY WINNERS!
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment sharing about something you have in your home that evokes a happy memory for you!
I will pick five winners at random to receive a book!
Share this post on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog for extra entries! Giveaway will end on Friday 9PM PST.
Living with What You Love can be purchased through amazon.com.
I have an old creamware serving platter filled with black and white pictures from my youth. I don’t sit down and look through them often, but when I pass by and glance at the platter it just simply makes me feel good.
I love a quilt that my grandfather won at a church bazaar that I found in a blanket chest while visiting my parents. Mom gave it to me and a few years later she passed. I have it hanging in our family room to remind me of both of them.
What a great book. After reading your post, I realize I need to get some treasures out of drawers to display and photos framed and up.
Patty Barone recently posted..Ghost Town
I have a tray that was my great-grandmothers. It is not only beautiful but also such a treasure
Thanks for the great post! I hope I win!
Something that evokes happy memory – a Carl Larsson print “Frukost under stora björken” or “Breakfast under the big birch” – because it reminds me of breakfasts (and lunches and dinners) under the trees in Sweden many years ago.
Carol H. recently posted..Making prayer a part of every-day life
My family and I sold most everything to make a crazy move from WA to PA and are just getting settled in a temporary apartment. I was loathe to say goodbye to many of those things in our home that gave me the “warm fuzzies” and wonderful “rememberies.” However, I can hardly wait to make new and beautiful memories in this chapter of our story together!
I am reminded of our wonderful beach vacation each time I see the colorful serving dishes from the Costa Del Sol. I leave them out on a shelf in our living room and use them for dinner as much as possible!
My husband and I were high school sweet hearts and 19 when we got married. Our cheap, pine hallway table is the first piece of furniture we bought together when we were just engaged. We celebrated tenth wedding anniversary last December, the day after our little girl was born. The hall table is the only piece of furniture that has stayed with us over the years (although it has morphed from being wood, to painted black, to painted shabby white). When I look at it, I think about how far we’ve come together, how things change but how the essence stays the same and I look forward to the future. The best is yet to be. (I wonder what colour my hall table will be then?)
I’ve got the stuff (husband’s family’s antique silhouettes, my mom’s needlework, the kerosene lamp that my dad studies by) but I need to display it better. I’d love that book for inspiration.
I love my old globe that I found at a thrift store. My son and I spend hours huddled around it finding different places, and talking about our planet. Every time I look at it I’m happy.
Since I was a child, I’ve prized the little glass jar of beads that belonged to my mother, probably given to her by her grandmother, who was a seamstress. The beads are mostly blue, the jar has a glass stopper (like a perfume bottle), and the same gold ribbon has been tied around the neck of the bottle for as long as I can remember.
I have my mother’s and grandmother’s aprons hanging in my kitchen. I am reminded of who I am and the legacy that has been left to me each time I look at them!
I love my wall of photographs of family and friends.
I have a beautiful bowl that was my great-grandmothers, and she always used it for cherry pudding. My mom and I both have bowls from her, and my mom’s bowl was only used for banana pudding. Needless to say, when I make banana pudding, I have to borrow my mom’s bowl (and vice versa!). I love that it is a family heirloom, but it is even more important that the bowls carry on a family tradition.
I have my mama’s dining room table. I love it!!!! Fond memories of my family growing up now added to fun and lively memories of my children around the same table….
I love my turn of the century enamel stove that I use as a bar, it is art nouveau, and a deep cocoa brown. I got it from a schoolteacher in Germany, and love it every day.
Picture a row of handcrafted sock monkeys leaning against each other in one of those old glass doored lawyers book shelves. It sits right at the top of my stairs and makes me smile when they catch my eye. I have to keep them behind glass so they don’t escape but they seem very content. I love the contrast of this simple craft in the stately, ornately carved book shelve. This is something in my home that I definitely love and would to receive a copy of the book for new fun ideas.
I have an antique desk that was my grandfathers. He sat at it almost all of his working life. I love to think of him every time I dig through a drawer to find something.
I love my family photos.
I have a jewelry box that sits on a bookshelf in my bedroom. It’s not “a fancy model” nor does it hold expensive jewels. But, it was the gift my sweet husband selected for my wedding day gift. Everytime I see it, I remember that very special day!
I am the very proud owner of a very ornate inlay folding wooden screen that was my Grandma’s. It stands along one wall of our dining room now. When I was younger, my family would fly to visit my grandparents once a year. I was often relegated to sleeping on an air bed in the den which is where the screen lived back then and I remember staring at it and all it’s colorful details as I drifted off to sleep.
I love the furniture that has been handed down from friends/family that I love.
My mom loved collecting angel figurines. In particular, she had a musical snowglobe, which sat on her dresser. Inside was a tiny little blonde-haired angel that looked just like my mom and played “I’ll be home for Christmas.” After I was married, we moved away and I rarely got to go home except at Christmas time. However, my mom always kept the snowglobe on display all year, reminding her of the time we would soon be home. My precious mom passed away a year ago. Now, it sits on my dresser and every time I see this snowglobe, I think of her and all the many wonderful times we spent together.
I have a star shaped wreath that reminds me of a trip to fort Ligioneer Days with my family. love it!!
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An old stuffed goose decoy, has travelled the world with me, it is the first thing that gets unpacked, where ever I go it can be home with this reminder to connect to who I am
Added to face book as well
Pearl Maple recently posted..Sky Watch Friday
Beautiful post. I’ve realized recently that I’ve surrounded myself with items that I thought others would love, couches like the neighbors, paint colors like my friends, ect. Piles and piles of books because someone I had admired loved the library of his youth. Point was I didn’t purchase or display Items I loved. So I’m surrounded with a hollow shell that I’m now finally coming to terms with and finally changing.
So that you for the beautiful reminder to live an authentic life.
Tootles,
FawnDear
FawnDear recently posted..Christmas to a 4 yr old
I have this large ceramic mixing bowl that looks just like the one my mom always used to make bread. Everytime I look at it I immediately remember seeing her pound the bread dough down to get the air out. Great memories and I love having this bowl…I should get it out of the closet and display it somehow…but it is VERY large and my kitchen is VERY small. sniff