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Your Home is a Collection of Stories

by | May 22, 2011 | Authentic Living, Decorating Inspiration, Details

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Your Home is a Collection of Stories

House to Home

A home tells many tales of life and love  …

Everyone’s home tells a story, whether you mean it to or not!

Let your home tell chapters of your story every chance you get — collections and art will give your home heart and soul.

Find interesting ways your home can spur conversations, let it be a place where fun, lively and wonderful life stories are told.

Don’t worry if you don’t like your whole story. The past is never the end.

Dream up a new inspiring chapter and let your home tell it.

Let your home reflect back to you the life you’ve always dreamed of.

You can bet someone who would collect this many bread boards has a story to tell! That collection would be a conversation starter for sure!

Does your home tell happy stories?

 

–This is a post from The Inspired Room

25 Comments

  1. Stacy

    My home is definitely a collection of stories and I don’t think I would want it any other way! I love looking around at the items in my home and remembering where I found them and who I was with.

    Reply
  2. Franki Parde

    My sentiments, exactly, Stacy! It gives me real pleasure walking through rooms (memory lane) and smiling in reflection. franki

    Reply
  3. Fairfield House

    Melissa,

    I used this analogy in my article Realized Joy in The Lettered Cottage e-zine. I like to think of historical homes as classic books with chapters added each time a new family takes stewardship.
    You are right. Collections should be a catalyst for memories. I’d much rather hear about the maps on your wall that reflect places you visited than be told you were inspired by a popular blog or following a Pottery Barn trend.

    Your Friend,
    Deborah

    Reply
  4. Kerri

    I just love this post! I try to infuse my home with our family’s stories – from tale of our travels as a couple without children, and now, our stories as parents of three children, including twins. For example, my daughter’s bedroom was inspired by her first ballet costume, and right now, I am decorating our newly finished basement with framed artwork made by my children!

    Kerri
    mydecoratingaddiction.blogspot.com

    Reply
    • Melissa

      I love the idea of your daughter’s room being inspired by her first ballet costume, what a great idea and special thing for your daughter!!

      Reply
  5. IAMSNWFLAKE

    That’s so true! How come we then “stage” our homes to show something completely alien to us when the time for selling it comes along? I wonder …

    Reply
    • Anna

      I definitely agree with this post, and I love the stories my house tells. I think as far as staging goes, we’re simply allowing potential buyers to imagine THEIR ‘stories’ happening in the space. Most people have a hard time looking past paint colors and carpet, so I’d bet that they would also have a hard time looking past all the present owners’ stories too :)

      Reply
  6. Nik

    What a great post to start the day! And you are so right! When I look around my home, my favorite pieces all have stories behind them.

    Reply
  7. Cheryl

    Interesting. I just took down all the decor items above my kitchen cabinets. None of them were speaking to me and probably because they were not connected to any stories in my life. They were “just” decor. Now, I’m loving the empty space above the cabs so much more, room to breathe, simpler. I am wondering if we need “empty” spaces too so the stories we do tell in our homes resonate more and don’t get buried in too much stuff that are “just” objects?

    Reply
    • Melissa

      Absolutely!! I definitely do!

      Reply
  8. Karen

    Melissa,
    I agree. It’s also been interesting to see how our “home story” has evolved and changed through the various transitions of family. Grand child now prompts me to display some different items, such as our collection of Beatrix Potter books.

    Great post, as always,
    Karen at Garden, Home and Party

    Reply
  9. nanne

    this is a great post, melissa!

    that’s why i have never wanted to have my home “decorated.” my house does have many stories to tell…some from my great, grand & parents (and actually, much further back than that..), my husband’s family & the story of my little family.

    i love that our home is ever evolving and adding new chapters to our story.

    nanne in indiana by way of alabama
    http://twosistersonesummer.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  10. E

    This is a great post. We moved into a house about a year ago. It is so much space that I don’t know what to do with it. We have “things” that we have collected along “the way” but I am now trying to organize them into something cohesive that tells our story! I love coming here for inspiration :)

    Reply
    • Melissa

      Thank you!!
      I’m glad you come here!

      Reply
  11. The Yellow Cape Cod

    Melissa, Great post! I will be passing this along to a few of my clients that are afraid of letting go of the past…Very well said. Thank you. Sarah

    Reply
  12. susan

    Thank you Melissa! Right now my home *looks* like I haven’t paid attn to it for 15yrs. And anyone who knows me knows I ‘ve been focused on working when able, throwing parties for well-deserved parental occasions, running them to doctors&making sure they could be in their home as long as possible. I managed till 7/08 (85&86). Now I have to sell “home” and make mine *mine* again. But it will be theirs in many ways. I promised to care for things they worked hard for& I will. I’ve been teased about the “Mom&Dad” museum. But it will be all the stories that made me who I am & I will cherish them till I die. And then I know my nephs&their families will have room &new places to show off their grandparents/great&greatgreat-grandparents lives&histories. And the memories that go with them. :) the few things I hv collected will fit perfectly&add to the story. Now to get rid of the piles of legalities&the shot at & hit look. (sigh) but the day will come & I will be proud of my story.

    Reply
    • Margaret

      most of my dining room furniture and bedroom furniture came from family. There are stories to each piece. I think I will make an album so that my grands will understand that the maple bed was Aunt Lucille’s and she crocheted beautiful spreads for it. She sat in a straight chair with her ankles crossed and a Coke by her side. And so it goes.

      Reply
  13. Karen B

    I can’t imagine a home without stories surrounding me. I have a collection of State plates from the many states we’ve lived in. I have a wall of pictures collected on our travels around the world/country. Of course, there is the furniture we bought when we lived in different places, the East coast furniture, the new married auction furniture, the West coast items. Then there are all the heirlooms, the Chinese checkers board my great grandfather made, the photos of the 1924 basketball team my maternal grandfather was on. And on and on. Home means stories to me.

    Reply
  14. Kim

    Thanks so much for this post!

    I CRAVE this for my home. We have bits and pieces of personality around our home but our main living spaces are very sterile, which my husband likes. I’m currently re-doing the guest bedroom, which is also my craft room, and I decided that it’s going to be ALL personality.

    Reply
  15. Wendy

    Love this post and couldn’t agree more! The stories are what make a house a home. They tell of your past, your present and your future! What you love, where you’ve been, and where you want to go! So important to make sure it reflects where you are today – honor the past, make room for the future and celebrate everyday!

    Reply
  16. Amelia

    Every part of my home (including the lawn, patio, deck area, and the garden)tell happy stories since the day I got married and bought my own house. I still can’t forget the baby room where my daughter took her first steps.

    My living room accessories also tell stories. One of my hobbies is decorating my house especially the living room. I collect ceramics and figurines from all over the world. Every time I visit a new country, I see to it that I’ll buy a remembrance – so that I’ll never forget the place.

    Reply
  17. Rose

    While I can imagine my home without most of the “things” in it, what means the most is the love I see in every space, corner, chair, book that my daughter and I lived and shared in the story that is our lives. The best part is seeing her build her own story with her husband in their home.

    Reply
  18. Pretty Inspirational

    You’re so right…I try to make my client’s rooms look like a “designer” was not involved! Make the rooms real, livable and your own!

    Reply
  19. Regina

    My home does tell a story in my living room. Beyond that I am missing a story. I have to work on the rest of my house. I have stories from Grandparents that we barely knew and those that are dear to us too. I love and miss them.

    Reply
  20. Deb Van

    I’ve got an old slag glass chandelier from my mother’s kitchen in the 1930’s that I had converted to a desk lamp. It really reminds me of visiting my nana when I was a child. These types of memories make a home a “home”.

    Reply

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