Hello lovely friends. When our family first looked at what would eventually become our house here in Seattle a year ago last fall, we had an unspoken inkling in our hearts that someday it just might be a magical little place to live. It may not have exactly looked like the house in my fairytale dreams at the moment, but that didn’t seem to matter. It definitely had something undefined but special that drew us here.
This fall we had our brick house painted white and while the painters were here, we asked them to give a fresh white coat of paint to the formerly beige backyard shed, too.
When we saw that adorable shed peeking out of the fresh snow from our kitchen window yesterday morning, it confirmed what I didn’t want to dare to dream or speak out loud when we first laid eyes on this house. It truly is a magical little place to be in every season. I really didn’t expect that this feeling would come, but we are falling more in love with this sweet little home every day.
We are discovering there are so many gifts we can unwrap here in every season. It might seem on the surface like it was the white paint and fresh snow that caught my eye yesterday, but even more the changing season outside our window symbolized to me that we already had everything we needed to live happily ever after here.
This is our home, for better or worse. It’s our home when the snow perfectly blankets the backyard and the reflection of twinkling lights in the window make it all feel so magical. It’s our home in the summer when the moles tear up the grass and make our yard all lumpy and weird looking from their tunnels. It’s our home right now when I wash my hands in a Pepto-Bismal pink sink just as it will be our home in January when I wash dirty dishes in a sparkling new farm sink.
This is our home. We feel a certain peace, like we are right where we are supposed to be in this season in our life. It’s not just a feeling that has come from finally having completed projects like fresh paint on the brick and new countertops in our kitchen, although we do feel so grateful to be on the precipice of being able to cook a proper Christmas dinner in a new oven.
Get the “It Is Well” sign above HERE for 20% off with the code “THEINSPIREDROOM20”
There are still plenty of projects and imperfections to keep us dreaming, busy, broke, saving or patiently waiting for years to come. But it’s those imperfections and less-than-ideals that are my daily reminder to slow down and just be grateful for what we have right now.
A house won’t ever turn into a dream home if it is only through the projects we get to complete or the day we have the perfect setting or season in which to be feel grateful. A house is transformed from the inside out through the gifts we choose to see and open with grateful hearts.
I’ll be honest, it’s easy to be grateful for things you have always dreamed about when you finally have them. It can be flustering when people say they are feeling so #blessed and you see what they have and think, gee, I would feel blessed, too, if I lived in that amazing castle on the hill or whatever they have that you only dream about. It’s OK to be grateful for what you have, even if you are a princess feeling grateful for her castle. I try to remember that so much of what any of us have, however humble or imperfect we might think it is, is likely to be just a dream for someone else.
The real test of our ability to find contentment and gratitude with where we are is can we feel grateful for what we have and content in it, even if it isn’t at all what we dreamed about? I love our little house and I am grateful for what we’ve been able to do so far. But I’m mindful that I need to be just as grateful for its quirks and less-than-perfect qualities, too.
There is a season for everything. A season for the clouds and rain and sun and snow and wind and soft breezes to blow through. A time for transitions and a time for settling in for awhile to find joy with what we’ve already been given. But no matter the season or house we find ourselves in, love should always shine from the inside out. Like the little twinkly lights strung around a home at Christmas time, it’s the love glowing on the inside that creates a truly magical place to live.
- If you missed it last week, come see our Christmas house tour!
- Get the “It Is Well” sign pictured in this post here for 20% off with the code “THEINSPIREDROOM20”
- Shop my house and gift guides here.
- Find my NYT bestselling book “Love the Home You Have” and more of my books here.
>> CLICK HERE TO SHOP The Inspired Room Christmas Shop <<
My Christmas shop is filled with my favorite Christmas decor finds! Stockings, ornaments, garland, accessories, wreaths, trees, you name it!!! Check it out!
>> CLICK HERE TO SHOP The Inspired Room Christmas Shop <<
Great posting….we all have much to be Thankful for a great reminder..happy weekend many blessings☃
Well put! We’ve lived in our small house for 25 years and though it’s not our “dream house” (and now seriously needs some updating!), it is home. It is sturdy and cozy and full of memories. We feel blessed! :)
Karen
P.S. Love the view out your window!
Thanks, Karen! <3
We’re “getting there,” too…everything looks pristine! franki
May I ask where you purchased your little three leg table/stool you have sitting in your living room between your daybed and your chair.
It sounds like your new home is saying, “Welcome Home!’
Thank you so much for this post! I needed the loving reminder to find peace and contentment in the here and now. Love it!!
Happy Holidays to you and your family, Melissa. Happiness, better yet contentment, with our homes is among the ultimate blessings we can have in our lives. I’m delighted you have it with your Seattle house, which just keeps getting better in your hands. We feel the same way about our “French Industrial Lodge” home (you can see my pinboard a thttps://www.pinterest.com/aesthetix/my-french-industrial-lodge/). We couldn’t be happier with it. There are improvements we need and want to make, but everyday we are thankful for it and the happiness it brings us. Cheers, Ardith
Here is the live link to the French Industrial Lodge pinboard.
What a warm and lovely home, Ardith! I can see the love you’ve poured into it. Thank you for sharing it and for your sweet comment today! Have a wonderful week and enjoy your beautiful tree, too!
You are blessed to have another beautiful home. Home is what you make it not about the “stuff” inside. You have such ability to make all or your spaces beautiful, inviting and you. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much, I appreciate that. It’s a delight to make this house our home and share the journey with such lovely ladies! Thanks for reading.
Living in the Southwest US, you don’t see much snow, what a pretty picture. And a lovely home.
So eloquently written. . . and with a grateful heart, thank you.
Thank you, Linda. Have a wonderful week!
Thank you
Great post! Thanks you for sharing!
Thank you for your words. You hit it right on the head! The timing was perfect.
I just realized I am interested in where you purchased the cabinet that is next to the blue dresser….you have white houses on it….I posted earlier but thought it was in a hallway. Thank you so much!
Hi Lisa, it’s from Ashley Furniture. I don’t have an online source yet but I’ll look around and if I find it I’ll get it to you!
Is your dog a Lhasa Apso? It looks very much like my dog.
Yes and amen to contentment … and gratitude.
It truly was a beautiful, sparkly day in Seattle yesterday. Thank you for your great words of inspiration and the reminder to be grateful even for the small imperfect, and unfinished things!
Love truly does shine from the inside out!
What a beautiful post, both the photos and your encouraging thoughts. I’m always grateful for your reminders to be thankful for our homes regardless of how humble they may be. Decorating is fun and a wonderful way to express ourselves, but contentment is much more lasting and meaningful. Thank you! And I love that you hung a wreath on your freshly painted shed!
The dog! I love him! Great sentiments too and an amazing view.
I’ve never commented on your blog before, but I had to tell you how much this post spoke to my heart. Thank you.
You’re welcome. Thank you for commenting, Carol-Anne! I love knowing you are out there and resonated with the post!
Looks amazing! So relaxing and cozy!?
Contentment and gratitude…good words any time of year but especially now…well written and thoughtful post.. Love your dog…my Chis Riley and Jacob send slurpy kisses and some of their Trader Joe’s organic dog treats…
I know you wrote this post especially for me…and it is perfect. Thank you for reminding me I have so much to be thankful for.
Melissa,
What a beautiful post and timely. A reminder that we all have things to be thankful for and a season for reflection.
Your new (to you) home is lovely and I know you will bring out the best it has to offer.
xo,
Karen
I think it’s lovely that you say …like we are right where we are supposed to be in this season in our life… I haven’t had that feeling for a very long time now but hope to get it again :-) Also, I love the picture of one of your dogs looking out the window from your day bed!
What a sweet post. Have a Merry Christmas!
Thank you for your words today. Just what I needed to hear about this home where we are blessed while in a season of in-between. A season of ‘when’, ‘what’s next’?
~Adrienne~
Stunning! I love those knit pillows by your tree. Also — “It is well with my soul” is one of my FAVORITE songs from church growing up. Me and my dad both sing it around the holidays all the time. While I already have his gift for this year, I think I will have to keep that in mind for an idea for next year. :D Your home is so cozy and inviting. Happy holidays!
Your home looks so lovely and cosy! We’re not at all envious! :)
Thanks for such a great reminder here, Melissa. Your home is beautiful, your insights even more so! My home is trapped in 1978 (ha ha ha!), but it IS home, and I’m grateful. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Thank you, Barb. Merry Christmas!
Beautifully said and so important to be grateful for what we have. We may not have the biggest, most modern house but it is perfect for us. We are able to make it cozy and a retreat from the rest of world when we need it.
Melissa, yours is my favorite blog because you always speak from your heart! Thank you for being a Light in a design world which seems at time too focused on expensive design which only the privileged can afford. Your home is gorgeous and inspiring, but it is obvious that the love in your family is what makes it such a lovely home. Merry Christmas to you and yours! (Enjoy your new kitchen!)
Good words, Melissa. Thank you.
As I look at your photos I think about the pictures I didn’t take at my NY house because there was a big utility pole in our backyard and our neighbor’s ugly chain link fence that was a backdrop to my gorgeous garden island that many would die for. It’s taken me a long time to be okay with imperfection and to learn to be grateful for the good in the midst of the, can I say, ugly.
You are #blessed. Not because of what you have… but because of your heart. Thanks, friend! XO
Amen.
I am so thankful for your heart…when I read this post about gratitude no matter the ‘season’ or situation (my paraphrase), it made me almost cry. All that we have are truly gifts from God, I sense you feel the same. I believe we wouldn’t appreciate them nearly as much if we got them all at once…even though I sure would be happy to win the lottery or Publisher’s Clearing House! :) I hope that you and your family will continue to be blessed, as you are such a blessing to others!
Thank you so much, Beth! What a thoughtful comment. I’m grateful you stopped by. xoxo