My husband gave me these two little birds for our anniversary last spring. He held them out and said “this one is you and the other is me.”
As empty nesters now, these two birds take on even more meaning!
Our home has many things that tell our story. To someone looking at a photo online, things in my photos might appear to be insignificant, meaningless or even unnecessary clutter.
I don’t live in a styled square on Instagram, so I don’t want social media to tell me how I should design my home. A room curated for a perfect photo doesn’t spark joy in my life.
What brings me peace and daily happiness is to be present in a home that tells our story.
I love being surrounded by beautiful but useful things, not clutter but things that bring back favorite memories or make our home feel cozy and comfortable to us.
I create a home I love to be in and spaces that speak life into my soul.
That’s what brings me joy.
What brings you joy in your home? Surround yourself with that and create a home you love to be in. What’s a meaningful treasure displayed in your home?
(blog post adapted from my recent Instagram status)
My other recent posts about empty nesting:
Empty Nesting & Home Style Saturdays
Dwelling: The Heart of the Homemaker
PS…Have you joined The Inspired Room Community yet? It’s free and it’s been so much fun so far! Get the details on joining us here!
Surrounded by joy is the best of all. It varies from home to home and even season to season. I love it when the kids come to visit and they say, “Oh, I remember this!”
Love the birds!
I have a framed piece of art that my youngest son drew hanging on a wall…. but I will admit I don’t keep a lot of “things….“mementoes.”
We always take our yearly vacation on the week of our anniversary. We try to go somewhere different for each vacation and we always buy something for the house to remember our trip by. So when I look around our house I am reminded our good times together.
YES! I love this and completely agree. I like a clean, clutter-free home but I also keep many items that have special meaning. Among my favorites are two Asian style ceramic little girl figurines. My grandmother had them on her coffee table and told us they were me and my sister. I’ve always loved them and was thrilled to put them in my own home, especially since I also have two girls. My sister loved them as well, but she has two boys so she let me have them :) In a wonderful twist of fate, a friend who enjoys thrifting found the boy version of the figurines in an estate sale. I quickly bought them from her and gave them to my sister. It makes us both so happy to have these figurines that remind us of our grandparents.
LOVE the birds…especially because of their special meaning. I have a small metal industrial art whale in my office. I have never decorated with anything related to sea life, but this whale has special meaning to me just like your birds do. For our 30th anniversary, my husband took me to on a coastline trip from Napa Valley down through Big Sur. We made so many wonderful memories we went back again this summer to the same place. It has become our special place. The whale reminds me of this time and especially the God-blessed whale watching trips we went on during both trips. The power we witnessed as the whales breached out of His beautiful waters is something I never want to forget and the small industrial black and white whale in my office reminds me of this special time for us. Home is definitely where your heart is. :)
The heart stories around us mean so much, I loved reading your story and the others that are being shared here! Living life to the full, staying present in our real life and the memories we have to treasure are what bring the most joy!!
What a thoughtful and beautiful gift! :) This year for my birthday a friend did a beautiful drawing of my daughters and had it framed for me. I love walking by it every time I go up and down the stairs. :)
Homes that are treasure boxes filled with secrets and meaning are the best .
What a beautiful reminder to leave life in every room if our home.
Oh my Lord. I know you just love that man to pieces! What a wonderful start to the next chapter of your life. You too are truly BLESSED. Have a wonderful day!.
My grandfathers set of 2 craftsman style rockers are in the living room. He had a wooden leg and my memories of him bouncing me on his knee and singing the song ,Old Home on the Range, is one of my few early childhood visions I still see so clearly. I have twice recovered them but love them so much. I have a few ceramic pieces
for the holidays that my mother and I made in the 70s and I cherish them too. I love a story in everything possible.
I love your sweet birds! And I love having things around me that are meaningful to us in some way even if guests don’t know the significance. I love pitchers and am blessed to have my great grandfathers milk pitcher in my collection up above my kitchen cabinets. We have a ‘random’ plate up on a shelf that was part of a set of my husband’s German great-grandmother. We have a 9 foot 1930s antique gas pump from the family farm I had restored. Little things like this bring me joy and that sense of connection with family I loved and even those I’ve only heard stories about.
Your post reflects perfectly a thought I had this morning. While getting ready this morning I glanced over at one of dogs curled up in a bed under the bath window, I thought it made a charming scene. But with chipping paint on the window trim I had to think how a photo capturing the moment would not hold up to social media standards of room scenes. But I’m for being real, and this is my home at the moment and I love it , even with its chippy paint ?
Love that. Those moments we see with our eyes rarely meet those social media standards or expectations. Social media demands perfectly edited and composed images to be popular with the world, but it’s the charming moments we have the privilege of experiencing in LIVING that are far more meaningful to us and the people and pets we love! xo
I have a lot of antiques from my grandmother mixed in with our things – especially dishes. I mention little things about her to my kids when I use them. They won’t ever know her the way I did, and I don’t know if they will place sentimental value on her things (or ours) like I do, but I love to find little ways to pass down my history to them.
Those are sweet. I agree, that it’s nicer when the things around you are collected slowly with meaning. I don’t want to live in a Pottery Barn or Anthropologie catalog – though I might enjoy a hotel stay ; -)
A home that says welcome makes me happy. I accept that in this stage of my life my style is best defined as library meets craft workshop but I am okay with that. While I love to beautify our home, we live here and I hope to never lose perspective of that
Your post really hit home.
I was upon occasion a little embarrassed that my home was not in the latest style furniture, color or fad but I realized one day that everything in my home I absolutely loved and nearly everything has a story behind it.
It’s cozy it’s warm and inviting. I love my home it’s perfect for me.
I lost my home to a fire one year ago and I lost my beloved boxer in the fire too. I am now in a new home and I bought a print of a boxer with a cardinal sitting on her head. The cardinal represents my mom that I lost 12 years ago. Cardinals were her favorite bird. This one picture is so perfect for remembering both.
The little birds are cute. I agree, looking at the things in my home that evoke great memories are the best.
My husband and I were married in the Mesa Arizona Temple. It is a beautiful building. We have a large original painting of it in our home. It’s always the first thing I put up anytime we move.
I love a home that is uncluttered but not cold; where everyone feels welcome and “at home”.
I know on social media these days it isn’t common to see family photos as part of home decor, but pictures of my kids is what makes me happy! I have photo galleries of my kids throughout my house and that is what makes my home so special to me!
Those little birds are so sweet!!
I definitely do not have a photo-worthy home, but evidently like many others, it speaks to me! I love the little rocking chair sitting in our LR that was given to me by my grandparents when I was a toddler. A small framed pic of me sitting in that very rocker sits in the seat!
I still battle with feelings of inadequacy regarding my “decorating style” (or lack of!!) but our home is comfortable and I can’t wait to get home the 2-3 days a week that I work! Have a blessed day!
Love the wood panel and lovely touch on the birds!
I am thankful that I have moved beyond the stage of buying things just to have pretty stuff. Now each purchase has thought and meaning behind it. Over the past two years I have gotten rid of most of the “stuff” and am left with items that I enjoy and have special meaning. A ledge in our living room holds items from our thirteen years in Haiti – pottery, baskets, metal artwork. It’s a nice way to remember that part of our life.
I am SO with you! I don’t want stuff for the sake of pictures. I want stuff that sustains my happy!
Just finished hauling out all kinds of Halloween stuff, but this morning I was loving a little mummy that my once 7, now 23-year old son brought back from a family vacation. The value is in the joy. ?