Life presents us with exasperating drama. Daily commutes that feel like high-speed chases. Looming deadlines at school or work. Bermuda grass invading the kitchen garden. The antidote to overbearing drama and stress is the peace we can wake up to and retreat to every day in our homes.
A well-thought-out, serene home can be our foundation for a healthy, happy life, like our own personal charging station.
Over the years, I’ve pondered and explored what makes a thoughtful home, like a familiar chorus of a favorite song. Perhaps it’s because I ran my writing business from my home office for years and needed a peaceful, orderly environment to write, in the midst of raising a family. I’ve read and studied books on housekeeping and organizing. I’ve experimented endlessly with cabinets, closets and cubbies. I’ve shared the feel-good endorphins of editing and decorating with my sisters, daughter and close girlfriends. And most notably, I can pronounce hygge. This blog distills what I’ve learned, observed and come to believe on what makes a home lovely to live in. I hope it sands the edges off the conundrums of what to do and where to start with some simple truths, easy practices and pleasing wins.
In her Barefoot Contessa cookbooks, Ina Garten shares her practice of giving dinner guests a visual clue as to what they are about to enjoy. If you’re serving rosemary chicken, place a fresh rosemary sprig with bright lemon rings on the platter to hint at what’s to come. (And preferably, make the platter white. But I’m getting ahead of myself.)
So before we dig in, I’ll garnish this first course with some recurring themes that will flavor almost all my tips.
– Fewer, nicer things
– House decisions
– Likes with likes
– Sick zebras
– The peace and power of white
– You’re worth it and you deserve it
Most of all, I believe we should flip the focus from what to get rid of to what we want to keep. It’s the new “homekeeping” — living only with those things that matter to us and serve us. This is how we’ll go from merely filling our house to creating a home that fills us.
About Laura
My first ad agency assignment as a fresh-out-of-OSU copywriter was to write a client announcement about myself. It was miserable. Writing your own bio is like cutting your own bangs: where to start, when to stop? Ugh. So maybe I’ll start with what I’d rather do, like planting lemon verbena in my kitchen garden, floating up to an arm balance in yoga, or laying out a candle-lit spread of pickies on the kitchen island. Most of all, I’d rather be home with my family, a little piece of heaven.