I’ve been dreaming of “home” since I was a very young girl. Many years ago we would walk with my grandmother after Sunday night dinner and admire the gardens, the decor, peer in the windows of other peoples spaces, collecting ideas.
My vision of what I had hoped I might be able to call home some day has not changed much over the years. I grew up in a borough of the city, but I knew that was not my destination. While many of my friends were excited about the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle just across the bridge, I longed for country roads and wide open spaces. I wanted land and a barn for my -someday- horses, a yard for my -someday- dogs to roam, a house with big windows to let in lots of natural light (my favorite kind) with big old trees standing guard. Plenty of space for my -someday- children to play and entertain friends, too. I would decorate this home with lots of candles and ivory linen overstuffed couches. There would be strands of beads to walk through in the doorways… do you remember those? I’d become a good cook and there would always be a candy dish full of something sugary.
I did outgrow those hippie beads, and the ivory linen couches will never be practical with dogs and kids… but we were able to pull the rest of it off and for that… every day… I am grateful.
Below are a few pictures here at this old house.. things that make this place “home”. In the comments section below, list five things in your surroundings that make it home to you. Family is a given. If you’re really feeling chatty, tell us how your childhood vision of your someday home compares to what you have created over the years. I’m not talking about material things or stature, but the things that really make a house a home to you.
Dads Swedish Meatballs
(these are awesome)
Recipe found HERE.
I love my home. Its very downsized from the house we had in town. But I love the smallness and simplicity of it all. I love the woods its nestled in. I love the country road its on. I love my critters that I feed. And I love the freedom I have here.
Ok post of the week! !
1. Land -enough land to do my favorite hobby gardening and landscape. Land for the boys and dogs to play!
2. Great antique furniture but having all the rooms where you can kick your feet up
3. Family -a house isnt a home without family
4. Surrounded by feilds but having a great neighbor if you need something
5. Finally when you look at your home and know you did it by yourself.
I grew up with my grandfather a house builder and carpenter by trade loving houses and history behind them . Wanted to take a house and bring it to life. Have childern and dogs playing so i guess i have made the living dream iin that since.
This has made me think because it's important to me to have a comfortable, inviting home. So…a clean kitchen, stocked with lots of my favorite foods and a big pitcher of tea made up in the fridge, throws on the backs of sofas and chairs to get cozy, a pretty bed with lots of pretty pillows that you can pile up on to think, BOOKS…stacks of books everywhere, and candles and lamps for extra lighting. I like to keep my home so that anyone can stop by at any time and be welcome! Sweet hugs!
Firstly, I'm happy that your dream home came true. It's always an awesome experience to see what's going on there.
My dreams always included:
A big screened back porch
A front porch with a swing waving to passersby.
A kitchen window to watch the kids play.
A dirt road
A beautiful yard with lots of flowers
🙂
I wrote about this (sort of) the other day.
But let me be specific:
gardens
comfy, well-worn furniture
a big porch
things around me that I love
a dog or two
xo
Claudia
acreage
dogs
horses
trees
pond
=
heaven on earth
Hmmm, my thoughts on what 'home' is has changed throughout my adult years. Right now it's wherever my husband and the pups are, what's cooking in the kitchen, and a location with snow in the winter and crunchy leaves with cool breezes happens during the autumn months. Guess I'm easy to please. 🙂 Oh, and a covered front porch too! With a swing.
First of all, I am so happy that all of your dreams came true! Every single one, it seems! A happy home to me is:
A warm loving family
Dogs
A welcoming feeling to everyone who comes in
Flowers inside and a beautiful garden outside
Lots of laughter
XO,
Jane
1- photographs of family from all stages and ages in life…
2- hand me down and antique pieces of furniture- each with their own history and story.
3- Crosby settled at my feet
4-stacks of books everywhere
5- boy "gear" everywhere- sports shoes, to golf balls, to legos, to prized "rocks" on my window sill
Thanks for the reminder to seek out and give thanks for the love that surrounds me daily 🙂
Good smells coming from the kitchen
big windows with expansive views
laughing and music from my guys
my animals…dogs, cats, horses, chickens
big old porch and comfy furniture
What a lovely post!
I have that same pumpkin dish.
1.dogs
2. books
3. good food
4. cats
5. family and friends
Love this—will put my thinking cap on.
I am pretty close to being in the home I envisioned as a child and upwards toward young adult especially (20's). I have my front porch and my hammock and my fireplace (2) and a piece of land that is just big enough. Interestingly enough, my vision is changing dramatically as I age. Now I want a tiny cabin with a fireplace and a front screened in porch overlooking a lake. I want one living area – kitchen/eating and seating in front of the fireplace. 2 small bedrooms is enough for me as I will be sleeping on the screened in porch in the summer! Funny thing? The "new" home describes the first rental Bob and had together as a couple while we were building THIS dream home…LOL!
I don't have anything like what I had in my mind's eye, as far as how it looks, but it IS a safe haven, where I can be me, have my comfortable chair… and it's paid for. That's a huge comfort!
Home = comfort. My place to fall at the end of the day. Nothing like coming home to a place of history each day. Love old houses.
Growing up I always wanted to live in a small town – one with one Diner, one Church, one stop light – everyone knew everyone….and I would have a large home with a large yard for my four or five children – Warm and Cozy – yet bright and homey and most of all – the place I longed to be at the end of every day.
In my real life (which I do love) I have lived in Tampa Florida, then Los Angeles CA and now Dallas Texas (no small towns) – I have only two (wonderful) children – not four or five….however, each of our homes have been
Warm
Comfortable
Cozy
Bright
Homey
And most importantly – where I long to be at the end of each day.
We never had a fireplace and I always wanted one. Now we have an entire wall with a large masonry fireplace. Love a crackling wood fire!
I grew up with cats and dogs. I love my cats sleeping next to me!
My mom often made vegetable beef soup and cornbread on Sundays. I love a bubbling pot of soup in fall and winter!
Antiques! I love interesting pieces with some age and character to them. My grandmother instilled a love of beautiful fine things in me! I love antique furniture, silver, crystal, china. I was fortunate to inherit some of her beautiful things.
Books! We had an old secretary with bookshelves. There were some dusty old books in there which I would peruse. What's a house without some books, magazines and newspaper clutter? I have lots!
Love this–it was fun to reminisce!
I don't know if it's a guy thing or if I'm just missing a brain part, but while young, never had a dream about what my home would be like later.
Grew up in suburbia, but moved to country side when I met my wife in 1980.
Home today
1) A fireplace, my wife and merlot
2 Sunday newspaper
3) sitting on my deck, planning our next gardening project
4) dogs and cats ( 2 and 5 repectively)
5) The smell of trees and of something delicious coming out of my kitchen by the hands of my wife.
As some have said, these answers change as the years go by, 10 years ago 1 through 4 probably would be kid related.
When I married my husband I told him I'd live anywhere with him…even in a tent. The thought appeals to me now and then when cleaning gets the best of me. It IS difficult to keep up with it all. One one hand, I love having the two homes we have today, as well as the RV to travel in. On the other hand, a smaller place by the lake would work for me as long as we had a bit of land. And my dogs. MUST have them. And my ipad. Cannot be without that. Love scented candles. Love cozying up by the fireplace when we are having a blizzard outside! Love heading south when it is so very cold and dreary in March!! Your home…is awesome Karen. Everyone's dream home. You and your husband have done such a wonderful job with every single thing…it is truly a home! Whatever happened to that magazine article you were going to be in??
I grew up a military brat and so never felt like anywhere was 'home' for long. I used to think Florida was home because I graduated high school here and my dad was here. But now he is gone, and those people I knew 32 years ago have changed as much as I have. So I'm looking for a new home where one day (a very long time from now) birds will poo on the marker covering my ashes. These are the top 5 on my list of things I'm looking for:
1. A yard with a small home because I have a big dog who loves to run and I want to be able to open the back door in the morning while I'm fixing me coffee and know that he will be running and safe. [Dogs are always a given.]
2. A home with just enough room for company to feel welcomed and comfortable, but not so much room that they want to move in. In my dysfunctional family, I'm the only one who has learned to put the fun back into life. Absence doesn't just make the heart grow fonder for us, it keeps us able to communicate.
3. Lots of windows and skylights for natural daylight and beautiful star/moon light.
4. Gardens… butterfly, hummingbird, herb, flower, veggie… I want to be surrounded with color and life.
5. A fireplace inside, a fire pit outside, vanilla & lavender candles, flannel sheets and down comforters when it turns cold.
1-A door swinging onto the deck—open and shut—little feet able to run inside and out.
2-My Grandma's cookie jar on our counter-full up.
3-Peaceful sounds. Quiet when the windows are open, or the sounds of animals.
4-Something warm and cozy smelling, whether it be something simmering on the stove, or baking in the oven.
5-Warmth. Must have the heat turned up or fire burning–spring, winter & fall months.
6-Cheaters six. Gladiolas or sweet peas, cut and on the table in the summer.
I can still walk the footprint of my childhood home in my mind, every nook and cranny. Our home was always filled with friends. My mother had an open door policy. We were never without cats and dogs either. I always envisioned my home the same; a welcoming, gathering place where memories are made. We are blessed to have a beautiful fieldstone home with acres of land My boys, 4 of them, fill our home along with our 2 dogs and a cat. Friends of theirs come calling daily, snacks and stories at the kitchen island. Our yard is "the" yard for flag football and baseball games. Doors opening and closing, beds to make, Sunday football games on the tv, well worn leather sofas, our mud room filled with backpacks, shoes, baseball caps and dog fur…….I wouldn't want it any other way. A warm, welcoming home filled with life.
Home is always where the heart is but with Dave gone, I'm struggling with the entire concept of home. Now, Karen, aren't you sorry you asked?
-LOL-
This week has hit me…the death of our dream and I'm floundering, going in circles, trying to find true north again, trying to find my center. If it weren't for our animals, home would be a barren wasteland.
lovely place… spending life away from madding crowd is a lovely experice in life.
beautiful blog.
http://from-a-girls-mind.blogspot.com/
It's been interesting to read the comments…it could be a book! I think one thing stands out….our ideas of the perfect home change throughout our lives! Good post!
This is a tough one for me because I live as a caretaker in an old manor house that needs some work. But because you said five things in my surroundings that make this place home to me, this is my list.
Our dog
My framed family photographs
Bird feeders lined up under the trees
The scent of something wonderful coming from the kitchen
The feeling I get coming through the woods up the driveway
That's what makes it feel more like home to me.