A Coordinated House or My House

I used to imagine that the reason my home was not beautiful was I just did not have enough money. If I was ever rich enough I would just buy one of those matching room sets with the decorations all chosen to coordinate with it. Then it would be beautiful.

But there has been something slowly working in me to change my mind. First of all I can't actually imagine myself living in one of those houses with everything picked out and coordinated by someone else. It simply does not express me. Plus those decorater model homes have no actual stuff in them and with 6 people in our house, we have stuff.

I live in a newer area where everyone is moving into new homes with bare white walls. As I go visiting I get to see what these women have done with their beautiful homes. Some of the women have bought all coordinated matching everythings, but in some ways they are simply not as fun to look at. And they give fewer clues as to who the occupants really are. It is the slightly imperfect paint jobs and carefully chosen pictures of the families that are more expressive of the family who lives there. It also says we have created this home. In a way a home is a blank canvas that each family gets to take and make into a painting. It is worth a little work to make it beautiful and to make it yours.

I was talking to a new sister that moved into our ward and she mentioned she had painted one of her rooms green and every time she walked into it, it made her smile. That is exactly what should happen. Your whole house should make you smile. I have a light green laundry room and it does make me smile.

I am beginning to realize that a home is not a showplace, nor is it place to come and dump your stuff, but it is a place that should express the people who live there and invite them to come and enjoy being there. I have a long way to go but I have started.