Making your house into a home.

trainlady · #1 (**permalink**) 11-23-2002, 05:43 PM

What creative ways do you make your house into a home?

I like my house to be clean but comfortable. I like to be surrounded by personal belongings that make me feel good. Our living room has a lot of books, magazines and the daily newspaper since my husband and I both enjoy reading. We have a lot of music too, I like to have soft, quiet background music playing. There is a book in the living room that is a scrapbook of my week at a "Women's Summer Camp" for my 40th birthday that was so awesome...also a basket of letters... I asked for all my friends to write me of their favorite memories of our friendship for my birthday...I keep those letters out where I can read them whenever I want! There is a basket of stationery and cards. Even tho I do email I have friends who still write the old fashioned way, too! Another basket holds my bible, rosary, inspirational writings and prayer books for my quiet time. I have a coloring book called "coloring your prayers" which I love to color in!!
Yea, I admit it , I am 42 and I like to color!!!

There is always cookies or something baked in the kitchen.....right now we have flannel sheets and an electric blanket on the bed......and in the bathroom lots of bubblebaths and pretty scented soaps......

Actually ,this is how our home USUALLY looks!
Right now our house is in boxes as we are in the process of moving...but we still have the computer accesible!!!

What do YOU do to make YOUR house feel like a home?
Peace,train

ajrsmom · #2 (**permalink**) 11-23-2002, 06:29 PM

Ill let you know in advance that Im dropping in for a visit!!

;-)

Your home sounds wonderfully inviting.

jb829 · #3 (**permalink**) 12-03-2002, 05:13 AM

Trainlady, I'm 55, and I LOVE to color...and play with rubber stamps...and felt-tip markers....and paints! Mind you, I'm not saying that what I do is any good, lol, but it's sure a lot of fun!! Oh, I like using a glue gun and working w/artificial flowers, too.

My teeny tiny house is a mishmash of stuff, but it's comfortable. There's all kinds of CD's and cassette tapes, books, and every room of my house has wolves in it. I think what says comfort to me is big, fluffy towels in the bathroom...they're not expensive, I got them at Big Lots. We also have a big wooden coffee table in the LR, and you're welcome to put your feet up on it!! Throw pillows on the love seat, candles, knickknacks, and plants. The coffee pot is always full of hot water for my instant coffee...and of course, my computer!! This is home!!

Bilby · #4 (**permalink**) 12-03-2002, 12:37 PM

I love the comfy but tidy, but sometimes a little messy look. We have a nice open plan house that has lots of windows and a couple of glass doors for lots of light. It's airy. We have to be child friendly as there can be up to a dozen kids going through especially in the holidays. It must be inviting if they keep coming back. The lounge is a little formal but you can put your feet up on the coffee table too, listen to the stereo, watch a movie. The kids have a tv room and can 'chill out' there but still kept an eye on.
I have curtains not blinds because blinds remind me of the work office or the dentist/doctors waiting room

Tiled throughout and carpet in the bedrooms. Large mats on the floor and the family pictures on the walls.....To us it's comfy

.....and hidden away is my craft room, which is a whole other story.

Goria · #5 (**permalink**) 12-03-2002, 01:32 PM

I like neat and uncluttered....our home is a mismatch of whatever I happen to 'find' at auctions/yard sales etc. Somehow it all looks put together. I especially like chandeliers! I strive for a peaceful environment and often have low volume music on also. I often hear the comment that our home is a nice place to come into...homey/peaceful. Works for us

christyd8 · #6 (**permalink**) 12-03-2002, 08:08 PM

My favorite thing to use is fabrics! Especially in the winter time! Bring out the thick fluffy chenilles, velvet, velour... I have thick throws everywhere, on the backs of the chairs and couch, draped over the ottoman, in front of the fireplace. All different colors but all complimentary ones. It does wonders for a room. A bedroom too!

Right now I have Christmas things out so the lights are all warm feeling and the fireplace going and the other lights turned low.... mmmmm break out the hot cocoa!!!

Bilby · #7 (**permalink**) 12-03-2002, 08:44 PM

I also do the throw rug thing in winter, it gives you a nice cosy feel. I have just washed and put mine away, along with the doonas and blankets.
I have spring and autunm soft furnishings and switch them around. I never throw anything out......it could come in handy! Sometimes I take things out of one room and split between other rooms for a whole new look.

daisylady · #8 (**permalink**) 12-04-2002, 02:59 AM

Plants! I have tns of house plants. I love them and they make my house green. Especially in the winter, it's nice to see them. And they give off oxygen.

dxlifer · #9 (**permalink**) 12-04-2002, 07:51 AM

it's so reassuring...i agree with all of you that a home needs all those things...mine is definitely somewhere around clean enough and tidy enough and sometimes both at the same time..

i like organic materials...wood, metals, pottery and plants and bright warm colours.

i'm always baffled by super-sterile homes...like dsil whose house is all black and white and glass and stainless steel.....luckily she lives far enough away that i don't have to visit!

carol

blondie29697 · #10 (**permalink**) 12-04-2002, 08:06 AM

I've bought quite a few things at thrift shops to make my home cozy, a triangular shaped doily which is on the sofa in the den, some throws which are color coordinated to the sofas, folded neatly on the sofas, a new style rosewood roll top computer desk, pretty comforters on each bed, and my grand piano. Although I don't play anymore, it sits in my den and holds some of our favorite photographs.
When I moved back to my home, after having it rented for 12 years, it felt like home once I got the oil paintings and family photos on the walls. The famly photos are on the living room walls and another photo gallery in the long hallway to the bedrooms. Also the curtains make it homey. Most people like to congregate in the den although there is more seating in the formal living room.