Since we moved about a week and a half ago, I have loved every minute of the hard work of making a home. (Yes, even the shoulder aches from endless painting.) We are renting, but we’re living in a freestanding house with a fenced-in yard, so it feels an awful lot like “our” home. Despite the homey feeling, it is definitely nice to call the landlord about things like plumbing and giant spiders.
In our previous apartment, we knew we’d be moving sooner or later, and we had a good idea of when that would be. I felt less motivated to really develop my own decorating style. There was a lot of Tim Gunn-style “make it work” attitude there. And that was okay for that stage.
Now that we’re here, we don’t know how long we’ll be living in this house. Because our time limit is unknown, I feel much freer to experiment with paint and color and furniture and all the little details that make up a home. So I’m Craigslisting like crazy and finding some pretty cool pieces.
But despite my forays into new colors and a couple of new furniture pieces, I’m still following Tim Gunn’s advice. The budget is limited and I don’t want to rush into buying the wrong thing, even if it is only $25. It’s a process, and I’m learning to enjoy the process without rushing toward a finished product. (And who says style is ever really finished?)
I am definitely discovering a style that works for both me and Mason. It’s great to develop a house into a home. But even more than style, I’m discovering that what really makes a home is a sense of belonging. And we belong here.
{Image compiled here}