Home Comparisons

We arrived at my sister’s house in Boise on Monday March 26. My sister’s house is a familiar and comfortable place. The kids all disappeared to play with cousins and I had leisure to look around at the things my sister has changed since I was last there. She has done quite a bit of re-decorating. Her front room in particular has taken on a very comfortable and finished feel. I noted in particular how most of her wall decorations were things other than framed pictures. She had candle holders and floral arrangements and wire artworks. I really like that. Now I want to do more with my walls than just hang framed pictures on them.

Then on Wednesday March 28 we arrived in Seattle. The Strohl’s house is beautiful. Every room was clean and had objects in it whose only purpose was to add beauty to the room. But the house was also definitely arranged for people and kids to live in. I did not feel like I had to carefully not touch anything. Donna also had candle holders and wire things on her walls. The guest room where we stayed had a canopied bed and a little table and chairs with a fountain trickling quietly in one corner. It was like a peaceful little sanctuary. Several times during the visit I retreated down there to just sit and soak up the tranquility. A chorus of frogs sang outside my window only adding to the beauty of the place.

I sat in that place and thought about my house. My house isn’t beautiful. It has some beautiful things in it, but mostly the house itself is a container for my things. I realized that I want my house to be a Place. I want it to have character. The only way for it to acquire that is for me to put some time and effort into making it beautiful. I need to do some remodeling. Nothing major, just repainting and adding small touches here and there. Also I need to do some cleaning. I realized that if I’ll just scrub things a little more often, that will go a long way toward making my house more beautiful. I made plans to start on the scrubbing as soon as I got home and to evaluate how much money we can afford to put toward home improvement projects.

Then on Tuesday April 3 at 2 am I arrived home. I walked in the front door and was greeted by warmth and the smell of home. The surroundings were uncluttered because I’d picked up before we left and I was able to settle into this place that is mine. Being home again made me realize that my home is not ugly. It is a little worn and needs some renewal, but it is a good house with potential to be a wonderful house. I still remember having a delivery guy glance in our front room and ask if we are artistic people because our front room seemed artistic. I like that. I want my home to tell about me. I want my home to be welcoming and comfortable and beautiful. And like anything else, I’ll only achieve that as far as I’m willing to put in some work to make it happen.