I believe spaces should be used well, beauty should not be saved just for company and home should reflect the hearts that live there and not just the trends we see around us. I am not a designer but putting home together has been my heart for as long as I can remember. Once I became a wife and mother I had to make a choice to either have my perfect space or create a space that was perfect for those that I love. I still love things in their place but our home is about using beauty in the day-to-day, comfort and usability more than anything else. Where I could find examples of the tips, I have shared them below. I hope you enjoy these too and I would really love to hear your ideas!
1. Vintage. The easiest way for my house to not look like another home and to reflect my eye is to bring in thrifted goodies. I don’t think there is a room in our home without something vintage whether it is art, furniture, architectural salvage, linens or glassware. These are the things that make putting a home together so lovely for me. Those treasures you find that you know need to make their way into your home and life. So, you will not be surprised to know that vintage markets are one of my favorite things and when traveling I am looking for something vintage as my souvenir.
| Bamboo Furniture, Belgian Garbage Can, Bread Boards, Pendant |
2. Original Art. When you hear original art this doesn’t have to mean expensive art. Find pieces within your budget and slowly add art that makes you smile when you look at it each day. This includes architectural pieces, framed fibers, photography, signs etc. We have original fine art on our walls but also vintage signs, balloon molds, concrete molds and more. Have fun with your space!
| Vintage Sketch, Vintage French Road Sign, Oil Painting, Balloon Mold |
3. Time. Allow your home to come together over time. If you don’t want your home to look cold like a showroom don’t buy it all at once from a showroom. Buy slowly from different places, vintage and new, different colors of wood, and pieces that speak to you and you will enjoy your space for years to come. Enjoy the journey of making home my friends.⠀If you have empty walls in your home that is just the sweet reminder that you haven’t found the perfect piece yet.
4. Use beauty. Years ago I was cleaning out and reorganizing one of our cabinets that was filled with my Grandma Luella’s vintage plates, my mom’s wedding silver and my Grandma Jeanne’s vintage linens. Here was all of this beauty and it was just tucked away not being used. I knew I wanted to change this but I also didn’t want nothing to pass down to our children. I put a few pieces away to save for our children and the rest started being used. Yes, we have worn out napkins, stained more linens than I can count, have chipped and broken countless china pieces and our life is more beautiful because of it. My beautiful people deserve to use beautiful things in their lives. I didn’t want our children growing up thinking that the beautiful things were just pulled out for company. So, I don’t have as many of those family treasures as I used to but we have lived life with those treasures and that is the true memory.
5. Nature. Bring the outdoors in through flowers, flowering branches, driftwood, dried tumbleweed or a collection of shells or rocks. Whatever you find beautiful IS beautiful.⠀Become a forager of your own yard or your friend’s yard. Look around your yard for flowering branches and get to know the beauty that is right outside your own front door. I have a tumbleweed in a bowl at this very moment and I could care less that my husband thinks I am crazy! I LOVE it and it makes me happy. I also love to create outdoor “rooms” in our yard and I have enjoyed doing this in all of our homes. The world is so beautiful and does so much good to my head and heart to sit in the sun, touch the earth and to disconnect even in this simple way. Nature inside and outside of our home does wonders.
| Tumbleweed, Dried Pinto Berries, Branches, Wooden Bowl |
6. Comfort. I prefer vintage pieces when it comes to hard surfaces like tables, dressers etc. but for our upholstered pieces I am looking for design AND comfort. It has to be comfy and inviting. If it is just pretty no one will want to take a nap, read a book, or sit and talk for hours. Create spaces in your home that invite people to stay a little longer. ⠀Kelly gives me free-reign when it comes to the home except when it comes to the furniture he will use. He has to confirm that it hits his back just right, that he could watch a movie and be comfy and none of his criteria has to do with design.
| Linen Couch, Chair, Leather Chair, Mattress |
7. Lighting. My friend Melanie likes to think of lighting as jewelry for your home and I agree. The right lighting can transform a space. When we first bought our current home the first thing we did was paint the walls, window frames and replace every single light fixture. We instantly had a new home. Don’t forget about table lamps to warm up your space and to bring more cozy into your home. Candles are another way to add light and warmth to the home. I prefer unscented candles for a meal and any outdoor gathering and once the sun starts to set it can instantly add magic to your space. If you are wanting to cozy up your yard nothing makes an impact liked stringed lights. I have then all over our land and it instantly brings just the right amount of warmth and cozy into our outdoor spaces.
| Pendant, Candles, String Lights, Lamp |
8. Sounds and Smells. Whether it is the sound from a small fountain in your yard, coffee brewing, the crackling of a fire, your favorite record spinning, fresh bread coming out of the oven or a pot of soup on the stove…our spaces can instantly be transformed with good sounds and smells. Think about the sounds and smells that you love the most and be intentional about including them in your day-to-day. You deserve a space that feels warm and comfy too.
| Candle, Cat Power Album, Copper Pot, French Press |
9. Texture and Layers. I love layers in my art, clothing and home. Soften up your home with layers on your bed, cloth napkins on your table, cozy blankets next to your couch, sheepskin draped over a chair or on the floor as a rug, linen towels at the sink and pillows that beg to be used. You have art on your walls, comfy places to sit, those wooden elements that bring warmth and a grounding to your space, good smells and sounds, your favorite vintage pieces and don’t forget the layers!
| Sheepskin, Baskets, Rug, Vintage Napkins |
10. You. Let your home be a reflection of the hearts of those that live there. We have walls of books, treasures from travel, music playing, instruments, candles burning, clothes on the line, freshly cut flowers, art supplies, cups of tea left all over the house, records, bikes in the yard, art, shoes at the door from our daily hikes, my Bible tucked by my favorite chair. First and foremost our homes are for us. Let your home have a heartbeat that reflects your own. It will then be a place that your most precious want to come back to again and again. When you are comfortable in your space you are also more likely to open the door to others and let me promise you…it has nothing to do with perfection. It never did. Your top 10 may be different and I would love to hear what you think makes a home really cozy and authentic!
Jeanne, thank you for those lovely reminders. I think I’m quite a bit older than you, my children are all in their 30s, and I have 9 grandbabies. I lived and loved 1-10 of your tips from 19 – 44, and then our nest was empty. Our home became a showroom of all the fancy “things” I thought would feel fantastic. It was fun for a minute but all your tips suit my fancy much better. Any”thing” that gets broken is just a thing. What’s more valuable to me is for my grandbabies to know accidents happen and I love them more than my wedding china.
Thanks. One thing I do is to replace the light switch and plug plates with pewter ones that have a vintage look design. What a difference that makes. I did this for my daughter’s new home too.
This is a great list! I love vintage! For a long time, we used grandmothers’ dishes only on holidays until someone commented that those dishes are too small for holiday meals! Now that we are a smaller group and less formal, those dishes are coming out more often and are just right for lunch and snacks. It gives me bittersweet pleasure to use the last dish remaining from my mother’s wedding dishes for my snacks. We use my mother’s dishes that were bought to replace those wedding dishes almost daily because they are kinda like plate-bowls. Just the right size for our couch dinners with bowl-like sides to contain it. I’m thinking now of my great grandmother’s dishes. They are nothing special, but should be rotated in for use. They probably came from Woolworth’s. She liked dishes. And she liked to have new dishes often. She was not wealthy and so she walked from her house to the downtown Woolworth’s to have lunch and buy another set of dishes. I use my Grandma Lucinda’s cast iron skillets. One is lighter and I’ve been using it more lately, but the other heavier one seems to cook better. I may pull that heavier one back out and just leave it on the stove/counter so I don’t have to lift it out of the cupboard when I want it. My discovery that it cooks better might be why it appears to have been used more often. Grandma was an amazing cook. When she and her sister ran a lunch counter downtown, people would find out when Grandma was cooking and they would have a line down the sidewalk! I think that some of that cooking wisdom comes with that skillet. Making me nostalgic thinking of my sweet grandmother.
Jeanne, Thank you for these inspiring words. We have been blessed to live 2 rows up from the beach on Camano Island, Wa & have recently bought our dear neighbor’s house, on the beach. Did I say “on the beach”?! 😜 Tomorrow we have our first meeting with a contractor & designer to see the feasibility of our ideas & their expertise. My head has been spinning! Your words; “First & foremost are homes are for us. Let your home have a heartbeat that reflects your own.” Rang so true to my heart & I realized this is my intention for our house! With this in mind I’m leaving “perfection” at the door & am planning to fully enjoy & embrace the process. At choice points along the way I’ll ask myself something I learned from my friend; Lizabeth; “Does this make your heart sing?” Whew! God knew I needed to step out of fear & into faith & your writing put my feet on that path! Bless you Jeanne!
❤️Carol
Not only are these meaningful and accessable concepts to make my home cozy this season, your entire philosophy has refreshed me! “It has nothing to do with perfection. It never did.” Mmmmhmm! Breathing easier already! 😊
That made me smile! Thank you!
Love these tips!
I love this post, I do all of these things you already mentioned, except I feel I need more ideas for for creating rooms in outdoor spaces. I would love to see photos and ideas for making my outdoors more special.
previous phots framed all over the house (even bathroom)… memories of happy times