A house is a house until you make it a home. In college, they actually taught our child development class how to make a classroom aesthetically pleasing for children. I took decorating my classroom very seriously as a teacher. I wanted children to feel at home when they spent the day with me at school. I feel the same in my house. I want our time here to be memorable. I want the people in my family to feel valued and loved. Here are some of my tips on giving your house that ‘homey’ feeling.
1. I don’t come up with all of my own ideas. I love Pinterest and visit it almost daily for inspiration around the web (not only for my house but ideas of fun stuff to do with my kids) For example, check out these cute thanksgiving decorations. I found them on Pinterest and downloaded and printed them for free!
2. We don’t have a basement, so we turned our den into a playroom. A place for our children to have as their own. Also a place where I display artwork. Showing off your child’s best work reminds them how proud you are of them! In this picture, all of our storage materials are from IKEA, as well as the shelf and frames on them.
I also plan on ordering an art portfolio like the one at the end of this post to save my favorites pieces of artwork from year to year.
3. I have photo books and old school albums out in our family room. They scream “Look at me! Cherish your special memories” Having them out in the open reminds
us to look back at good times and to be grateful for all that we have in our health and happiness. I order my albums from Shutterfly.
4. A hobby of mine is photography. I have an abundance of pictures. I display my favorites around the house. They make me smile. They remind me of the special people I have in my life. Think about what you are passionate about…how can you incorporate the things you love into making your house a home?
5. Quotes and sayings inspire me. I find places around the house to add word art. I find most of my word art online. You can find holiday word art on my favorite blog, eighteen25. Search “subway art”
I would love to hear how you make your house a home. Leave your examples in the comment section.