The other day, Layla at The Lettered Cottage shared a quote that struck a chord with me, and I thought it was appropriate to share it with you.
“We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us.” – Winston Churchill
Sometimes all this talk about decorating and DIY can start to seem a bit superficial, and I want to stress to you that it’s not all about having the “best” or “prettiest” home. That has never mattered to me. It’s about using your imagination to create a home that suits your family and makes you happy — a haven for your children, a place where all of your memories will be made. I’ve always been a homebody, and my husband is too. Therefore, we enjoy pouring our hearts and energy into our home and creating a space that we love. I hope if I inspire you to do anything, it’s to create a home that makes you happy — not to “keep up with the Joneses” or feel pressure to have the nicest/trendiest/prettiest space. In this Pinterest-age that we live in, I know there is pressure to measure up to others, whether it’s through decorating or crafts or cooking, etc. Just focus on doing what you love. My goal has always been to show you that no matter what type of home you live in, you can make it beautiful without spending a lot of money. When I say “make it beautiful” — I really just mean that you can create a space that makes you happy. Happy to look at, happy to spend time in, happy to make memories in. That’s all that really matters anyway.
I want to say thank you all so very much for your kind messages and comments about our new home. We are officially in the process of moving, and the other day I shared a photo tour of the new house.
Today I am going to take you on a video tour and walk you through the entire house — but beware, I am not a good videographer! If you have motion sickness, you probably shouldn’t watch the video. 😉
Check out the video below. Email subscribers may need to click over to the blog in order to view it.
I can’t wait to share with you the entire process as this empty house evolves into our home. We are excited to create many new memories in this house, and of course I can’t wait to add some DIY touches to it! I hope you will follow along as I shape our dwelling into a cozy, happy home. 🙂
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Beautiful home. Great floor plan. I love the big deck and sun room and the french doors. I feel like I just walked through with you!
Thank you Myrna!
Best wishes on your beautiful home! Oh that sunroom, it’s glorious! My two younger boys share a room too and also ‘want’ to 🙂 Thanks for sharing your new digs & enjoy your blank canvas!
Thank you Gina! I am happy my boys love sharing — just hope it stays that way! 🙂
WOW! That is a HUGE house! Congrats on getting this. This is a first I have ever heard of a bank actually upgrading and making a foreclosure so nice. Awesome find – awesome house!!
Thank you Vicki! We were surprised about the bank’s improvements too. In fact, we didn’t know it was a foreclosure at first. Apparently they had put it on the market before and there were a lot of issues with the basement, so they took it off the market, did some work and then raised the price some. I’m happy it’s less work we have to do at least!
Such a beautiful home, Erin! It already has a great feel to it.
Wow, your new home is lovely! I am really looking forward to seeing what you are going to with it and maybe I will find some inspiration for my own home too – Thank you for sharing this with us.
Thanks so much, Jenny!
Love the video tour! Didn’t get dizzy once, but thanks for the warning-lol. I love the layout! I am a sucker for traditional architecture. I spent some of my childhood in a quintessential Connecticut Colonial and so that always feels like home to me. My favorite spaces–your living room-turned-office (spectacular bay window); the foyer (I love that you have some width there and some room to furnish and dress it up–which builders often don’t give you); and that master closet is not to be ignored either! Have fun making it home!!
Thank you Heather!
By the way, I am totally looking forward to seeing what you do with the brick fireplace. I have a large brick hearth and chimney in my living room and while I like the washed out brown shades that it has I find myself wondering if I should whitewash it and make it a little less heavy looking. I definitely want to keep the brick rather than covering it over, but I have seen some whitewashing techniques that are more rustic with a lot of wear-through of the original brick and I think it looks spectacular that way. What method are you planning?
Hope you are all safe and snug in front of the fireplace and that you didn’t get caught out in the icy conditions on the road.
Thanks Heather! I haven’t decided yet about the fireplace. I’m thinking probably I’ll just do a basic whitewash with watered down white paint and see how I like it, and if I hate it I can always just paint it all white. I’d rather have some of the brick showing through though.