This is the bay window in the back bedroom of my grandmother’s house. It used to be my great-grandmother’s sitting room and still holds a blanket she crocheted before her death. For years I thought that maybe somewhere in the definition of the word ‘home’ was implied that the longer you lived somewhere, the more it became yours. But now, I’m not so sure.
I know for sure that cardboard boxes aren’t part of the equation. As I’ve been almost constantly on the move for a decade now, I’m an expert of what home isn’t. While I still maintain that home is beyond bricks-and-mortar, that doesn’t mean that I’m not currently trying to make my house become more of a home.
But where to start? HGTV and Martha were the obvious choices, as both sites (empires?) have an amazing wealth of information regarding ways to make your domicile something you actually feel like spending time in instead of just a place to sleep and store your stuff.
For a project that I am currently working on, I am making rugs for the home. The second I placed the first one down, my tiny little cottage instantly became more cozy and comfortable, taking on more of my identity than that of a space that once housed industrial-sized sewing machines for upholstery work. There was a small room adjacent to the kitchen and in it, there still were a couple of tables for sewing room lying in the corner, which were due for their transfer.
The space is steeped in creativity in a way that few places I have lived have been, full of memories of thread and bobbins and piecing together. As I continue to add little handmade touches (my rug, my great-grandmother’s apron from the 40s and photographs of my relatives that I found in a chest last year that all have them either making something or showing off their handiwork), I seem to be tapping more into what it means to call a bricks-and-mortar place home while simultaneously aware of the fact that home is primarily about identity and legacy instead of an address.
Sounds as though you are getting down to home-making. I am strongly of the opinion that home is somewhere where you feel safe, somewhere where you feel you belong. Unfortunately, some people spend their lives trying to find that place.
I really understand what you mean by this. I’ve also been “on the move” and it seems like I’m never finished unpacking before it’s all in boxes again. Also, I am going through a “home-making” phase, and spent the greater part of this evening rearranging furniture, cleaning, and thinking hard about the many ways I could make my apartment simpler and more cozy. Oooh! If only I had the money/carpentry skillz for all my ideas!