This print, along with all the others over at The Wheatfield by Katie Daisy, is perky and so, so sweet. I love the typography and the colors and patterns are terrific – so cheerful. I remember when I was little going to yard sales and flea markets with my mother, I always saw Home Sweet Home signs and I never really understood what the expression meant. I guess you have to grow up to really know what it is, or perhaps first have it to understand the concept of what a home sweet home feels like.
Some people grow up and do not have such a sweet home. There is chaos, fighting, illness and many other things that can stand in the way of feeling safe, at peace and happy at home. I think that is one of the best things about being an adult and moving out of the house for the first time. As a young person, you have the chance to create your own Home Sweet Home no matter what your past was like. You can remove the stress and chaos and start anew. You can make decisions that are good ones, so as to safeguard your new found freedom and peace. If you are able to continue this for many years, and you meet someone, fall in love and continue having a relatively peaceful home life then I think you have accomplished a lot in your life. I remember when I was little, I lived next door to a couple who were always fighting. You could here them several houses away! And when I went to visit their daughter, I was surprised at how uncomfortable, even as a little girl, I always felt visiting her. They weren’t screaming when I visited, but this energy and negativity hung in the air like a very bad smell. And it felt thick and suffocating. I always asked her if we could play in the yard instead of inside of the house, I did not like how their home felt.
I’ve always been extremely sensitive to my surroundings, my environment. I can pick up on “vibes” and I’m usually quite accurate. I guess I’m the house whisperer. :) And that’s one of the many reasons why I started on this road to decorating and writing about decorating and design finds — I really want others to be more aware of their surroundings and in the importance of having a space that really mirrors their lifestyle and personality. And above all things material, a kind of peace and security that one can only feel at home — this is the ultimate goal I think all should have above decorating or some cool new teapot. Loving your family and repairing any holes, working out the problems, and getting back to being happy in your Home Sweet Home. Though we’re all a highly visual bunch, the best things in life cannot be seen… they are felt. :)
(image: the wheatfield)
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:54 am
Beautiful post! Very thought provoking. And that is a lovely print!
http://minivanlife.wordpress.com
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September 23rd, 2009 at 7:09 am
This is a very beautiful and thoughful post. Definitely “home” is one of the most important references we have in life and it is one of the most important achievements to have something we can call a “sweet home”… and I for sure agree that the print is so deliciously pretty!
.-= Pixel Wild Child´s last blog ..ThisIsntHappiness.com Blog – Animated Inspiration… =-.
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:31 am
Very well spoken! Home is that peaceful place that we can always come and simply relax.
Specially liked your last sentance, we do enjoy some visual delights but its how we feel and make others feel that builds the home sweet home spirit! :)
.-= Juana @ SweetVisualAids´s last blog ..Lets jump 2!! =-.
September 23rd, 2009 at 8:32 am
The “house whisperer” — I love that phrase, and it’s so apt! That’s really sweet print, too!
.-= visualingual´s last blog ..Over-the-Rhine Building Footprint Print =-.
September 23rd, 2009 at 8:43 am
SO beautiful and so true….I feel that way too about homes, feeling the vibe and whether you can be happy and comfortable there. With our old house and our new house…I felt such a good vibe when we first looked at them. The houses themselves had good vibes and I knew we would be happy there. This print is lovely and such a wonderful and important idea.
xo
Melis
.-= Melissa de la Fuente´s last blog ..Tea & Talk: Sue Hammond =-.
September 23rd, 2009 at 9:04 am
great post idea.
i’ve always had a sense of what “home sweet home” could be/is supposed to be and i am finally able to construct it for myself. i grew up basically in a house where the air was thick with extreme anger, resentment, mental abusiveness, and hostility among lotssssss of yelling and fighting. i NEVER felt like i lived in our “houses” because they were just that, houses, never homes. i never had kids over bc i knew, like you felt, that they would feel the muck. i felt uncomfortable in my house that was supposed to be my reverie.
i always knew that when i got my own place, and got OUT of that environment, my life would improve immensely and that proved to be true. i got my own place last year and my sense of well-being and comfort has just gone through the roof. i’m always decorating and moving things and searching for things that would feel good in my home. a home sweet home cannot be beat by anything :)
September 23rd, 2009 at 9:21 am
I just wanted to say thank you for posting that, my brothers and sisters and I (8 in total) did not grow up in a happy home at all but each of us has reacted to this by trying to create the best homes that we possible can for our own families, it really (ahem..) hit home for me! Very wise words indeed x
September 23rd, 2009 at 9:44 am
I love this post – it definitely made me think about that phrase “Home Sweet Home.” I know for me, though I grew up in what I like to think of as a sweet home, ever since graduating and moving out I’ve felt very displaced, and almost without a real home. So for me, I think that phrase is about finding that place and those things that will make a new home sweet home. :)
.-= Kathryn´s last blog ..Real Wedding: Maggie & Matt =-.
September 23rd, 2009 at 9:58 am
“I’ve always been extremely sensitive to my surroundings, my environment. I can pick up on “vibes” and I’m usually quite accurate.”
Amen. (I was nodding my head as I read that. Me too!) And I totally agree with visualingual above, ‘house whisperer’ sounds lovely!
:)
Cheers.
.-= Ratlion´s last blog ..ghost dog =-.
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 am
I think you’re so right. And I would add that I have found personally that I need little places that are just for me – where I don’t need to speak or listen or even think. These little rituals are so important, and I think the ability to give them to yourself, either in your actual home, or somewhere totally unfamiliar, are key to finding comfort and happiness.
I actually have two posts that relate to this that I would love for you and your readers to read. One is about my little special place I’ve created at home, and the other about a ritual of Artist’s Dates, as a special way to connect with yourself and the world around you. To me, these things make me feel secure, safe and grounded in just the way you’re talking about.
http://honeyliving.blogspot.com/2009/05/great-outdoors.html
http://honeyliving.blogspot.com/2009/08/best-gift-of-all.html
.-= honey living´s last blog ..tiny treasures…fleeced! =-.
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:01 am
Nice thoughts.
Katie’s work makes me smile every day.
.-= Kitty´s last blog ..Sisters’ Garden and Bloom =-.
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:39 am
LOVE this post. I have been following your blog for quite some time and thoroughly enjoy your writing style. I can relate so much to this post especially. Growing up our house was a contentious one but grew slowly but steadily into a very loving, caring home. I can also almost always peg what is going on behind the scenes and fully believe that in creating a beautiful, harmonious, design conscience space, you can help encourage kind feelings in the home. Thank you so much for your lovely words.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I just did this whole renovation in my home with painting and putting down new floors to help me heal over a friend’s passing. Our homes have an energy as do people. I feel if you love up your home, the energy just radiates and makes you feel better.
Your vibes are right and true, glad you honor them.
.-= Shell´s last blog ..Autumn Enters =-.
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:24 pm
thank you for the lovely post. How true, material things aside, what I try to cultivate in decorating my home is something that reflects my personality and values, I hope that is pleasing to others.
As for the home “vibe” I know what you mean. My husband and I recall looking at a few homes that had a bad vibe when house shopping, we said they had the mojo. In many ways they were very functional homes, but just didn’t feel right.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Dorie – TOTALLY. Absolutely. I know this feeling very well!
September 24th, 2009 at 5:23 am
Thanks Holly for such a beautiful post. I absolutley love your blog and think you write such inspirational words. A lot of what you write is exactly how I feel. I grew up in a dysfunctional family and it wasn’t until I left home about 10 yrs ago that I could really concentrate on living for me. I’ve had many goals I’ve wanted to achieve in life – I’ve finished a diploma in Interior Design & Decorating, married my soul mate, started a decorating business and have two amazing healthy children. What is the most rewarding and fulfilling aspiration of all (and sometimes the hardest) is to have that “Home Sweet Home”. My family and I are comitted to making this goal number one in our lives.
September 24th, 2009 at 6:07 am
Rosaria – I’m SO proud of you and happy that you’ve changed your course and set upon a new life — this time, where YOU are driving the car so to speak. Isn’t it empowering?
September 24th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I know what you mean about growing up and redefining your own Home Sweet Home. It’s not that I had a very unhealthy home growing up, but as I grew older I was able to figure out how I needed my own living space to feel. Now when I go back to my parents house it feels cluttered and dirty, which is something that I probably felt as a child but couldn’t pinpoint until I got older. I
September 24th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
I love your very last statement. This is so true. The best things in life are felt, even if we are visual people. I find myself coming back to your blog and a couple others time and time again because of the personal stories in between all the pretty pictures. I have been having trouble doing this myself in my own blog. I have gone days without posting, because I sit there in front of my computer and I’m not sure what to say. Oh, I actually do have things to say, but I guess I am still a little guarded. I have felt that if I don’t start writing and getting a little more creative that I just want to quit. I have made a few friends since starting my own blog that have the same values and interests as I do and this is what keeps me going.
.-= Melissa Allam´s last blog ..Hydration Wrapped in Beauty =-.
September 25th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Melissa – Thank you for sharing. Blogging can be quite intimidating at times because you may feel like you are sharing before strangers and well, that’s always uncomfortable. Next time you get stage fright try this: Write a post thinking about a very special friend, as if you know they are going to read it… Don’t think about anything else but that person and of course, what you are trying to say. See if that helps. It has for me in the past.