I read this blog post today on the Down To Earth blog and whilst it was all useful, tip number nineteen has stuck in my head - "Make your home the kind of place you want to spend time in. Invite friends around instead of going out for coffee or drinks." Simple but I found it inspiring - how many of us have homes that we really do enjoy spending time in? And how can we make it happen? It's something I've been aspiring to and feel that after much cleaning, sorting and conscious effort I'm finally getting there. The last two places I've lived in felt terribly impermanent and I can see now that I made a mistake in not putting the effort in to make them into my home, even for a short while. I love the little house I'm in now - it's sunny and snug and I've felt motivated to take care of it and make it mine, but really I could have felt much happier and more comfortable in the other two houses even though they weren't very nice if only I'd chosen to do something about it rather than leaving them sadly neglected.
Home, even when it's rented and temporary, is the base you retreat to at the end of the day. It should be somewhere to enjoy being and I think when we don't, for whatever reason, feel love for our home it has a knock on effect and can actually make us feel quite insecure, almost as if you've got nowhere to go back to.
So I pledge to continue to strive to make my home somewhere I want to be, more than just a place to eat, sleep and keep my stuff - a special, loved and cared for place.
Home, even when it's rented and temporary, is the base you retreat to at the end of the day. It should be somewhere to enjoy being and I think when we don't, for whatever reason, feel love for our home it has a knock on effect and can actually make us feel quite insecure, almost as if you've got nowhere to go back to.
So I pledge to continue to strive to make my home somewhere I want to be, more than just a place to eat, sleep and keep my stuff - a special, loved and cared for place.