Be It Ever So Humble, There's No Place Like Home

Often times it's so easy for me to fret over everything that needs to be done to this little house. I could probably fill up a notebook. Older houses are a lot of work, and ours isn't even old old...just about 30. I am such a homebody and for some reason, no matter how down I get about the work to do here, when I'm gone, I can't wait to get back home. Today I won't go into all the things that drive me nuts about it or the myriads of things, inside and out, that need work. (I believe in the past I've referred to our place as a slightly glorifed shack, lol...not far from the truth...if you only knew!) Instead, I thought I'd share some of the simple things that make me glad I have this roof over my head:)

This is our morning view from our living room window...about 6:30 am. Many homes on our street have paved drives. We have gravel and I wouldn't have it any other way. It reminds of the country road I grew up on which for many years was gravel.


This photo is for my mom in California...we were just talking the other day about how it's turning colder and she asked me if our gas fireplace gave off heat or if it was just decorative. I'm so happy to say that it makes our little living room and kitchen just as toasty as can be! The bedrooms don't get as warm as the main living areas, but they don't really need to be, either. They are comfortable enough for sleeping, and I've always heard that you should sleep in a cooler room anyway. We all use goosedown comforters, so we snuggle down in them and stay nice and warm:) We also have central heat that we set at about 69 or 70 at night, so it won't get colder than that. Anyway, I'm thankful for our fireplace. This photo was taken around 6:30 this morning as well and I intentionally didn't use a flash...this is exactly how our fireplace looks in early morning light.


You may have noticed the pillow on the hearth. That is one of our two dog beds. Usually we have two flanking the fireplace (one for each dog). Actually, they aren't real dog beds but are large chenille pillow shams stuffed with large pillows. I was really frustrated over the fact that the store bought beds were (1) so expensive (2) didn't match our decor or style and (3) couldn't be thrown in the wash when dirty. I had this pair of creamy white chenille shams in storage and decided to put them to good use. They've been wonderful! The dogs love them and so do I. When they are soiled, I simply remove the shams and toss them in the wash. You can put a pillow protector on the pillow as well and wash that when it gets dirty. When the pillow itself wears out or gets too flat, just by another inexpensive pillow:) I often move them around the room, depending on where the dogs want to nap. This morning, Penelope my beagle wanted to nap close to me when I was on the couch. So I brought her little chenille bed over and plopped it on the floor. Minutes later, she was in Doggy Dreamland...


Speaking of chenille, a few months ago I bought a chenille quilt that I just adore. It has puffy dots all over it and little bobbles on the edges. I bought it to use as a tablecloth for a very special party in which I served soup. I thought that it would add a lot of texture and "grandma-like" warmth to the table and it was just beautiful! After the party, I washed it and now it graces our bed. Because our dog Penelope is sometimes naughty and naps on the furniture when she knows she's not suppose to, I keep a sheet on top of the quilt most of the time. I found this particular sheet at Goodwill several months ago and loved it for it's color, pattern, and feel (it's SO soft!) I thought it was just too pretty to put *under* the quilt, lol...



In the background there you see my goosedown pillow with a red polka-dot pillow case. It might as well be my teddy bear, it's so cozy and comforting:)



Another thing that brings me great pleasure is having a "home-y" smelling home. I LOVE the smell of cinnamon so a couple of weeks ago, I bought two cinnamon brooms. It's wonderful walking into a warm house that smells like someone is baking snickerdoodles:) I put one in our ( incompleted, wall-less but cottage style) bathroom and boy does it smell yummy. Now after every shower, I crave a cinnabun:)


Finally, I'm happy that we have a secluded view from our dining room table. On the other side of those trees is our neighbor's house, but you'd never know it looking out our window. When we lived in an apartment a few years ago, we had neighborhood children coming up to our dining room window to watch us eat, so this is a refreshing change to say the least. This window wasn't here when we bought the house but hubs and a friend knocked out the wall and added it about a year and a half ago. The difference is amazing and now we have a weeping willow to look at instead of a dark wall.


Well, those are a few positive things to say about this neverending project house. Every house has something nice about it, I believe, and if you can't find it, then look for the potential, for there is always that:)

Have a great Saturday!