Making Room for Beauty: Creating an Inviting Home for Our Family

In the last 5 years I have lived in 6 different places. While it’s been an adventure to say the least it has taught me a lot about the needs I have for my living quarters.

I believe everyone is attracted to beauty. Maybe that sounds vain to you, and for many in todays age it probably is. For some reason this thought popped in my head the other day and I have been noodling on it ever since. Beauty has gotten a bad rep the way money often gets a bad rep. The assumption that if you strive for beauty or want ‘nice things’ then you are a vain person. I simply don’t think this is true. This is almost a way for outside sources to turn people against each other- a common theme in todays world if you ask me.

Beauty itself is subjective. That is why the world of art and creativity can thrive in so many dimensions.

This is great news and also hints at the idea that we don’t have to chase trends or empty our bank accounts for the sake of beauty. More than anything I think beauty often relates to a feeling. There is warmth, there is mystery, there is something there that works and pulls you in. This is why abstract art can move someone, but every abstract art that works has a master color palette behind it.

I have come to find that no matter where I am I have a need to make my space beautiful. I have never gone to another home and repeated the same decor pattern. Meaning, if I move from one house that had a mantle to another house that had a mantle, that mantle doesn’t have the same pieces on it from one to the next. The shelves won’t be put in the same places. Everything shifts and gets a fresh perspective. Looking at things this way can save you a lot of money and be loads of fun.

There are very simple ways to invite beauty into your home. I love to do this with art, with a goal of having all the art in my home painted by me. I love to do this with books and putting various interesting looking tools on display so they are easy to access. Think paint brushes, canvas, pallets, etc. You can bring the beauty and peace of the outdoors inside with pressed flowers and greenery, fresh flowers, bright fruit on display, and live plants that help cleanse the air. You can also do this with art by having landscapes hung on the walls, which often have great color palettes to play off of for the rest of your decor.

Personally, I have more of an eclectic style. I love to thrift, I love texture and interesting pieces. I love old furniture and I really enjoy cleaning it up and bringing it back to life. I love old frames with delicate details and I think pops of color are the most beautiful addition to a home. This makes sense to me because I also love and find great peace in nature, and a lot of what I gravitate to has a more natural vibe to it. Pops of color like a green pasture with bursts of wildflowers, natural old furniture like a forest of tall trees.

You see, I have this deep feeling that we are looking for beauty in vain ways because we are far removed from the beauty of the outdoors. I think we have a natural instinct to want to be outside, to ground, to play, to garden and adventure through the woods and wonder across pastures. If you get out of town you will be met with beauty. From mountains and oceans to forests and open fields- nature is beautiful.

This conversation of accepting what beauty is needs to be had more. Aging is beautiful, the wisdom that comes with it is even more beautiful. Color is beautiful and the way they dance and compliment one another is even more beautiful. Beauty is layers, its depth, its interest. Beauty is something that drips into all of the things we touch throughout the day. If you ask me, I think that’s pretty darn cool.

The way I create an inviting home for my family is by welcoming beauty into it. From nature to giggles, from delicious meals to tasty treats, from my art on the walls to the tools I used to make it on display.

A beautiful home is not a glass house that looks like no one lives in it. It’s not the latest trends and color schemes. A beautiful home reflects the people who live in it, who tend to it, and who make it a place worthy to be called home. It’s time to accept that beauty is truly an inside job, and when that job starts taking ground the beauty that grows within cannot be contained and will begin to burst into the atmosphere any chance it is given.

Last, I will say beauty takes time. It takes new routines, slowing down, appreciating where you are and what you have, and moving forward in joy and gratitude for it all.

XO,

Jaz