On Building a Home

I think often about how to build the perfect home for my daughters to grow in. I want it to be a mixture of beautiful and baby friendly. Beautiful, because I love to be surrounded by pretty things. And I think everyone enjoys that. And baby friendly, because (a) I don't want to rip my hair out with worry that someone or something is going to get hurt and (b) I want my children to know that they were cherished and of primary importance. In other words, I never want my children to think I cared about something more than I cared about them.

What does this mean? It means we do not have white couches. Even though I think they look cool, I wanted to have couches that could be spilled on occasionally (and they have been). It means all our bookshelves and dressers are securely bolted to the walls (earthquake-proof style) to prevent them from toppling over on babies. And it means all our built-in shelves are filled with things they can mess with. Nothing is going to break or really hurt them in any way. This allows me to let them play, read, explore and adventure without constantly worrying. It lets them have control of their environment, instead of the other way around.

Gabrielle of Design Mom said in an interview about how she designs her home for her children:

"Where your babies begin is where their dreams do, too. A well-designed and carefully-edited space is the fresh piece of paper on which big dreams can be drawn."

As my children grow I hope to incorporate this idea even more. I want to provide them with a clean, beautiful place to call home. One that encourages them to dream and become whoever they are going to be.

And speaking of fresh slates for building dreams on, Regina Sirois said in an interview about her home:

"I tell my children that the more things we have, the less we love our things."

I like this idea of living clutter-free. I can't stand clutter, as you may know from my banishment projects. I'd like to keep it from accumulating over time by keeping this in mind. More things = less things to love. (Plus, you have to spend so much extra time cleaning up the things you don't even like that much.)

And in the meantime, I need to get better about putting art on the walls. That would be a good thing to do.

What about you? Why do you think is the most important aspect of building a home?

Prairie Home by Katie Daisy.