What does home feel like?

In making decisions about our future home, we have had to imagine what our ideal home would be like.  We seem to choose simple, clean lines and warm colors, and yet I am drawn to cottage-like white fences and cozy coffee mugs too.  Honestly, I am so exhausted right now from this stage my daughter is in that I really only need a comfortable and quiet bedroom and could leave everything else in boxes. 

Today I have to make the final decision on our paint colors and finishes, as well as the stain color for the kitchen and bath cabinets.  The real quandary is: what feels like home to us? It’s difficult to answer truthfully rather than what we’d like it to be! Yet we are in a position to have it just as we wish.

Home, to me, is lots of lovely natural light, comfy chairs with soft blankets within reach, lots of books in sight no matter where you are, and plenty of uncluttered space.  Of course it includes our daughter, but I want a fantastic storage system for her myriad of toys.   Of course it includes our kitties, but I don’t want to smell or see their kitty litter.  I want our home to “rise up to meet us,” as Oprah often says.  I want it to be our place of comfort and rest in our busy lives.

Our kitchen has been planned to be the spiritual center of our home.  My husband and I have always wanted a kitchen with a large island that would be a gathering place for our family to visit, do homework, and cook, of course.  We are going to have storage space for all the necessities for the holidays and entertaining, which were stored in our office closet in our former home.   We’ll have open shelves for our cookbooks so we can look to them (literally) for inspiration.  I envision sharing the warmth of Shabbat dinners with friends and family.  I envision joyous, special occasions as well as coming in with the groceries on ordinary days.  I envision home.

P.S. Mom, I know you are thinking about Passover over there…

(photo taken at The Great Indoors)