Is your house a home?

When we buy or rent a house or apartment, it is not a home until we turn it into a home.

A house is the materials it is made of. The drywall, the wood, the cement, and until we put our personal touch on it, the interior elements, such as the cabinets, floor coverings, paint, and countertops.

When we begin to personalize the house, we start turning it into our home.

What is a Home?

Home is the emotional feeling we have towards a house. We create a home with love, laughter, and experiences. It is a culmination of us, family, and friends enjoying life there.

That is why as a decorator/designer, it is important to me that your home reflects you and not the designer you may hire.

You are the one that lives in the house. You are the one turning it into a home. Therefore, you and your family are the ones the home should be inspired by.

Choosing the Right Designer for You

A decorator or designer can be extremely helpful in pulling your inspirations together so that the home flows and is not just a mishmash.

Hiring the right designer is very important. You must hire someone that will listen to you and your ideas. Then will find a way to help you achieve your goals in creating a home. A person with the creativity that you may be lacking. A designer that can be inspired by your ideas and can inspire you.

Decorating and designing a home is very personal for the people living there. They don’t want to walk into a house that reflects the designer instead of a home that reflects them.

That is why sometimes there can be a conflict between a homeowner and their designer.

Ideas and Inspirations

The designer may see something the homeowner wants to do as less than a good idea. Their job is to explain to the homeowner why and give them another idea they think would work better. However, ultimately, it is not the designers’ home; they must give the homeowner what they want.

My Experience as A Designer

I know there have been times when I could not persuade a client of my way of thinking. Sometimes, it worked out fine, and sometimes even better than I had in mind. Other times I told the client they should take full credit for their home design. (I didn’t want my name on it.). Even in those cases, while I may not have helped my client with the best design, I was still happy they loved their homes.

Some designers may say I was doing a disservice to my client, and I may have even felt that way, but I am not the one living there. I gave them alternate suggestions and told them why this might be a better idea; however, in the end, I had to go with the fact that it is their home and should reflect them. I do not believe a designer should force their vision on a client.

Whether we choose to design our homes ourselves or hire someone to assist us, when the home is designed to reflect ourselves, we are enhancing our lives. We love our home and feel very comfortable living there. Some of us may enjoy having friends and family over to enhance our experiences in our homes. At the same time, some people see their homes as their sanctuary and would rather not have people over. There is nothing wrong with this; there are plenty of other places to be in this beautiful world.

Either way, designing your home to enhance your life is significant. At the end of a long day, one of the best things to do is look around your home and see what makes you happy.

Transforming My House to a Home

As a designer, I have finally accomplished this in the house I live in now. Notice, I say house because it is not home for me. And that feeling has been reflected in me and around the house for some time now. I have an ideal home in mind, and hopefully, very soon, I will be living there. In the meantime, I have finally given in and finished decorating where I am. While it is not my ideal place to live, I have finally made it into a more comfortable place for now. When I look around now, I smile at what I have accomplished.

I had two rooms in the house that I was not utilizing in the best possible way. One because I was fighting being here and the other because I was using it as a dressing room, which was not the best utilization of it.

I was finally inspired after thirteen years to do so something about it. I have turned the dressing room into my bedroom. While it is much smaller than the room I used, it made more sense since I only slept there. I am now utilizing the room that was my bedroom as a gym. It makes better use of the space I have and also makes it much easier to use my equipment now.

With these changes to the gym and bedroom, it gave me the opportunity to give myself a home office. Now, I do not have distractions from the family room and can focus better.

Is it My Grandparent’s Home or Mine

I am happy that I have finally decided to try and make this place closer to home. In my 57 years, I only had one home; while I lived in many houses, none were home. I gave up my one home; I had to move here and care for my grandfather. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to help my grandfather live out his life in his home; however, to me, it is still my grandparents’ home and the place I dwell in.

Through inspiration at 2 in the morning, I am grateful that I finally feel a little more at home here.

We will talk more about Decorating and Organizing in later articles.

Wishing you bliss!