Thanks, Katie, for inviting me to guest blog here on your inspiring blog! Katie introduced me to scrapbooking, and while she is really, extraordinary good at it (don't try to delete this, Katie!), I'm not, but I love "preserving" family memories by organizing photos. It's so, so fun! But this post is about home or creating a home, not scrapbooking.
We live in a typical Swedish house from the early seventies. The house doesn't have any originality. There are thousand of these houses here. But it has charm, a little yard at the front and at the back. When we first visited this house together with many other prospective buyers the fall of 2001, I went to the back yard, and after just a glance, I turned to my husband and said: I want to live here! (a "this is the place!" feeling). How happy we became when we won the bidding. The house has many flaws, but because of its imperfection, the house does not require a certain style or elegance of the interior. And that suits us perfectly in our lives right now, because it allows us to create a home that is more focused on being together than renovating and decorating.
I'm sitting at the front door just arrived home from work. My husband made the bench the summer after we moved in. You can't see it, but I've painted the text "vila ett tag" (=rest for a while) on it. That's what home is for me: sitting on a bench a summer afternoon resting after a day at work pondering about life (and what to cook for dinner).
So what does the concept of "Home" mean to me? Well, for me a home is more than a place, or one place, but a feeling of being home, a feeling of belonging to something and someone. That's why I can feel at home even when I am away from our own house.
I see our home not just limited to our house, but extended to people and places where I can feel peace and at home. During the light and warm part of the year we often go to places around where we live just to get some fresh air and enjoy nature. When the weather is fine (not too often) and as soon as I get home from work, I pick up some food and we go to a lake or to the ocean. The above photo is taken in June around six pm last summer. At that moment, home for me was sitting on a sun-warmed rock. I wouldn't like to be anywhere else!
I do not have a special approach for creating that concept of home for me and my husband. Most important for me is to create an environment that allows peace and serenity to be around. A place for nurturing and loving, a place that allows rest for both the body and the spirit. The feeling is important for me, and the feeling comes with light, I think, and light is what I love most about our house - the light that pours in everywhere when there's daylight (not much of it half the year over here). It is also important for me that our home is a link between yesterday and tomorrow. The memory of yesterday is captured not only in our brain but most of all in our heart. I try to display things around the house that mean something to me and my husband. Things that bring light and beauty and things that are precious to us. However, I do not like when the house is crowded with of stuff so I try to limit number of things.
The following collage shows some of the things we have around our house creating a feeling of home.
1) A few stones from Norway. Both hands and eyes love them! 2) The day light in December is so short, but oh, so essential and appreciated! The pot holding the Christmas rose was originally green, but I repainted it white some years ago. 3) My favorite flowers: Geraniums in light grey zinc pots. 4) A bowl bought at a local flee market holding some dried pomegranates (very affordable decoration, they last forever!). 5) I made this cake for my birthday in January this year. No calories, but lots of charm. The tea pot is a wedding gift for my mother and father from 1966. The tea cup is another bargain from the flee market. 6) As I see these delicate sea urchins in pale pastel, I am instantly drawn back to the summer of 1998 when I collected them at a sea shore on the home island (in northern Norway) of both my father and my husband. The candle holder, made by a local crafter, was bought last summer on my home island. This still life is beautiful to look at, but most of all it reminds me of cherished moments together with family and friends.
I strive to have a feeling of calmness, freshness and lightness in our home. Most of the year we live in darkness with only a few hours of daylight a day, so the light is very important to me. I therefore do not cover the windows in heavy fabric, but prefer white linen curtains to let the light shine in. I also prefer white furniture. Some of them are bought white, others are repainted white to match (like our old kitchen table I use as a writing desk). On the walls are oil paintings by my husband, water colors by a friend. The things around us are precious when it comes to memories, but not when it comes to money. Our home is not a show room, and it's ok to sit in the white sofas eating pizza or take a nap after working in the garden with the working pants on. So what if there are some stains on the sofa? No problems, I just take off the cover and put in the washing machine.
I think my favorite memory about being home was when I last summer was sitting in the shadow at our back yard crocheting a ripple blanket (you can see it hanging on the sofa on the above photo). I loved sitting in our extended living room out in the fresh air. I just have to start crocheting another blanket this summer in order to recreate that feeling! I try to live a creative life and I want my home to not only reflect my creativity but also to invite and facilitate me to create. Therefore, it is important for me to have my own space, and I'm so happy for my own little room. However, I knit, sew, crochet, and scrap all over the house! The house gets messy, but it's not a showroom. We live here! And we love living here!
What advice could I give another who desires to create an inviting home for themselves and those they love? Well, we are all different, with different interests, talents and abilities. The only advice I could give is: Let your home reflect you and your family. A beautifully decorated home without traces of the people living in it is just a collection of furniture and stuff. You are so much more worth than living in a furniture exhibition. Let your light shine through and in your home!
Love to all of you, Sissel
PS. You are welcome to visit my blog http://blommigaprickar.blogspot.com/ Sorry to say, but it is in Swedish.
Thank you Sissel! For sharing your inspiration with us! Sissel and I go all the way back to days in Stockholm Sweden. I was the mother of 3 young children, and she a very dear friend to me. We visited and scrapbooked together in one another's homes during the time we were "Swedes", and worshipped together each Sunday. When life called us back to America I brought some of Sissel's furniture home with me; our kitchen bench and the beloved children's bookshelf. Those furniture pieces are staples in every home we've made since our Nordic days. Sissel came to visit us when we lived in Boise ID. Spending a day with her in our home was like having family with us-we spoke and ate and she loved our children (by then we had 5! not 3!). We often send packages to one another, especially when its time for her to have new scrapbook supplies or for me to enjoy rhubarb licorice and new Lucia clothes for the kids...
1 comment:
Her words and home reveal how much your friend is obviously a kindred spirit, Katie! How great that you keep up your friendship.
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