Grateful Living: Reflections on HOME

This is my post to share a touching story and lovely quotes about the most important place in a person's life--their home...

Best Snowflakes on the Block
It is Christmastime on our street. The homes are decorated with tinsel and many-colored lights. Some windows frame beautifully decorated trees, and well-shaped wreaths hang on the doors. At one home, however, a little confusion of homemade snowflakes congregates in the picture window. They are hung in childhood fashion (not in the adult perfection of other windows nearby) and whisper a special secret about the occupants of that home.

I want to share a secret with you. The secret is that children are more important than picture windows; that fingerprints and boot-drips and carpet stains aren't nearly as important as a child's self-esteem. Those little white snowflakes tell me something more. They tell me that smashed bouquets of dandelions adorn that kitchen table in the springtime and are loved as if they were the most beautiful of imported orchids. They tell me that a pet potato bug in a box can live there unmolested, that helping with a bug collection is just as important as doing the wash, that viewing the first violets of spring with a child's hand in yours is better than a shiny floor, that listening to a child's fears is more important than television, that children's art is more beautiful than the greatest of the old masters.
Oh, they do tell a special story, those snowflakes.
(Sherlene Parker, Ensign Dec. 1976)

A small house well-filled is better than an empty palace. ~Thomas Haliburton

Houses that express comfort and well-being can go a long way toward making us feel at home in the world. ~JoAnn Barwick

Everything in the White House must have a reason for being there.  ~Jacqueline Kennedy

Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free...Amish song

'Mid pleasures and palaces, though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
~Pa, Little House in the Big Woods

God bless this house And all that's in it

A garden of flowers Some books for the hours

Sweet dreams Good Health

and Love, glorious love. ~unknown

“...I remember thinking how often we look, but never see...we listen, but never hear...we exist, but never feel. We take our relationships for granted. A house is only a place. It has no life of its own. It needs human voices, activity and laughter to come alive.” 
― Erma Bombeck, A Marriage Made in Heaven: Or Too Tired for an Affair

8 Ideas for Living Small

Ideas for living in a small space: 

1. Put children's artwork on the fridge. Place child in front holding how many fingers he is. Snap a photo. Throw out less-creative work.
2. I use only kitchen tools that are multi-purpose. I gave away the "extra." None of my furniture is decorative. I don't have enough cabinet space so I use a china cabinet to hold the dishes we use each day. I only have one set of dishes (that serves 8). For years I used Corell because it was indestructible. I'm creative about what I serve food in--like my beloved Pyrex collection rather than fancy stuff. 
3. I decorated my bathroom with a "Spa" feel because it lends itself to being minimalist. Family members use the bathroom in shifts in the morning according to priority. Also, think 1988 BYU Deseret Towers--1 bathroom for half-a-floor of girls. Personal items leave the bathroom with you to be stored in your bedroom. Every bedroom has a large mirror. 
4. It literally took five years to whittle away the excess. Every year, study and find ways to do without is my advice. Bookshelves are essential to us because we read our collection of books over and over, and I have quite a few albums. Digital albums can be a time and space saver--just be sure to make a "hard copy" (meaning you publish the book) because technology is always changing. 
5. Christmas begins about a week before Christmas (not the whole month). Focus on Christ--not space defying decorations. I just divided up our mostly homemade tree decorations for my nearly grown children since two girls will be leaving this fall. Decorations take one box now. 
6. My office consists of a tiny desk with a used laptop and a multi-purpose scanner. A cardboard file box fits underneath and is thinned out each January.
7. My style is eclectic. I don't like that Rooms-to-Go feel that many houses have. Most of my furniture is hand-me-downs that are repurposed. The narrow hall is the "family history" gallery. All my cross-stitch has been framed and displayed on various walls. 
8. One week's worth of classic clothing is all we need. No dry cleaning (except for men's suits). I pay for good clothes and good shoes. Two church dresses. No fluctuating in size allowed. When my husband lost 30 lbs., I gave away all his clothes. When he gained it back--he decided to lose it for good because his clothes were TIGHT, and he has. (I look like Aunt Bee--but I don't fluctuate).

Aunt Bee