Homey !

Yesterday I hung a few more pictures in my gallery of ancestors and descendants. I have begun to concentrate them in the corner above my computer desk. They are close together and I rather like the effect. Makes me feel at home. They are all familiar faces, even the ones I never met when they were living. I guess that comes from doing the family tree. They are not nameless faces.
As I sat back for a few minutes to admire my work it occurred to me that, for me, the essence of decorating is familiarity and comfort. Those pictures span about eleven decades in time. A good look back at the faces that have shaped my world. Looking around my house I began to see other objects that I could place in terms of time. New things and old things. Some things are treasures from the past and some are just things I have acquired over the years. I don't think of myself as a collector of anything in particular, but I do seem to have collected a bunch of stuff over the years. I don't think there is a rule that a collection has to be a singular group of objects, like toys or dishes. A collection can be just what you collected in your journey through life. An eclectic collection. The reason for keeping them is not important, it is their survival that gives them value. Well, that isn't exactly true, it is the value that you assign to them that makes them that way. The story behind the thing. With me the story isn't always my own but one passed down with the object. I do have a number of things where I witnessed the story and in some cases created that story.
I do think that your home should reflect your age. The objects sitting on your shelves or hanging on your walls shouldn't look like they belong in a museum, but shouldn't look like you just took them out of the box either. I'm sixty now and I should have things from several preceding decades. Remember going to Grandmas house ? She had funny old things didn't she ? Objects of curiosity. I think all homes should have that. All homes should look lived in. The inhabitants of that home should be able to explain the story of those curious objects as well. You need to be familiar with them. They need to be yours. If you are not completely comfortable in that home how can you expect anyone else to be ?
I do wish that I lived in the ancestral home. I think that surely must be the best. All the memories contained within those walls from generation to generation. That was not to be in my case. I have moved from place to place. I couldn't take the walls with me, but I have taken the memories. Memories are sometimes contained in objects. Articles from our childhood, objects our ancestors owned and even old stuff just purchased. These objects can help in making our homes comfortable. It does pay to keep in mind that these things are not essential to our happiness. The enjoyment of the article is in using that object. Whether you use it strictly for decoration or its' intended purpose, it should be used. I think if when you come into my home you can feel comfortable and make a connection to my home, I have accomplished the job of decorating. Ideally my home should feel somehow familiar to you. That is that " homey " feeling we all strive for. In current slang my intent is to make you feel like my " homey ! "


                                                                                   

My little corner, it's messy !