"From HOUSES to HOMES".......

Ever since I was a child, I have been attracted to "charming homes". I remember Sunday drives when my mother, sister & I would travel across town to the "South Hill", an area of town with the oldest & most lovely neighborhoods!....We would stop for a snack (usually a candy bar), & then slowly drive down the winding, tree-lined streets....imaging what it would be like to actually live within these beautiful structures.......I also enjoyed books with "illustrations" that brought the text to life, ...the "Secret Garden", "Anne of Green Gables" & the "Little House"series, all of which went on to tell of houses, where the main characters lived in homes that were "old & enchanting"...or small, simple & "filled with love"!.....And as a high school student, I couldn't wait to enroll in the "architectural drawing" class, just so I could surround myself with,... & create drawings of homes, that I would imagine myself someday living in.....
Growing up, our small family lived in a modest home with a large well-manicured yard. Even though money wasn't plentiful, my mother created an extremely cozy & pretty home!!!...She painted furniture, sewed everything from curtains to clothes & had flower gardens that were brimming with blossoms!!....I saw that if the "desire" was there, anyone could make a humble dwelling into a lovely home! Her influence has had a tremendous effect on me!....
Through the years I have been very fortunate to have had many very nice homes. I have always, ...immediately after moving in, taken all the ideas I had accumulated,... from those Sunday drives, illustrations from "girlhood" books & my own mother's talented example, & begin decorating & creating the home I had dreamed of!....
Of course there are certain styles of homes & architectural details that I have always loved & will continue to enchant me!....I LOVE "cottages"....I LOVE "shuttered windows"...... "ivy & rose covered walls"..... "picket fences"...."rock walls"...."dormer windows" & landscaping that helps "create a mood"!

At the moment, I find myself living in a fairly new, suburban neighborhood...very nice, but devoid of much imagination.....So now my challenge begins again.....making this house of ours into something special......
I have been reaching deep for that "inspiration from the past"... & have begun to apply it to this wonderfully blank canvas I call "home".
Before long, our recently built home will be taking on the look & feel of one much older.....bit by bit, room by room I will be adding the little touches that I love so much.....

And before you know it, through lots of hard work, it will take on the features of the beloved homes I used to drive by on those Sunday afternoons long ago.... I personally love this process,...of taking something "raw" & making it all your own!....And maybe the reason this has always been such an exciting process for me, is because of the people I'm doing it for,....my family.....After all, without them....the most important feature of a home would be missing.....that being, "LOVE".....