Simple House made Home - Inviting light in

One of my most treasured memories is the one of Pedro and me, sitting in the middle of the empty living room of our recent purchased house with a paint catalogue. We were only choosing wall colours, but in my head that moment personifies our commitment to a life together, our a private "I DO" moment, where dreams and daily decisions intersect with one another.
Back then, we choose to paint the fireplace wall in a very strong colour we both loved - Indian yellow. OUR colour. Could I dare to paint it over?

I did, but I debated it in my head a lot. We give a depth of meanings to something as simple as a wall colour, and... it’s hard to let go.
“We can just paint it again if we don’t like it”, he said. He meant if you don’t like it, but he is sometimes sweet to use plural so I don’t feel such a weird.
I’m glad I went through with the all-white idea.  It is the perfect canvas for our home and it seems lighter than before -  goal achieved.
Realising that pure white goes so well with our wood trim was a pleasant surprise! When we first moved, we choose a warmer white (ivory), because we believed it was the way to go with wood trim, creating an adequate tone to match all the wood. It turns out I prefer a cool colour. It doesn’t blend, it makes the wood stand and looks nicer (thank you rule nº 3 – trust your instinct!).

Besides paint, our biggest investment was to add mirrors strategically. We never care much for mirrors, living well with the mirrors of the bathroom and one in the closet. Truth to be told, they were sufficient for our living. It was only when I started to look for ways to let more light inside, that I considered adding mirrors.
I Think that the secret of living simply resides on our acquisitions rather than on our declutters. When we´re decluttering we’re merely responding to an issue, not addressing it from its roots. So, it was not without pondering that we decided to go forward with this purchases.
In the end, the mirrors do make a big impact on the quantity of the light inside the house, so I feel very pleased with this addition.

So far, we went with white walls, the use of mirrors, and less furniture with a special attention not to block the windows, so that the natural light flows inside. Do you know any other way? I would love to know what works for you!

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HOME | Step 4. Take action (progress so far)

This step will probably take a while, but here is some of the progress we’ve made so far:

  

We have painted the house

You can’t imagine how relieved I am that this job is finally done! After some hard work of treating, sanding, preparing and painting, there are no more dam walls in our home. We also managed to hide those ugly TV and net cables inside the wall before painting, which is something I would never dream we were capable of! 

We have macro-decluttered the house

Having to clear all the rooms in order to paint presented us the perfect opportunity to consider every item when putting it back. In the book “The life-changing magic of tidying”, Marie Kondo advises to take each item in one’s hand and ask if it sparks joy. She states that the trick is to handle each item, because when you touch it, the answer to if it sparks joy or not is clear. She was of course referring to items as clothes or books and not advising to physically feel the weight of all our possessions by handling your furniture (this extreme kondoing was something we tried on our own risk), but I apprehend  the advice to handle an item in order to decide whether to keep it or not, instead of just looking at it. Admittedly, I found it strange when I read it, but to actually feel the effect your stuff has in you is easy. After making the effort to carry the items out of the room, it was stress-free to know which items were worth to take back in. Real simple. 

Some of the items didn’t make the cut going back into the rooms, and I am most pleased with the results of the furniture-declutter.

Some pieces that didn't go back inside the living room. They were either given away or migrated into another room.

A fun question for you: 

Have you ever tried picking up your furniture in order to see if it sparks joy? 

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HOME | Step 3. Define your goals and strategy

My resources are limited and I want to make sure that I do the things that have the greater impact on the end result. Because I have an issue with procrastination, I need to establish a deadline - although the process of establishing a home is an ongoing thing, the project must be finite.

This is why I ponder the actions I feel I must take the insight of all the information I gathered (step one and two), until the end of this year (self-imposed deadline).

I’m prioritizing my actions in the face of my situation and the expected results: I want my house to be a safe and healthy place AND I want my house to have a nice décor. There are several actions I can take on both of this areas, but having to choose, I will prioritize one over another, that I will do before, dedicate more time and more resources. This choice is based upon a personal choice that may differ from person to person, but the process of prioritizing is a key factor in any project, so that you don’t end up doing a lot of work with poor results.

In a more practical point of view, because I have a limited budget, I can either use it to paint the house or change the floors right now, although I would like to do both and they both feel important.

In the end, I’m choosing to paint the house, because: 

• Dam walls bother me more than ugly floors
• It’s an opportunity to enhance the light coming in
•  We can do it ourselves, saving money, spending fun time together, and making it our own

This means I am not going to change the floor of our living room right now, but I accept it because I’ve considered it, and choose to go another way for the moment. This may seem like a small detail, but in a mind all or nothing like mine, it makes a huge difference. Personally, if I don’t go through this process, I will want to do everything, and since I can’t I will wait for that moment to come, and never do anything at all.

There are some ideas/intentions that I won’t tackle for now, but I’m confident that my choices are right. Either way, now that I’ve listed them, there is space for improvement, and the opportunity presents, they can be tackled. For now, this will be enough.

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HOME | Step 2. Environmental scan

This step is all about accessing a starting point in order to outline how to get to the final destination - a house that feels like a home, based on the current situation and means available. So after establishing what I am going for, it's time take a moment and look inside: What do I like in my house? Can I maximize it? What are the features I don't like? Can I change them or integrate them in a way I'll enjoy it more? How much money do I have available for this? And how much time will I be able to dedicate to this project?

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HOME | Step 1. VISION

Made in Canva. Pictures (and souces) in Pinterest 

I already shared what I want from my home, and that is the process to get to your VISION. My goal in this post is to summarize these thoughts, so that it's all reminded to me by a simple word or statement. Do you have a vision for your home?

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Project Simple house made home | Steps and Rules

I love spontaneity and letting things flow, but I hardly get anything done without actually taking the time to sit down and make a written plan. If I don't, ideas will just add up in my brain, with little to none practical effect.

So, I decided to plan how I will transform my house into a home and document it here. It won't be a dramatic change, and I can't promise great before and after pictures, just an honest and down to earth process which hopefully will be helpful to me and maybe to others.  

I'll start by defining the steps and rules for this project:

SIMPLE HOUSE MADE HOME

STEPS

1. Define a VISION - Where do you want to be in the end of the project 
2. Perform an Environmental Scan - Access your starting point 
3. Define your goals and strategy
4. Take action, readjust whenever needed
5. Enjoy!

MY RULES

1. Consider the needs of all residents
2. Value what I already own
3. Think about our planet and our future
4. Trust my gut

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Feels like...home

I thought I would give an answer to my own question, as it helps me organize my thoughts and ideas, and share with you the most beautiful declaration of love in the world:

(This quotation really makes my thoughts so so small...anyway, here I go...) 

What does a home feel like to me?

In an ideological point of view, it has to be an extension on our lives, and on our ideals. It has to feel as comfortable and safe like a mum womb and invite adventure and risk-taking like a world map does. It must respect our past and history, nurture family life and ground for our future.

In a practical point of view, it has to be eco-conscious, uncluttered, easy to clean and to keep up with, with plenty of space for everyone's activities.

In a design point of view, it would be somewhere in the balance of Scandinavian houses with Bohemian houses, if that even exists. I'm guessing not exactly, but hey, it feels good to me. I love plenty of light, white as a background, wood floors, colour all around, wicker accessories, art & photos on the walls, texture everywhere and plants, lots of plants.

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How to transform your House into a Home?

I recently realized that I live in my house for eight years now. EIGHT years! Time is relentless passing by...  just yesterday we were signing the papers for the biggest financial investment of our life: our home, and now we are eight years older... how does that happen anyway?

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