home is where the heart is

We are home. It feels so good to be here surrounded by our own things, sleeping in our comfy beds, and getting back into our old rhythms + routines. Don't get me wrong, I love to travel + wander as much as the next person, but it's always nice to have someplace to wander back to - I'm definitely homebody at heart.

There is something about the change of the seasons that makes me reevaluate my home + how it supports me + my family through the fall + long winter months. I've been trying to figure out a more effective way to keep things neat + tidy (I thought this post was especially helpful.), and really, really trying to cut down on all the stuff. And most of all, I'm trying to make my home feel just a little more homey - you know, less stuff, more life.

Have you read Ilse Crawford's wonderful book, Home Is Where the Heart Is? It is one of my favorite books. It's full of gorgeous photos + sound advice about creating a home that can comfort + support you, and how vital it is to put thought into your personal environment.

One of my favorite passages:

"These days we expect our homes to perform on many levels. Home is more than just a place to sleep and eat. It is "polycentric": a place of work, relaxation, and entertainment, a place to sustain ourselves intellectually, physically, even spiritually. But that does not mean it should not still satisfy its more primary functions. "Home" in the true sense should be warmhearted. A place for self-love, romantic love, family love, love of friends. A place to return to, to feel safe. A place of intimacy, domesticity, meaning, and freedom. To find this, we need to look into our hearts, into our inner nature, and knit what we find there back into the fabric of the lives we live now, but in a new way, a way that is not about accumulation, but about reduction, reevaluation, and revitalization."

This is a book I come back to again + again, it is such a beautiful reference for slow, conscious living + a great reminder about what truly matters in life.

So what do you do create a comfortable home? Do you notice your home evolving as the seasons change? What kind of cleaning/purging of stuff schedule do you have?


photos via home is where the heart is. how was your weekend, dearies? we spent ours driving and driving and driving...california is really far away. the kids were awesome + hilarious + just a teeny bit whiny - a total success in my book. have a happy tuesday, okay? ox.