When Cam and I first got married I was all over the place with our house. It was a rental with beige everything and every Saturday I would run to Hobby Lobby or Target and spend half my paycheck buying the next bunch of things to make our house a home.
I started having yard sales once a year and began noticing that a lot of the things I was buying for our home at big stores started getting tossed shortly after I bought it. I was wasting a lot of money and it didn’t settle well with me the going and buying and discontentment I was participating in. It seemed toilsome (and it was).
I started seeing the things that I did love in our home and were things that I had found at an antique store or random from my parents barn or basement. It was the found pieces that I didn’t toss away or get tired of and that is when my style really began to take shape.
I had just about chucked the entire idea when I started the barn. It was my last big bit of “stuff” that I just didn’t love so I sold it at our very first market. I affectionately compare it to a glorified yard sale. It was good stuff, but in a barn.
It was about this time that I began dialing it way back and I became much more selective about the pieces that I bought. Which meant wall sat bare for years. Our home at the time was small and our coffee table was usually full of cars and crayons and the same went for the kitchen table.
There were pieces that I began to collect each barn sale like an old pew, metal produce scale and my much loved locker rack. Bit by bit our home began to come together and I really loved each piece.
I do the same thing today, almost to a fault. It takes me so long to put a room together sometimes that I think I won’t ever finish it. But once I am done I love it and it truly reflects our family and each piece holds a story or sentiment.
Right now I am saving up for big pieces of furniture for our home. I recently bought a a new couch and leather chair and I am saving up for a rug. I could run to Hobby Lobby or Target and buy a house full of goods, but i know all too well that they would just become “things” once the rush of shopping is over.
I like the idea of a slow home. One that isn’t cluttered with things, but it is full of smells of home like a soup simmering on the stove. Where each item is unique and has character. I love to browse antique stores and thrift stores and find odds and ends here and there. But one thing I have noticed is that rarely is what I find in season. I mentioned a few weeks ago I found a 48 start flag. I have been wanting one for awhile and it may seem silly to buy that flag now, but come summer when I want one for our home I know I won’t be able to find one.
Same goes for this handmade little bell I got at the antique store months ago. I love it so much and I am going to hang it on the wreath on our front door at Christmas. If I were to go to the antique store today and look for a cute bell I probably could find one.
It’s almost like I am buying a gift for our home and saving it for just the right time to bring it out.
I don’t think setting up or keeping house was meant to be rushed. After all it is where the most important work we do is done. I think homes were meant to give a sense of ease and comfort when you walk in the door. Maybe you love a lot of pieces in your home and that is one hundred percent great if that is what you love, but I know in order to stay true to me I have to go about it a different way.
Slow and steady.
If you are struggling with loving your home and the items you are putting into it I encourage you to take it slow and be selective with each piece you bring inside.
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