discover home:
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the idea of a forever home. So many people we know personally have, in the last few years, sold their house and sought out their ‘forever home.’ It’s meant to be their last place; a place where they will keep grandchildren, raise gardens, pursue hobbies, and retire. They look at architecture like stairs, basements, and garages. They plan for a day when they can no longer navigate the stairs, or store things in a basement. They want a garage with easy access to the house.
I recently heard someone pose the question, “How can you build your dream home if you don’t know what that looks like?” And it really started a chain reaction in my mind: “How can I find my forever home, if I don’t know what that means to me?”
Here is Google’s definition:
Dare to Dream…
When defining your forever home, first, dare to dream. Life is short and the days are shorter. Sometimes we get into the same routine and the days begin to bleed into one another without any room for investigation or exploration. Monday feels like every other Monday. Tuesday feels like Wednesday, Wednesday feels like Thursday… and before we realize, our weeks have turned into months, and months into years.
So, first, dare to dream. What do you want it to feel like? Unlike Google, I’m not talking about architecture or structure. I’m talking about how it feels. Do you want it to be full of memory, or do you want it to be clean and uncluttered? Maybe both…there’s room for both in your forever home. Do you want it to feel cozy and welcoming, or like a curated life of adventure? Both can exist together.
Dare to dream about your forever home, and then you can begin to build it piece by piece, moment by moment, memory by memory.
Consider change…
Sometimes fear of making a mistake holds us back from our biggest successes. We agonize for weeks of paint colors or flooring choices. While those things are very important when actually building or purchasing a forever home, they are a little less important when creating one.
While your forever home may consider these aspects, the feeling of your forever does not have to. For example, we recently sold our family home where we made all of the color choices, flooring choices, and fixture choices. At the time we made these decisions, it felt like us…our colors, our design aesthetic, our home. But over time, trends changed and so did our aesthetic. The tile flooring we loved in one year – we grew to dislike in another. Wall colors changed, furniture changed.
My point is that, somethings we choose are a part of your forever home, and some things, while feeling fresh and new, are temporary. Consider change as part of life. Look at it with a fresh perspective and you will begin to embrace it with anticipation.
Know what matters…
Everyone has something different that matters to them. For some, it’s having a family home for grown children and possibly grandchildren to ‘come home’ to. For others, it’s embracing time and seeing all they can see, doing all they can do, and being all they can be. Home isn’t a place, but a mindset.
Some people want a home filled with heirlooms like grandmother’s china cabinet, grandfather’s tool chest, and all the photos they can stockpile. That’s what forever home means to them.
Then, there are others who want to start fresh, begin with a clean slate. To them, they are building their forever home a day at time, a moment at a time, a memory at a time.
Knowing what matters to you, is what is most important in creating your forever home.
Maybe it’s temporary…
If, like us, you are on the journey of creating your forever home, don’t get overwhelmed. These things take time, and patience, and a lot of introspection. Find your inspiration. Know what matters to you.
And surprisingly enough, a forever home doesn’t have to be a forever place! We are creating our forever home filled with memories of our adventures. We have curated a specific style aesthetic, but all of these things can go with us wherever we move to next. For us, our forever home consists of sounds, aromas, and feelings. It’s about the routines and traditions we’ve created within the days of our lives.
These are the things we take with us wherever we go – that’s why, for us, each trip we take feels like a little bit of home; we’ve created a feeling of home that goes with us. That is our forever home.
Begin where you are…
You may be questioning how to start. Maybe it’s the smell of freshly baked bread on a Saturday morning. Or maybe it’s the satisfaction of a freshly mowed lawn. Your forever home doesn’t have to fit a mold – and it certainly doesn’t have to be someone else’s idea of their forever home.
Begin where you are. Start small – maybe one shelf you curate to display memorabilia. Maybe it’s one room you know just doesn’t feel right. It isn’t your style, your color scheme, or your passion. Begin there…
Begin to dream about your forever and before you know it, you will have created it to your own desires, and you may be surprised that when you find it, it will be something you carry with you wherever you go – or wherever you stay.
xo, Billie
more to discover:
- The Forever Home Book [affiliate link]: https://amzn.to/49802z4
- The Beautiful Symphony of Discovering Home: https://forwardourmail.com/the-beautiful-symphony-of-discovering-home/
- Don’t forget to visit our Amazon Storefront
