Selling stuff, moving out, and finding a place called “Home”

Home by Kenneth Hamlett (http://www.kennethhamlett.com)

Everyone keeps asking me what’s happening with A Beautiful Abode.  Have I given up on blogging?  When am I going to make my next update?

It’s gratifying and depressing at the same time.

The short answer to these questions, is “No, I haven’t given up on blogging.”  The truth is, I just don’t feel inspired to write anything right now.  When I started Beautiful, my goal was to motivate myself to create a beautiful home for my family.  I was a stay at home mom with very little extra cash and an even smaller understanding of how I wanted our home to look.  I just knew that I wanted it to be a place my husband could be proud of when inviting his friends and co-workers over.

Then life happened.  You know how it is.  You think you have things planned to go one way and they end up going a completely different way.  Suddenly my concept of home was shaken… so I started selling and rearranging things.  Looking for a way to recreate that safe feeling of home that was missing.  And it worked for a little while.  Y’all saw my infrequent updates as I relearned the art of managing career, kids, and home as a single parent.

Of course, the only constant in life is change though, right?  I’m happy to be reunited with my hubby, but once again, the concept of home has changed.  End of last month, we left our old rental, a 30 year old townhome that we’d called home for over 5 years.  It was a mix of economics and just the desire to start fresh that fueled our move… only six miles north of where we were… but a new adventure for all of us, nonetheless.  The kids started new schools.  And we, well, we sold most of the furniture from the townhouse and have decided to start fresh.

So… in terms of decorating, I’m sorta looking for EVERYTHING.  Except, that I’m not.

Cause in the up and down of the last year and a half, I’ve discovered something new about the meaning of home.

Home, I discovered, is wherever love is.  Love that you feel for yourself and love that you share with others.

Feeling at home isn’t dependent on the prettiest furnishing, the most pulled together rooms, the charming knickknacks, or even the family photos on the wall.  Home and the sense of feeling at home, starts within YOU and radiates out.

Right now, even though there’s more floor than furniture, our empty-ish new space feels more like home than anywhere I’ve lived in many, many years.  Cause now, I feel at home in myself.

Touchy-feely message aside, don’t worry, I’m not abandoning A Beautiful Abode.  I have just as much reason to be interested in budget decorating as always… we’re still living on one steady income while hubby builds his photography business and, even if we weren’t, with the way the economy has been, it would be insane to spend any more than necessary on furniture and home accessories.

I guess I’m just letting you know that things may continue to be a little erratic as I find new bearings.  And you might see a little more “philosophy” finding it’s way into my posts as I start to explore my new understanding of “home.”

As always, it’s an interesting journey.  Thanks for continuing to share it with me!

xoxo – Shauntelle