Making Our House Our Home

There was no sun today. We were pattered with a constant gray mist. It was an aching joint, rest on the couch sort of day. The kind that gives a glimpse of body future, bearing witness to the seeded fruit of age.

We did not spend it on the couch, my children and me. First, we visited a friend to bake cookies for troops and a local soup kitchen. Next was hosting friends, fort-building in the drizzle, digging for clay, painting and playing video games. Dinner was sandwiches for everyone else, a spoon of peanut butter for me. I was too excited to eat beyond that.

While all of this happened, my bedroom underwent a transformation. This will be our first Christmas in this house. It is our first Winter, and I am nesting. After ripping out carpets wherever possible, I brought in friends to paint a few walls for the holidays. My children chose purple, blue and brown for various walls. My partner and I chose a blue gray that reminds me of calm water and is soothing me like an epsom soak. It takes the chill out of my joints, the age out of my body.

I wanted to paint before we moved in, but each step in its time. This house was a muddle of green, yellow and a sort of vomit brown that gave me the distinct impression the color choices were what made the marriage go sour, of why the house ended up for sale. There was no joy in the colors, only an attempt at joy. And so we have washed the walls in the colors that bring light to our eyes.

My son has one wall that looks like chocolate. My mouth waters when I look at it. My daughters have purple walls, the youngest with one blue wall that matches the bathrooms throughout the house.

I don't yet know what we will do in the hallways. I suspect we will find a new yellow. One that doesn't shout so much as hums. Our kitchen will be blue, I believe, like the bathrooms, but we need to renovate it entirely, so it will stay Chive Green awhile longer. As to the computer room, that may yet become a gaming room. We have two bookshelves waiting to be assembled for our board games. Replacing our dining room table is long overdue. I'm excited for making this house my home!

What makes your house feel like home?

image from pixabay.com