Making a House a Home

I've never been good at decorating. I am not one of those people who can see different elements in stores and visualize them all together in my house. Call it a personality flaw. What's more, I barely notice my surroundings after a while. It it stays the same then it blends in with the background and so I don't notice the empty walls in my house or the lack of small details which would make it feel homey. Normally, this isn't something that bothers me but right now, I'm noticing it more and more.

I am currently blaming my newfound awareness on the Christmas cards I've been receiving in the mail. Now that Rachel is pregnant I officially have two friends left who don't have children. The rest of them have been sending me beautiful Christmas cards complete with pictures of their families. I look at the little faces of their children and I wonder how it is that the people I used to be a goofball with have become parents. I recognize facial features of my friends in their children and I remark and how crazy genetics is. I will right now admit to staring at these pictures much more than I should. In the background of these pictures are the houses of my friends and these glimpses into the houses has shown me one thing: Clutter makes a house a home.

It's not just any clutter. It would do me no good to simply leave junk laying around my house. It's the toys of children, the messes of children, the laundry piles stacked up in the laundry room, the family dog making a nuisance of itself....the list obviously goes on and on. I guess my house won't really feel like a home until I have a family of my own and this is something which surprises me. I guess I never realized it was so important.