Right at the beginning of this chapter the author states, "there is a terrific frustration which increases in intensity and harmfulness as time goes on, when people are always daydreaming of the kind of place in which they would like to live, yet never making the place they do live into anything artistically satisfying to them.".
She talks about making where you live special and making things from other peoples discarded items rather than always buying something new. Making something yourself gives you a sense of satisfaction in that you are able to do to help make your house pleasing.
I really enjoyed how she suggests making a play house using ideas and designs that you want in your dream house. A play house could be for your own kids, a tree house for the whole neighborhood to enjoy, something special you do with your boys, nephews or friends. It could be a dollhouse for your girls to play with and dream their own dreams. I remember playing with sticks and boards I found and making a "house" in the woods with them. I remember raking leaves with my mom and making walls and rooms and playing house before we finished raking them up into piles to put in the garden or take back to the woods. I remember playing with the dollhouses that my Grandma and cousin were decorating together and listening to their dreams for their dollhouse. I remember keeping the box that my pound puppy came in and using it as a houseboat for my strawberry shortcake and barbie dolls. I need to be able to instill that same sense of play and dreaming of houses with my own children, that they will have memories of when they have their own children.
"Rather than creativity being squashed out it should be enhanced and developed because of being brought up in a Christian home, not in spite of it!"
Your interior design doesn't need to be perfect. When you are daydreaming ideas for someday putting them into practice today helps work out the kinks you may have and helps you to improve if there is a next time. Make something pretty where you live now. Don't wait! If you travel take something small that you can decorate your temporary abode with to make it feel more like home.
The poignant last sentence in this chapter sums up the point very nicely. "And for the Christian who is consciously in communication with the Creator, surely his home should reflect something of the artistry, the beauty and order of the One whom he is representing, and in whose image he has been made!"
As I read this chapter it made me think how important it is to encourage your spouse in their creative ideas to make your house become your home Don't quench the desires of your spouse, enable them as much as possible to make their dreams become reality.
Join in the discussion of this book with Tonya over at My Homey Haven .
As for dreams for my home, I have many. I like to decorate with fabric via folding or sewing. I'd like to paint our bathroom window pane blue. I'd like to decorate our current nursery in white and green. I have a shelf I want to paint. I'd love to have shelves in our master closet and paint them a blue color. I know that some of my dreams can happen sooner and some might be a while. I also like my house to be usable, not just a showcase. I have children and I don't want to be constantly telling them they can't touch. I want them to enjoy our home, too. I know my husband has dreams, as well.
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it really is fun to look back on 'playing house' as a girl, and realize how much we were decorating our interiors even then.
ReplyDeleteAnd so much fun now to see my girls, and my boys, creatively making their spaces their own. My teenaged son built a tree house for his younger siblings a couple of years ago. They've had a ball making it homey.
May your family be blessed as you work at creating an enjoyable home for them.
Thanks! hsmominmo: I do enjoy hearing what my girls are decorating in their Lego houses and doll houses.
ReplyDeleteI like how both you and Mrs. Schaeffer remind us to make what we do have into as beautiful a place as we can while we dream and plan for the future. Contentment with an eye to improvement.
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