Covet the Dust: Home SWEET Home

It's no secret that we've been house hunting. Well, kinda sorta house hunting. More like virtually house hunting. I only went inside two homes. Everything else was done on this whole world wide web thingy. (It's a great invention, by the way. And I'd LOVE to make an Al Gore slam here since he claimed to have invented it...but I'll save my political ramblings for another post.)

Anyhooo, the two homes I went in made me love what I have even more. Well, that's not entirely true. One made me ready to come home and kiss the ground my furniture rests upon. The other made me lust after it. We all know where that can lead. But honestly, both times I was ready to come home.

And so we began the discussion: Are we really ready to move? What neighborhood? What size home? What STYLE?

And that latter question is what I'm discussing today. Once upon a time I used to know exactly what my style was. It was Boho Chic. Every place I lived in college had that bohemian look to it. And I loved it. Craved it. One duplex I lived in in college was built in the 50's and we had the old retro red & stainless steel table and chairs (hand-me-downs from my friend's grandparents) in the kitchen to make an even bolder 1950's statement. And get this: THE WALLS WERE AQUA. Some of you might know of my obsession with this color combo.

It was awesome. Unfortunately the drug dealers living next door were not. But I digress.

After getting married, and having to SHARE the interior of my living space with another opionated person (have I ever mentioned that my man and I are total and complete opposites?????), I began to lose my own style a little bit. THIS WAS NOT HIS FAULT, by the way. But seriously, whatever happened to letting the woman have the interior of the home and the man the outside? Again, I digress...

Part of me is kidding here b/c truly we have very similar tastes for the interior of our home. But in the beginning I would have taken our home in a total different direction -- a retro, thrift store kind of direction. So I'm fortunate to have an opinionated -- and very handsome, I might add -- husband. (He reads this blog.)

But I still struggle. I want my house to have PERSONALITY. I can't help it. I like homes that are beautiful, elegant -- much like home #2 I toured (but was almost afraid to touch anything). But I like homes that look lived in. Homes that have a personality. Homes that look -- cozy. That's our word. We want people to feel cozy when they come in our home.

Did you ever see the movie The Holiday with Kate Winslet (love her) and Cameron Diaz? Good flick. GREAT houses.

Today I stumbled up on this blog. Check it out, seriously. All the home pictures in this post come from her blog. Finding her blog was like eating cheesecake and watching Golden Girls. It was that good.

I've mentioned this before, but four years ago we updated a few things to get our house ready to put on the market. And we're still here. But I stripped away some of my personality in the process. And now, since we've made the decision to stay put for at least a little while longer, I'm ready to put back in some of my personality.

I'm sooo not a pastel person. Sorry if you are. I certainly think they're pretty. Love to see them in other people's homes. However, when I see a room that is all white, or all robin's egg blue, or shabby chic pink...I want to throw a can of red paint in the middle of the room.

I love red. I mean, I LOVE red. It's a sickness, I'm sure of it.

So this home doesn't SCREAM red or anything, but isn't it delicious? All of these pictures are from Kate Winslet's home in the movie located in the English countryside. I WANT this library. I could build an entire home around this one room.

Sigh. Look at it again and just breathe it in. I could read many a good book perched in there.

Interesting little fact, the structure of the home didn't exist. It was built in two weeks, complete with landscaping...which was then covered in fake snow.