What We Love About Home: Comfort and Livability

This post is the second in a three part series on “What We Love About Home.”

"The numerous pieces that furnish your house... are undoubtedly THINGS! But if you choose each piece with due regard to your individual needs and preferences... it then becomes, not a THING, but an undeniable part of yourself!"

- Leopold Stickley

One of the things I love about the TV show “What Not to Wear” is that the hosts are always telling women that they don’t have to wear baggy sweatpants or sneakers in order to be comfortable. It is possible to be both stylish AND comfortable. I feel the same about the home. You don’t need an overstuffed recliner in order to relax in your abode. Plenty of items for the home are comfortable and also stylish.

Furniture
Leather is beautiful to look at and is pretty easy to clean. It wears well and can actually look better with age. Like a great leather boot, it also becomes more comfortable with age.

Rugs

Area rugs can be a way to warm up hard surface floors like wood and stone. They also give extra personality to the room. Because they aren’t permanent, they are easy to change when worn. You can also rotate them in different rooms when you feel the need to change things up. We just got in several area rugs in the store that are absolutely beautiful!

Layout
Consider how you and your family go about daily life. Is your home helping or hindering this? Arranging furniture to suit your daily needs makes an impact to the overall feel of your room and makes you feel good in the process. Think about the size and shape of the room, as well as the sizes of the pieces you are working with, in order to determine placement. For instance, long rooms can be broken up by creating two groupings of furniture.

Also, keep comfortable items as part of your décor. Snuggly blankets thrown over a couch that are also beautiful, like chenille, make your home feel lovely to be in.

Knick Knack Attack
It’s fun to display family photos, sentimental heirlooms and treasures from travels. However, we can quickly get bogged down by all of these. Not only can it look cluttered, but becoming a knick knack hoarder makes dusting a bear. I suggest keeping only the decorative essentials out and bring special items out when you want to share with certain friends or family