22. What Does Your Home Say About You?

[Music] hello my friend and welcome to the keeper of the home podcast if you are new here let me introduce myself I am Cammy and I am the creator of the blog and YouTube channel tidbits and Company and also your host here on the keeper of the home podcast thank you so much for joining me today now I have some very important questions to ask you right off the bat so my question for you is if someone were to walk into your home right now would they get a feel for who you are have you ever even pondered this aspect of being a keeper of your home is your home an expression of who you are and whether your answer is yes or no do you think that there could possibly be positive or negative consequences is attached to this concept and we are thinking deeply today my friends about our homes and I'm not here to necessarily give you answers to these questions but rather to guide your thoughts so we are going to dive deep into this topic but first some housekeeping now I thought about what I wanted to share this week with you on our housekeeping section and I really just felt like I wanted to encourage you during um the current season of which I am filming this podcast and it is February and February can be rough I will gladly admit that um even my daughter the other day she said it just feels like every day is the same it's like Groundhog's Day right now I told her I I actually love that I love the slower pace of life I love extra time and less busyness to just do random things like throw on a show together at night or um I don't know go and get some ice cream or hot coco or whatever it is I actually really enjoy the slower pace of life but I know that a lot of people don't and February can be a great challenge so I just wanted to offer you a little encouragement just something to think about if you're feeling that way if you're feeling a little a little stuck and bored of life right now it is such a good time to pick up a project to learn a new skill check something off of your your lifelong list that you really would like to get done maybe it's creating a photo album organizing a closet it's great time to plan a garden if um you've ever been wanting to do some emergency preparation it is an excellent time to be doing that before life gets too busy and if you want a little help on that I did create a emergency evacuation preparedness class over at tidbits and co.com I can can walk you through everything you'll need for like 72-hour kits or quick grab and go bags for your car and your home um it's just really actually a very good time of year to be doing some of these things that you probably aren't going to think about wanting to do once the weather warms up um if sewing is a hobby that you've wanted to learn or get back to pull out that sewing machine or go get a an inexpensive one and learn this new skill um I have a lot of sewing archives on my blog at tidbits and company.com um a great one to start out to just get you going again would be a simple tea tow I have a tutorial for that but there's just a lot of fun fun hobbies that you can pick up so don't don't let yourself get in that slump make the most of this time a year and I believe I did a whole podcast on that so if you need a little more inspiration there go listen and just a quick reminder here I wanted to make sure you aware you can watch or listen my podcast episodes so I host them at my tidbits and Company YouTube channel as a video podcast and also as a video podcast on Spotify which you can also just listen to the audio but if you have like iTunes Google podcasts there are so many others out there that I know my host just pushes it out on so check your favorite podcast platform if you just want to listen to the audio and you should be able to find it there if you search Keeper of the home podcast so a lot of options for you I just wanted to remind you that that is how I am running The Keeper of the home podcast so I hope that's helpful all right let's dive in so I got the biggest compliment the other day and it's absolutely what sparked these thoughts in me and made me want to sit her and chat with you a little bit about it but a friend walked into our home and like they often want to do is they would they'd like to have a little tour and that's fun for me most of the time if you know it's not such a disaster in the kids' bedrooms and such but it's okay if it is too I don't I don't ever want to make anyone feel like my home is perfect all the time anyway I digress so this friend came in and she was going through my kids bedrooms and commenting on things and I loved what she said to me next she said you know because oh I need to caveat this sorry she knew my kids just a little bit but she after touring the room she said to me you know I can really see your kids' Personalities in their bedrooms and I thought really cuz you know truth be known I I do involve them when we're designing their rooms absolutely it's really fun to involve them and to think about them and get their input but also I'm a designer and maybe know more than a child and I might know better design so I do make a lot of the design decisions but I was just so pleased that she could see the personality of my children in their space now I don't know how she felt about the rest of the home but that comment was really notable to me and it it gave me a lot of satisfaction but it also made me wonder you know if if someone looks at the rest of the home since I'm the Homemaker can they see me in our home can they even identify my husband in our home does our home tell our story and this just gave me so much to think about and I've enjoyed pondering this idea so again I just asked myself if someone walked into our home maybe they didn't even know us what would their first impression be about us not even necessarily our home but what would their impression be about us now before I give you some tips and ideas that I've thought about um to achieve this this ideal of your home being a really good expression of yourself let's just Ponder the consequences does it even matter if your home is a reflection of you and those you share it with is it even that important now I'm not actually talking about home style or your design per se because while I absolutely love home design and I love talking about different styles of homes I don't think that's actually what matters here a lot of us maybe don't have the ideal style of home that we would like that we feel would express our interest the most and that's okay this is more about how your home feels um what they learn about you by your environment so so don't get stuck on this idea you know as I'm talking that well my home does not at all reflect my ideal style we're not talking about style we're talking about something a little bit more here so so just want to get that out there and I don't have the defintive answers here but here is what I have been thinking in regards to the consequences if our home is in fact a reflection our home is in fact a really good um reflection of who we are based on our surroundings here's what I can imagine is the result of that I feel like when your environment reflects who you are there is a deeper level of peace and contentment that can come from that um you may feel more content with your material possessions and it can cause you to not feel the need to search out for more or find stuff that is more reflective of you you can just kind of feel at peace in your surroundings because the things really represent the things you like and who you are this may cause you to be less reactive to like impulse purchases if your home actually functions better for your lifestyle and who you are and what you do and um what you value I think it will help you align it better with what you're doing on a daily basis and it will just flow better and feel better and and be more functional for you and I just think overall if your home is a reflection of who you are you will want to be there you will find a lot of joy in being the keeper of your home now if it is not if you feel some Discord there I think the opposite of all those things could also be true true now I once spoke with someone um and it just surprised me because she told me how much she hated being home but she was also asking me like how do you get so much done how do you do so much and I just thought well we're home and I love to be home and that is my Recreation place that is my workplace and I love being home but I was just so shocked to hear that someone hated being home and it made me sad um and I feel like if if you do not feel that um oh what's the word I'm looking for that Oneness in your surroundings I think it can lead to those kind of feelings of just wanting to leave and not actually liking to be there which I think is is kind of sad and I think that discontentment could lead you to like maybe going to someone else's homes or seeing someone else's home online and feeling like you wish yours was something else you know always imagining that you know the grass is always greener on the other side side so that discontentment can really eat at you in a lot of different angles and a lot of different ways um if a home is dysfunctional for how you actually use the spaces it can be um a disservice to you if you are in fact an orderly and clean person and your home is not orderly and and clean I'm sure you can imagine how that can be a conflict inside of you and and cause a lot of struggle with your surroundings and I think as humans we actually acclimate really well to our surroundings sometimes it takes time sometimes longer for some than others but we are adaptable beings and if our home is not not actually a really good reflection of who we are what we value we will acclimate to an environment that is less than ideal and I think that can have some consequence quences now please keep in mind not every home and situation is going to be ideal and maybe you're living that right now I did a podcast on like when I very when I started my podcast I did a episode on what you can do when you hate your home and if you're you're feeling that right now if you're just feeling that really deep and you haven't heard that episode I highly recommend it it's episode 4 and we really talk about things you can do if you hate home I've been in many many situations where our home was not ideal but um no matter the situation I think this is a concept worth considering so let me give you a few ideas and tips that I thought about that are worth considering to help you make your home more of a reflection of you and I just have to tell you I don't know if these tips are um spoton but because that person walked into our home and commented that she felt like she could see my children in their spaces I had really given that some thought and tried to think about what I actually did and how those spaces actually feel that that made it so that she could observe that and so I'm just here offering some tips of what I've done what I've experienced and I hope they're helpful for you so number one it's probably pretty obvious and it has to do with stuff right our homes are full of stuff and maybe we have too much maybe we have too little but regardless our homes have stuff in them so make sure you're bringing in only the things that you love and if I'm being honest you know I love our home but there's a part of me that feels like my family and the things that we love we would actually enjoy an older home a little more we love the charm and character of old homes and we just Swoon whenever we see them and so if I'm thinking like oh my my home isn't the ideal I would really feel better in an older home that's just full of charming character and that I could make over and if I get stuck on that yeah I might find some discontentment in our home however we have a new build we built it ourselves if you're new here on this journey we built a whole Mar style home in order to save some money because we we found some land for a great deal and so we decided to go the route of building a home and it's it's kind of just a rectangle and I have had to work hard to try to infuse that old charm and character into our home so that it kind of represented the things that I love and so to do that I've brought in the old things and tried to build out the character with the stuff that we bring into our home and because of the comments that I've gotten from people that view it in person or online I feel like they're still able to see that I really value old things and so that is coming out successfully in that way now I was trying to think about other homes that I've walked through and have felt that I could see the reflection of the Homemaker in that home and one home that I got the opportunity to view maybe you know her um her name's Brook snow she did the brook snow podcast for many years and now she started a new one called the oneart podcast which is also great but Brook snow is a dear friend and I had the opportunity to walk through her home she actually bought an old couch of ours off of Facebook Marketplace and we delivered it and so I got to peek into her home and just knowing her from her podcast and knowing a little bit about her I instantly walked into her home and felt this is Brook snow I was just enamored by what she had done in her surroundings um I believe they built their home too so like every angle was very thought out with the design and everything but it was what the stuff that she had brought in that that just felt to me like she understood the this concept of making her home a reflection of who she is and who her family is um she is all about growth and Improvement and there were plants all around her house and that just said to me like she loves growth and life and she had spaces that were designed for just deep thinking and thought and learning full of books and just felt peaceful she had art on every wall every corner just beautiful vibrant reflective art that absolutely gave me a peak into the things that she valued and enjoyed and the person that she was based on the the really thought-provoking and artistic art that she had placed on her walls and I just I just loved it it was it was such a memorable experience for me that when I thought about this podcast idea that was the home that came into my mind that when I felt this is someone who really understands what Joy can come when you match your surroundings with who you are and she did a really good job at it I thought it was even fun she took me into her basement and normally you think of a basement as like load up some cozy couches with the big TV um but that's not what she wanted to do she was making a yoga studio um a place with all these movement things that her kids could come down and get movement and be energized like she just prioritized her spaces to fit her priorities and her life and her dreams and it really just all clicked and um another home that I thought about was just a neighbor here we went there for a young women's activity I think it was during Halloween and um she has the most beautiful curated put together home I think she was even in a parade of homes like it just is just beautiful from top to bottom and during this time of year when it was Halloween she had a lot of Halloween decor up on her shelves and I commented on it and she said I'm H I'm getting this right but because her birthday was around Halloween her mother would give her new Halloween decor every year and so that's how she just built this collection and just in hearing that and seeing that I instantly could sense that her surroundings were a reflection of this relationship between her mother and her and I could see how their Styles together were um I guess similar and passed down and appreciated and so it just kind of told the story of who she was the connections in her life and the things that she valued and I just I just love thinking about that and so maybe you're someone who really loves to travel fill your home with these amazing things that you pick up from your travels and I think if anyone walks into your home they'll instantly understand that you love the world you love exploring the world and you've curated this beautiful collection of things from your travels that is one way that you might be able to bring in stuff that represents you maybe let's see what's another example to get you thinking maybe you love chickens you just absolutely adore your chickens so bring in things that represent that that maybe some chicken decor and pillows and things like that to just when someone walks in they can immediately understand this is someone who just loves animals and appreciates self-sufficiency and just loves her chickens I mean something as simple as that can actually help um you enjoy your surroundings better and help people understand you better when they walk into your home and I think it's worth just cautioning you a bit here sometimes when you're not not really sure of maybe who you are and the things you like when when we talk about stuff here it may be worth some more exploration to find out what you really really like before you start buying stuff um you can get stuck in this rut that maybe you go to somewhere like Hobby Lobby you know and everything looks super cute on the shelves and collected and curated and cohesive and you think that if you buy a few of those things and you bring them into your home it will work well if we really haven't nailed down the stuff that we really value and enjoy when we go out shopping we can really get stuck into just buying whatever and end up with a home that just actually doesn't tell your story appropriately because you've been kind of um I guess enamored by commercialism so if you're really unsure about the stuff in your home and you feel like you feel like it's not a good representation start weeding through things and get really thoughtful about every little thing and make sure that it is a reflection of you and who you are and your values and I think that will lead to a lot more contentment in your surroundings okay let's move on to my second idea I have for you and that is to prioritize Form and Function it's not a either or or and I think both are important if you're wanting a space that not only works well for you but um is a reflection of you I haven't always been good at this I have made a lot of bad design decisions and bought things thinking more about form than function and it never really lends itself very well but let's think about this in in making sure our hor our homes have Form and Function that represent who we are now I love the quote Oh I can't remember who it's by you guys I'm sorry but I'm I bet you've heard it it's it's have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful and that's usually my guiding star if you will um if I'm about to buy something I like to think is it beautiful and useful or at least one or the other and if so um and and if it's the budget it's usually something worth thinking about now I feel like the the tip I already gave you is a lot on form like what stuff are you actually bringing in what does it look like um so let's dive into a little more on the idea of function it's really important to have your home function well for you and for an example if you are in this stage of life where you have young kids but you're trying to put too much priority on the form of your home and forgetting that it needs to function for younger children um I can see that being problematic if you find yourself like lamenting this stage of life that you can't have all the nice things that might be breakable or you've got to put like baskets around the house to store all the baby things and there might be a little more clutter than you like if you're not okay with this idea idea that you want your home to function well for a life with little children you might actually find yourself ashamed to be in that stage and that can really lead to a lot of discontent so so think about Form and Function for every stage of life and make sure that it works well also some thought if you're a person that really thrives on order and cleanliness we already talked about this a little bit but it's helpful to kind of prioritize work zones in your home to help you maintain that and so if you have those work zones that support you in your need for order and cleanliness if someone were to walk in they would be able to observe that this is something that's really important to you and you will feel better in your space think about how you could utilize different spaces in your home to suit your lifestyle better A lot of times especially if we just buy like a builder grade home there are very designated spaces um for example like a lot of homes have you know the casual dining room and then a formal dining room well if that is just more dining room space than you need think about what you could do instead maybe you would prefer to have like an art studio over a formal dining room so create that space in there and that way it not only functions better for you but if someone comes into your home they can really see a person that absolutely loves art or whatever it is and has made a space entirely devoted for that and imagine what joy that would bring you and also how fun it is to observe um those really unique things in someone else's home like I mentioned with Brook Snow's home how for her this movement and yoga and meditation was so important that she took spaces and devoted them to those things so that it was a real solid reflection of what they value really cool to think about and I think it's super fun to take a space and imagine something different and then create that that is so fulfilling for me and such a fun thing to do if it's not for you don't worry you can cultivate that um that skill as I have had to do throughout my life it is something you can learn to do so start a Pinterest board start dreaming and just small and simple things added up over time will help you create spaces that work better for you all right tip number three now a lot of us share our homes with other people and as you know we're not all created the same we have different interests and personalities and so if you're the keeper of your home you have the challenge of trying to make the space reflective of not only you but those who live there and it can be a challenge but here's my tip for you and that is to find as much common ground with the others in your home as possible and go from there now what I've also found that some people will care about their space more than others like some people won't even care a thing about what you do maybe you have a spouse that's just like you decorate however you want or maybe you have a spouse or children or roommates that are really opinionated and don't like the things you bring in this can be a challenge so find the common ground work off of that um but it's also really helpful if at all possible if you can can find spaces to devote more for them of course this could be like a bedroom or an office little corner or whatever whatever it may be find a way to to give them a space to really um infus with the things that represent them and that will help them feel a part of the home and that will help them feel like they're in a home that is reflective of who they are which is important this was a challenge for me when I designed um my boy and girls shared bedroom now I don't know how long we're going to get away with them sharing a room but they are just Best Buds and they're enough yet that I that I feel like we can keep going but I I wanted to design a room that was reflective of both of them and so I'm not only dealing with different genders which is often a thing in our homes but um different personalities and so I had to find the common ground now my daughter wanted yellow walls and my son was just absolutely disgusted by the idea of it and so I had to find colors and textures that would appeal both of them or allow me to infuse more of like the colors and the decor that that um was a good fit for both of them and so I you know this is just the technicality of it I went with green Walls and in that way I could Infuse a lot of blue which my boy particularly loves and a lot of yellow accents because both of those colors go really well with blue or sorry with green and so that was one way that we just started there I I thought about the color and then the little Decor pieces that we would add in and the bedding and just tried to think about both of them and it just turns out that they both love the space a lot so I feel like that worked I just had to find that Common Ground color in this instance and theme um if you haven't seen the room it's kind of a I wouldn't say it's like in-your-face picnic theme but it was inspired by a picnic like the colors and the vibe and I knew that would work well for both genders and both personalities so that was just kind of the Common Ground that I started with and it's now a space that they just both love to be in and are proud of and even though we don't have bright yellow walls still my little girl she just absolutely loves it so again just find the commonality now sometimes you might have someone in your home that has something that they really value you but you may not appreciate I think it does go a long way to make the effort to display or make space for those things now there is an example of this is um my husband has this Santa picture that he loves to hang up during Christmas time and when he worked outside the home he would actually take it and hang it up in his office when he was an engineer and that's that was great for me cuz I actually don't love the art um it doesn't really fit the style of my home however when he came home I thought you know what he just absolutely loves that piece it is such a reflection of him during that time of year and so I found somewhere to hang in in our home and when he came in and noticed it was hanging up it meant the world to him it really did he just really appreciated it and I was able to find a way and a setting where I thought it looked beautiful in our home as well and so so it appeased both of us satisfied both of us and it did bring me a great deal of joy to think about the things that he loved and made sure they were in our home so even if I didn't love them it was it was still in a way a reflection of what I value I value him and I value the things that he appreciates and so it brought me a lot of contentment to just put it up for him so think about that um maybe you're you want your home to represent your heart and that can be one way that you do it by by really paying attention to the needs and likes of others all right let's move on to my fourth tip and I already touched on it a tiny bit but that is color I'm sure you've heard of like doing those color personality tests where you answer questions and it brings up like maybe a color palette that represents your personality I actually really love those things I'm not too much into the other person ity tests and things but the color ones really speak to me and I feel like they really do say a lot so don't ignore the colors that you bring into your home the colors you paint your wall the colors of your Linens the colors of your art color is so impactful in representing who you are and helping you actually love your space and what's interesting is I have children that are like in the color person personalities that are so opposite of mine like I mentioned my one daughter just loves yellow and she is a sunshine personality joyful being like no other and so yellow absolutely fits her I have another daughter who loves red and she is kind of this creative um deep thinking personality and the color red really matches her personality however yellow and red make me anxious here I am in a red sweater today but anyway too much red in my home and yellow like those two colors make me very very anxious because I am more of a blue white and green personality I love Serene calm environments I love naturalistic materials and things that are inspired by nature and that comes out in the colors that I love and so so I have to find ways to um make sure those colors are in their rooms and in their spaces but then um find a way to make a home that allows for that the colors that that make me feel at home as well so don't neglect this idea of color and be really really intentional about the colors that you bring in your home cuz they will say a lot about you and they will help you feel at peace with your home and your envir environment so that it is a reflection of you and that you can function better in your space so do not forget about color all right the fifth idea I have for you is to make sure that somehow your home is an expression of your values and beliefs and I actually feel like this is a more natural thing to do because um values and beliefs are such an integral part of who we are that it's it's pretty natural that we would want to bring things into our home or create environments that are conducive for our beliefs and values now I found it interesting we had someone walk through our home the other day and they made the comment that um they could basically tell what religion or faith we belong to by the things on our walls and the things on our coffee table and the things that our bedside and I thought that was an interesting observation and it actually gave me a great deal of Pride that I had managed to make our home a reflection of our beliefs now I walked into a friend's home one time and they had on their on the focal wall the most massive picture I have ever seen in a home of Jesus Christ and it was a beautiful painting of um Jesus Christ calming the sea and I commented on it and of course she said oh everyone brings that up and she made the point that she wanted everyone to know that came into her home that she believed in Jesus Christ and she wanted the people that lived in her home to know that he would calm their storms and be there for him so that was such an underlying belief for her that she wanted to put the most massive painting she could get her hands on to make sure that that was a overarching statement in her surroundings and you know I think this is a really fun concept to play with say you're a family that just loves nature bring that into your home so the minute someone walks in they can tell that this is a family that just loves nature maybe you love um music and you have created zones in your home that just support music and you have it playing or the decor has a music theme maybe you just really appreciate art and that takes the highlight of your home your values and beliefs can really be portrayed through these things in a intentional way you can even go as far as thinking about the smells in your home um I always get people commenting because I often have you know diffusers and our home smells like essential oils I have people tell me that they can immediately tell that I'm the earthy crunchy type by the way my home smells and by the way our clothes smell and you know that might be weird but that's just it's like my values and beliefs um being portrayed just by the way our home smells you may be able to portray your beliefs and support your beliefs by the books on your coffee table by what you um are willing to give up precious countertop real estate 4 or bookshelf real estate all these things can really go along long way in expressing your values to those who come in your home and support you in your values and help you strengthen those for yourself and for your family all right last tip here for you and I just want you to think about how you want your home to feel a lot of the things you've already talked about are visual things things that people can actually see and observe when they walk into your space but the feeling of your home goes a little bit deeper and requires a little more thought and application so you can answer the simple question of I want my home to fill and then fill in the blank maybe you want your home to feel welcoming and you want people to feel at ease when they come in there what kind of space can you create that that gives people that feeling Maybe maybe you want your home to feel beautiful you really value beautiful things so how are you going to create that that environment maybe you want your home to feel curated or creative if someone walks in your door how are you going to let them know that you are a creative person and how are you going to create that feeling for those that live in the home maybe you want a home to fill adventuress maybe you want your home to feel imperfect that's a good thing too you don't want to intimidate people you want it to just feel imperfect like maybe you feel you are and that you can just be okay with that maybe you want a home that feels really educational or exploratory maybe you want your home to feel trendy and current and that's something that really brings you a lot of Joy it's almost like we have to pin that feeling down before we can even think of all the other things and so maybe I should have started with this concept but but I'm going to end with it so that you can take everything we've talked about and then really think about how you want your home to fill and then everything you bring in whether it's stuff whether it's the zones you create in your home whether it's the functionality whatever you do make sure that it matches that feeling that you really want in your home because quite frankly if we can't pin that down first and foremost we are going to have a really hard time expressing who we are in our home and you'll have a hard time seeing yourself or anyone else in your home and it can create quite a Discord so let that statement be your guiding star say I want my home to fill and then fill in the blank maybe there's a few things that you want to add to that to help guide you but that can be a really helpful statement to finish out and think about so that you can make your home a reflection of who you are now if this is something that you want to get better at maybe this whole concept that I've talked about today just confuses you or overwhelms you I have a challenge for you to help you kind of cultivate this or or help you um in your effort to make your home a better reflection of you but the next time you walk into someone's home I want you to ask yourself if you can actually see them in their environment and try to pin down what it is or what it is not that is working for them and don't go into this with you know the idea of comparing your environment to theirs but just go in as an observer and try to find what is working and what is not and if you can really pin down the thing that is making their home a reflection of them and you know what maybe you enter someone's home and you can really feel this bring it up to them and tell them that oh I love your home it shows me that you love and appreciate nature or I can really tell that you've created a home where people just feel really relaxed bring that up to them and see how they respond and see if um they've done it thoughtfully or if it's just come about naturally that that practice alone may help you in your own Endeavor to do this I just have one more caution for you before I wrap this up as you're going about this and thinking about this try not to get stuck in a idealistic mentality that you can only achieve this if all your ideals are met you know we don't live in a perfect world and I don't think any of us are going to be you know in a perfect home that is just the perfect example of who we are so let go of your ideals and just see what little tiny things that you can do to find more Harmony in your home and I think you'll be amazed at what at how far your efforts go anyway that just is pretty much all that's been on my mind today about this topic that I wanted to share with you if you have any thoughts on the matter I would love to know what you're thinking in the comments maybe you've had an experience of going through someone's home and witnessing um what they've done to to kind of nail this down please share it with us in the comments comments are better left on my YouTube video or my YouTube podcast episode so head over there if you're not already with me on YouTube but that's a great place to leave comments I love to hear your feedback I don't always get a chance to respond to all of them but I read every single one and appreciate you all for being here with me I hope this podcast has just left you with a lot of food for thought and we'll help you find more peace and Harmony in your own home thank you so much for joining me I will be back very soon to share more inspiration for The Keeper of the home [Music]

Channel: TIDBITS & Company

Views: 2,407

Keywords: podcast, homemakers, homemaking, keeping a home, video podcast

Id: _KtyyqGkqCk

Length: 44min 1sec (2641 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 15 2024