Homemaking: Making Your Home a Home

   Upon visiting another newly-married couple and good friends of mine and Tad, it took approximately two seconds for me to look through the window of their door and become intensely jealous of how adorably their little apartment was decorated. And to become rather ashamed of my own still-looks-like-two-bachelors-just-moved-out home. Thus, I am here to rant a little bit, but more productively talk about what I love in our home, and what I plan on changing and improving in the months and years to come.

   Let me start with my childhood... (Please feel free to grab your notebook and pen while I lay down and share my burdening past. Don't worry, it's not actually burdening.)

   I was born a poor, white child in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Well, not really that poor. Actually we were pretty well off for a family of six with the eating habits of twelve. I've never been the creative, girly, put-sparkles-on-everything type. I'm more practical, and my decor usually consisted of a calendar, whiteboard, and maybe a poster or two I got for free. Keeping my room tidy was a feat in itself, so I didn't generally think past that point to decorating. My mom has never been one for collecting all of those strange things you see in people's houses that, honestly, don't always make sense (i.e., jars, bottles, porcelain eggs, stars, wooden boards, ostrich figurines...). If the house was clean, I thought it was impressive. Unfortunately, I've sort of carried over that mindset - to a small degree.
   Currently, my husband and I live in a nice little house. Actually, it's really not that little. Three full levels, all of which we utilize, plus a front and a back deck (we even have a porch swing!). But, you can still tell that prior to our marriage, there were two bachelors there, and even more prior to that, a single man with no sense of artistry. That being said, everything is still a bit bland. And that's after several months I spent trying to make everything cleaner (oh, so much cleaner - the bathroom hadn't been cleaned for six months. Six. Months.), more organized, and more homey. Though, I'm proud of the work I did - and those who knew the house when the guys lived there have complimented me greatly on the work I've done - it really is missing everything feminine, homey, and Pinteresty I would like it to be.

   Before you tell me that it's not really bad and it's all in my head, let me say one thing:

The walls are all white.

   Living room?

White. Canvas courtesy of my little sister :]

   Kitchen?

White.

Bathroom?

White. With hideous curtains that can't go away until I find better ones.

Bedroom?

Not as bad, but still a light blueish grey that makes me slightly less depressed than the white.

Please pause to note that I took a brief hiatus to kill a nasty fuzzy spider. Die, little fuzzy, die!!

   I began realizing the badness in an all white house when I was home alone one day, feeling a bit down, looked at the walls, and started crying. Tad came home and I told him that I want to paint soon, and again began crying when explaining how the walls made me feel. Mean, dismal things, they are.

   Anyway, this is not something that has stemmed from jealousy in a friend's home, but it's come from how depressing these white walls are, and how much I want to start off this marriage in a place that feels like home. So, we have made some plans to get painting underway (if I have my way, the living room will be done this month), and I've sprung some ideas for adding flair here and there along the way. It's making me very glad that we now have a Hobby Lobby in the city that I can go to! I'm excited to start adding some happy color to the house, but I'm a little anxious because of my lack of creativity. Any ideas towards some cheap, easy crafting or decor would be appreciated!