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A Storied Home

Treasures from travels or yesteryear offer memories at every turn

Home is a treasure trove. Think of every place you've traveled to and every meaningful item you've brought back, like a bird with a twig to its nest. When I first moved into my home I was 23 years old, almost entirely house broke, and my tiny sense of interior design was in fact limited to just one room, like the apartments or dorm rooms I'd had in the past. Taking on a whole house felt daunting and expensive. Although, if you know where to start, the rest kind of falls into place.

It all fit into a two-horse trailer and the back of my pickup truck. Everything. My clothes, a few pieces of furniture, several boxes of books. Oh, and the horse, too! But the books were a staple that I did't expect. After leaving a plum job in publishing to follow my horse enthusiast lifestyle, I had a collection of books that were too dear to leave behind in some storage facility. When I visited a local antique store I found the perfect bookshelf, complete with wallpaper on the back wall that had been painted over. I don't recall how much it was but it sure was inexpensive so I loaded it up and hauled it home and stacked those books along its shelves. Inside each cover, a hand written note or signature from authors I'd met or sent a copy to be signed. Each one housed a memory. Each one was a relationship with my past.

When I worked at a dude ranch one summer, a few ranch hands were branding their hats before calling it a day. I took mine off, revealing a sweaty head, hair all matted down from a long, hot day, and asked if I could get a brand, too. That same hat, which I no longer wear, hangs above my bed alongside another. The perfect decoration to a modern yet western styled bedroom. On the walls are black and white photos from a cowboy adventure overlooking the Grand Tetons, my son's baptism, an old drawing my mom purchased that has a sweet poem about rocking chairs and growing old scribbled on the side. More memories, more family.

What first-time homebuyers (especially young ones) don't realize is, character takes time. A house starts off as a house, yes, but it eventually turns into a home. I find that it helps to be minimal and meaningful, meaning that saving and displaying everything might lead to a cluttered and chaotic appearance, but picking and carefully choosing what items walk through life with us makes those chosen items all the more special.

If you've just moved here and you're struggling to find the right style for your home, or you've been here all your life and you can't seem to relate to anything within your walls, I recommend taking a trip down memory lane, or visit a local shop like Made For Home. Dig up those old photo albums and pluck one or two from the crispy plastic pages. Dust off those baby shoes and buy a shadow box so a childhood photo can keep them company in a safe but stellar space. Or find something new with a friend or relative. There are so many ways to pull richness into our daily lives by harvesting what we already have. If it has a story, let's share it. 

There are so many ways to pull richness into our daily lives by harvesting what we already have. If it has a story, let's share it. 

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