Come Home to Comfort

That's the subtitle on the new July issue of Country Living magazine. It's made me think a little bit about what comfort is and how we achieve it in our homes. I have my ideas and I'll bet you have yours, too. I'd love to hear them. Just leave me a comment in the comment section.

Today I'm thinking about the "coming home" part. I am a home body these days...I'd rather be at home than anywhere else. I love to travel and go new places but I'm always ready to be home. But what do I want to come home to?

Certainly not a laundry room piled with dirty clothes. Or worse-bedroom and bathroom floors piled high with dirty clothes. So, it's necessary to do laundry.

A clean enough house is always nice to come home to. This may surprise some of you, especially those who've been to my house, but I do have a regular "decluttering" ritual. So even if it's a little cluttered when you come over, you should know that it could be worse! I've learned lots of skills for decluttering from various sources-magazines, books, Internet sites. I have taken a few of each of those and made my own ritual. I really have cut out a lot of the clutter in our home. It's an on-going project.

And, as an added bonus, I've discovered with decluttering that the house may not be sparkling, but it looks much cleaner when it's not cluttered. My floors are the bain of my existence..I cannot keep them clean. But a quick sweeping and it's ok...they may not be spotless, but if there's no chunky stuff on the floor, it's ok if someone drops by unexpectedly.

Clean bathrooms are another comfort. Now keep in mind I have three (ok, four) boys in this house...so clean bathrooms are almost in the luxury category. But I'm trying to do better, especially on the front bath. Again, a work in progress. It's becoming a part of my daily ritual to make a swipe through there, too.

Pleasant scents are necessary for coming home to comfort to me. I have found that even unlit, scented candles make a big difference. The trick is finding a scent that you can live with on a daily basis. In the fall and winter, especially over the holidays, the scent of my home is spicy-apples, cinnamon and cloves are likely simmering on the stove when I'm home. In the warm weather, though, it's a little trickier. I have discovered that Aromatics' Summer Sorbet is nice, and so is anything that is lime/coconut scented. Vanilla is a year round favorite with me...and the colors all work well with my decor...yellows, greens, creams and reds fit in almost every room in my house.

I am going to continue exploring this idea of coming home to comfort. Stay tuned!


Later!
Cathy

ps-I'll be waking up my Christmas planning blog, Pumpkins and Reindeer, soon for Christmas in July!! Only 198 days until Christmas!!