Building a home and owning a house are two different assets and in the end its what you experience in your house that makes it a home.

My childhood involved many house moves due to a military life that demanded a mobile family full of constant change. Military or base housing offered the basics although I don’t remember living a basic life inside our house, I remember the good and hard times I experienced with my family. My mother has the gift of hospitality, what I call a gentle southern hospitality that makes you feel right at home. A house can never achieve this ‘feel’ no matter how grand or glamorous the structure.

When I began my family and the pursuit of making our house a home I realized that the ‘feel’ of home comes from a place of love in the heart of the parent(s). It is born out of a tireless labor of love and devotion to the family. An act of humility in my mother’s case, a choice to serve unconditionally those to whom she has been entrusted to, often putting her own desires on hold for many years.

Today is my wedding anniversary. We have been blessed with three children. The youngest is in college and the oldest birthed a son a few months ago. Now more than ever I understand that its not about the the house as much as it is about the home you design within the house and the relationships you cultivate.

Decorating trends will live on and your next decorating project will undoubtedly bring out your passion and excitement for the difference it will make in your home. But keep in mind that seasons change and the memories of what happened in your house will be the memories that made it ‘feel’ like home. A labor of love, acts of devotion, it was home by design.