There's no doubt about it - I'm a homebody. There's nothing better than walking through the front door after a weekend away, a day or even a few hours out. Closing the door behind me. Kicking off my shoes. And being home. I love to travel. I love to be out doing things. But I love coming home at the end of it.
I've been thinking about home and what it means recently as we're on the cusp of owning our own home again. We've been living in a rented apartment for the last 20 months. It was supposed to be temporary but...here we are 20 months later. We moved here looking for a refuge. A place to figure out the next step in our lives. As I'm such a homebody where we did that was important.
Now that - fingers crossed (I have to keep saying that as house buying in the UK is a rocky business) - we're coming to the end of our time here, I've been thinking about our current home and what a fabulous job it's done for us.
We arrived a little battered. A little shell shocked from the unexpected turn our life had taken. Signing the lease was a leap of faith. We had no way of knowing how much we'd come to love living here - the apartment itself, the technicolour sunsets from our huge windows, the area too - and how this little, supposed-to-be-temporary apartment would become a real home. Our lives aren't, and won't be, perfect but we'll leave here stronger, and knowing that we can deal with whatever is on the menu for us next.
This photo sang the warmth and welcome of home for me. It's the beautiful mix of flowers, the hurricane lamps, the light, the open gate. I'm pleased to say that our new home - fingers crossed - has a similar little garden gate and flower-bordered path leading up to the front door. Perhaps that's why this image struck a cord.
I hope you'll come and visit.
x
(Image: Style Me Pretty)
Can't resisit a little more on the subject of special, hideaway places at home. Who isn't tempted by a secret garden? A place to get lost among trees and flowers, with birds and butterflies for company. And a few special people too.
Imagine a perfect day.
It starts with a pre-brunch stroll under the arbour...
Then you follow a hydrangea-lined path to brunch in your vintage greenhouse...
A late-afternoon snooze in the sunshine...
The day ends with dinner hidden among the trees...
When can you come over?
x
(Images: Architectural Digest, l'elegance du herisson, The Secret Garden, Sandy Koepke Interior Design)