What Home Means to Me

How I Got Here

I moved! Out of my parents house and into an apartment of my own. There shouldn’t be shame around the fact that I lived with my parents but there is a little bit. When I first moved back home after being abroad in Spain, I didn’t think I would be there for three years. I am lucky to have such a support system and privileged to have had a safe place to live. Living at home allowed me time to figure things out and be financially ready to start renting again.

In the beginning of 2020, I was browsing through Craig’s list and calling landlords for places to rent. But then the pandemic hit and I was forever grateful that I didn’t have to be alone. During quarantine, I think everyone reflected on home a little bit more. We were all stuck in place and so we wanted to make our homes reflect us and work for us. (I repainted and redecorated my childhood bedroom last year to make it feel like a light and airy retreat!)

As I settle into my new place, which I am lovingly referring to as the Pink Apartment (it has pink carpets and pink counters and it used to have pink walls), I’m considering what it means to create a home. I truly believe that home can be a person or a state of mind. You can have home in someone or in just a few belongings that you take from place to place. I mean, I’m a romance writer. Of course I love the troupe when the hero/heroine confesses that they could be anywhere are long as they are with their lover because they are home.

But there is no denying that residing in a physical place is home. Home that makes us feel connected to our roots.

Minimalism, Maximalism, and Cottagecore

I want to live sustainably. I began this blog as a journey to document navigating an eco-friendly lifestyle. And now that is expanding past beauty recipes and crafts to decor. I’ve created a new category on my blog, living, where I’ll be documenting my transformation of my Pink Apartment and continuing to reflect on what it means to reside. Reside in a place and on earth. 

When one thinks of sustainable living, minimalism is the word that comes to mind. Minimalism is only bringing items into your life and your home that serve you and have purpose. This fights consumerism which is an important part of living sustainably. The problem is that minimalism has become an aesthetic itself with very minimal decor, neutral colors, and sleek furniture. Which is the opposite of my style!

Maximalism is filling your space with objects that bring you joy. Objects don’t have to have a ‘use’. Bringing in trinkets and decorations that show your personality, can be a form of creative expression. Just like minimalism has become an aesthetic, I think maximalism already is an aesthetic. But healthy maximalism fights overconsumption and celebrates vibrant and unique spaces.

With both minimalism and maximalism, there is a connotation that they are ‘expensive’. People with minimalist spaces invest in pricey furniture because they don’t buy much. Maximalism looks like a big house filled with things. All of these preconceived notions make me want to distance myself from these terms.

I wouldn’t consider myself a minimalist OR a maximalist but I do hope to use the ideas of both in my apartment. I want to bring things that are necessary. And if something brings me joy, that I consider necessary too. I want to combine the mindset of minimalism with mindset of maximalism.

That’s why I love the emergence of cottagecore. Cottage living inspires the idea of living slowly and connecting with the land. It’s an aesthetic and a lifestyle. It’s about cozy, warm, inviting spaces and a return to traditional home-making skills like baking, gardening, and sewing your own clothes. It’s no surprise that after political turmoil, COVID, natural disasters, and the climate crisis that we are searching for something simpler.

For excluded or marginalized communities, cottagecore offers sanctuary and softness with warm, open arms. It’s something that can be for everyone and fight against formally segregated spaces. As a woman, I can reclaim domestic femininity without feeling like it makes me a bad feminist. The word itself offers a us a way to be seen. And I think that is what home is—a place to be ourselves.

An Invitation

So welcome. Please come on in. I want to welcome everyone into my space and into my life. I’m taking you along as I transform each space with before and after pictures. I hope they can inspire you or give you ideas for your own home.

It’s the Pink Apartment because it is full of pink—carpets, counter tops, cushions, paint, and more carpets. All the walls have been given a fresh coat of white paint (by me, my mom, and my partner— y’all are exceptional) and it has transformed the space into something bright and welcoming. It’s a blank slate.

The apartment is the bottom half of an old 1930’s twin house. The ceiling are tall, the rooms quirky, the floors different in every room, but it’s mine and feeling more and more like me every day. I adore it’s eccentric charm and am filling it with antiques. Okay so it’s not actually Victorian, but I am decorating it like a Victorian cottage.

I’m only bringing in things that give me joy and fit into what I want my space to be—a light, warm, cozy, restful place for nurturing and creating.

Another beautiful thing about cottagecore is that it is inherently sustainable. We can swap plastic objects for wooden and glass to fit the aesthetic. It fights against the idea that you need new and makes owning old cool. The transformation of my space won’t happen in a week. There is a gentler more graceful period of cultivating space instead of transforming. I’m shopping vintage and thrifted which takes time and is climate conscious. Cottage living is about just that… living. Slowing down and romanticizing the everyday moments.

Each piece of furniture has a history just like the apartment. I’m putting my story into the fabric of this place just as I continue to craft my own stories for this blog and my creative writing projects. 

I’m excited and I already feel the transformative power of having my own space—to create, live, love. An extension of my place on earth where we can tend to one another.

Happy Day-