I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I had a very nice visit with a dear friend I hadn’t seen in a long time and, while she was here, we spent some time in the National Building Museum checking out the Lego and House & Home exhibits.
Legos are awesome. I don’t have much else to say about that exhibit. Moving on now.
The House & Home exhibit was incredible. It’s an intriguing concept, House versus Home. What is the difference, anyway? I’m sure everyone has their own definitions, but I always think of “House” as the physical structure and “Home” as the abstract feeling we associate with the structure. That’s not to say the house isn’t important. One thing I read yesterday that really resonated with me was this:
A house is a portrait of its inhabitants.
I don’t think a house needs to be custom or completely renovated after a person/couple/family moves in for this to be true. I don’t even think a house needs to be owned to reflect the verity of this statement. As renters, we make a “Wish List” of things we need in our apartment. Once we find a place that fits our criteria we move in and make our House a Home. The fascinating part of it is that our things would look and feel completely different if they were in another space. So the space we choose to personalize is just as important as the direction we take once we’re inside. I don’t think my apartment would “feel” like me if I had chosen a completely different space in another location.
The Home aspect of the exhibit was especially enchanting. It’s something I find myself thinking about a lot when I’m planning out interiors. I always say, “Fill your home with things you love.” If you buy furniture or accessories just to fill space without taking the time to find things that speak to you, then you will end up feeling like you’re in a hotel, a catalog, or (gasp) someone else’s home. Your home should be a comforting sanctuary; a place that wipes away the day when you walk in. It should also be a reflection of you. Every time I take a trip with my husband we end up finding something — a tiny figurine, a tapestry, a painting, a piece of furniture — that we both saw and instantly fell in love with. We have all those things in our house and everywhere we look is a special memory.
I think my favorite part though was the video series. It was displayed on two huge screens that came together at an angle, like two walls of a house. It followed various people through their household routines and it was absolutely MESMERIZING. To see people in their personal environments, doing the quiet things they do when no one is around, was one of the most captivating and engaging things I’ve ever seen installed in a museum. I loved it and I can’t recommend it enough. If you’re in the DC area you should definitely make time to see this.
What makes your house specific to you? What do you have in your home that comforts you or makes you happy? Do you have a different definition of these words?
