Life at home should be filled with joy, peace, and love. Our homes ought to provide us with comfort and be safe havens from the busyness and occasional storms of the world ourside. They should also be places of beauty and creativity. They should be nests for our families to enjoy company, recreation, and laughter. They should be quiet places for us to experience God, pray, and study. Our homes should welcome us, our families and friends in with warmth, rest, and a place to hang our hearts.

The first step in creating a beautiful homelife is in dedicating your family and home to God. Proverbs 15:17 and 17:1 reminds us that it is better to to have a "meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred" and "dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting and strife." In other words, the most important thing about your home is not having lots of fine things and luxuries, but have love, peace and comfort.

From there, we can think about how our home expresses this our family's likes and desires. We all have different styles and preferences, but what matters most in home decorating is how comfortable and peace you feel in coming home to the place you lay your head. Whether you live in a house, apartment, or rented room, your residence can be a place you are happy to come back to.

Each of us has a God-shaped vacuum in our hearts, and this vacuum is evident in our longing for a place to call home. While we will never be completely fulfilled on this side of eternity, God has given us the ability to taste a little bit of heaven on earth in a happy home here and now. This sort of a home is not made by fancy things, but by the love we put into it. There is no substitute for good relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children. No amount of fancy furniture, fine window dressings, or paintings will make up for love in the house.

But there are some things we can do to make our places of dwelling into homes. We can begin by keeping things neat and clean. I like to fill my rooms with things that mean something personally to me, whether they are photographs of loved ones, special artwork, mementos from a lovely vacation, etc. Our homes say something about us and what we deem valuable.

There are also some decorating tips that can be helpful. Firstly, color can create a mood for your rooms. Bright colors are cheerful and evoke energy. Soft hues are comforting and good choices for bedrooms. Dark colors can be cozy, but make sure you have sufficient lighting in a room of jewel tones.

Secondly, choose a theme and stick with it. This doesn't mean you have to buy only matching curtains and pillows for your bedroom set, but it does mean that it is probably a good idea to stick with a country pattern if you decide to put a quilt on your bed.

Finally, pick things that you really like. Don't be afraid to choose an original piece even if it doesn't perfectly match with the rest of your furniture. If you really like it, it will find a place in your room and heart for it.

Related Links
Davenport House
Keeping Hearth and Home Together
A Pocket Full of Posies
Romantic Homes