Decorating

Is that it's officially spring on Tuesday (despite what the foot of snow still in parts of my garden tells us)? Or perhaps that we have an IEP evaluation for Sophie on Wednesday and we want to look like "good parents"? Or maybe it's that our 2 year anniversary of The Big Move is coming up?

In any case, these last 2 weekends have seen a massive increase in our decorations around our house. Yes, we've (and by we, I mean my wife) have managed to keep a seasonal wreath on our door (who knew that was thing!) and a seasonal tablecloth on the table (including the garish orange pumpkin one for most of October and November! (note from wife - this was picked out by the 5 year old!)). But these are all temporary and small things. We've had a few family heirlooms and knick-knacks on the mantel place and on display in the spare room, but the only piece of art is a watercolor painting from Target because we felt like we should have something.

I was always slightly bothered that there was nothing on Jake and Sophie's walls in particular - again, their rooms and indeed our house are not lacking for books, toys and other personal touches, but there was nothing in there to make them into a proper kid's room.

All that has now changed. We have the most beautiful map of the White Mountains hiking trails hanging behind our couch (thank you Karyn!), with a stunning wooden frame. I've been told I'm not allowed to mark on the ones that I've done, but this seems a waste - we'll see who wins that one! My wife brought back some fancy wrapping paper from her recent trip to the UK which has world maps and a "map" of the solar system, so we've framed these and hung them in the kid's rooms. We've also added some artwork that we brought with us from the UK, and some that we've borrowed from the in-laws that my wife used to have in her room as a kid. Finally, we strung up some flower garlands in Sophie's room, and a ring of world flags in Jake's.

The overall effect throughout the house is to make it feel more like a home. This is strange to say, as we've now lived here longer than we did at Church Lane (our first married house) and it is most definitely "home". But I think there is a difference between somewhere feeling like our home (where my wife and kids are) and a building feeling like a home, where it looks lived in and personalised to the people living there. I'm not sure that pictures on the wall is the only way to achieve it, but putting up all those frames has made me so happy and rooted that there must be something in it.

We've still got a whole pack of pictures and paintings from our time back in Leeds, as well as plans for a family photo wall and a Forbes Wolfson Fine Art gallery, which all feel like exciting thoughts moving forward towards the start of our third year here. I'm not going to bore you with pictures - if you want to see how we've decorated, make plans to come visit!