Why shouldn't you enjoy your great home by looking and admiring it! I thought that was the whole point-to live in a soul nourishing space! Being able to create exactly that lovely feeling that you get in a great room, wow, how wonderful, not everyone can do that. For some of us an expensive false start or two has made us less inclined to be adventurous and so the rooms are generally less reflective of that perfect feeling, although sometimes I manage in spite of myself. ;)

You're right, practigal. That is truly the whole point of creating beautiful spaces. It's just the actual act of "sitting and looking around" strikes me as funny sometimes. I'm not sure why! :-) I think it's actually become a hobby of mine or something.

I simply enjoy being in it because I love the feeling my house creates. Other than that, my house keeps me very busy especially i spring and fall, not in winter (hibernation time!) and summer I'm not even there so am bored out of my mind.

For me my home is more a feeling than a look. It's greater than the sum of its parts which are actually just things I've acquired. They aren't me. Lately I've been acutely aware of how light affects me. I'll be sitting on my couch reading a book and look up. I feel infused with peace. Whoa! What is it? It's the light (natural) and it's doing a beautiful number on me.

My biggest challenge is to achieve what I have envisioned in my head. Once I'm satisfied it is as or better, I look around for the next project. The exchange on this site provides lots of inspiration, including modifying something I hadn't considered b4.

As to wondering if others will share my delight, I usually don't b/c I struggle with the thin line between being proud of my achievement vs bragging, so I just don't.

Ida, I could have written your post! Except the living in the Philippines.

I started laughing about walking outside, then back in. I thought I was the only one to do that!

When my DH sees me looking around, it makes him nervous, wondering what I plan on next! I don't think I'll ever really be finished. I like having projects and I look at to many magazines!

I sit and admire my home too Ida, also with a cup of tea. In my case, I am not admiring my creation as much as being amazed that I actually got it done and like it. I don't have the decorating gene or even an overwhelming interest in it, but I know a pretty look when I see it. I think everyone wants their house to look nice, but for some of us, it's a difficult experience.

I enjoy being in my house and feeling its comfort wrapped around me. I enjoy the textures and colors and views. We've started searching for a smaller house and I can tell already that I am going to miss many aspects of my current house.

In a different house, I remember that when I finally pulled the guest bedroom together with the perfect (to me) bedding, I kept walking into it just to see how good it looked.

Like many of you, my house is my little heaven and haven. I have redone every room in this old house so that it reflects our taste and is comforting to be in. So yes, sometimes I just sit an admire the fruits of our labor. Our favorite times are when it is filled with our family and friends.

"I simply enjoy being in it because I love the feeling my house creates." That is me. And YES to the feeling that our home is our haven - often from a crazy world - or crazy lives maybe LOL. While I don't often sit and admire things (not that there is anything wrong with that), I do ENJOY our home and the atmosphere. Ditto to the thoughts of enjoying the times of opening our home to family and friends - creating memories.

I first joined the decorating forum when I bought my first house. I was 44 at the time, took me a LONG time to get there. It needed some redoing, mostly cosmetic and figuring out the best furniture arrangements. I remember just walking around my house and sighing and thinking how HAPPY it made me to have my little nest. I cried and cried when I had to sell it. Hopefully someday I will get another nest of my own.

We built our house when we were 21 and 22. Even back then DH was doing most of our building and now remodeling. We nearly doubled the size of the house in 2000 and have been remodeling ever since. It was just perfect (for us) the first time (1981) and now that we're done with all the remodeling, it's perfect once more :) Yes, I do sit and admire the fruits of DH's labor. I can't take credit for any of the physical work. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am that he is so talented when it comes to all thing construction and his design ideas. There are so many things in this home that I say, "oh, that's my favorite element...no, THAT'S my favorite...or is it this <lol> From the 45 degree angled wood ceiling on the front porch to the rounded Black Galaxy bar base (cut in three staggering vertical lengths) to the beautiful travertine and sea tone glass tile accents in my bathroom, he's put his heart and soul into creating a home that we could never afford if we had to hire contractors. Not to mention I know we have a much better quality of work than if someone else had done it. So I sit back and admire the fruits of HIS labor and then I sit back and admire him :)

Awww, Monica. That is such a sweet tribute to your wonderful husband. It's wonderful when a house becomes a reflection of a family's life that way.

Agree with Linelle; we go for the 'feeling'. Our tastes have changed a bit over the years so the most recent remodeling/reshuffling reflects that. The redone spaces "fit" us and our current lifestyle, better than before.

How I feel in the space is very important to me as well. The weather is so unpredictable here in Missouri, so I wanted a bright kitchen since lack of sunshine really affects me. That's why I chose white cabinets.

The living spaces still aren't completed, but I do sit occasionally and just enjoy what has been done.

I agree with many of you that our home is a place of comfort and peace in a sometimes chaotic outside world. I am in the process of redoing some things cosmetically, and I think I will enjoy it even more when those are done.

I also love our yard and all of the trees that we have watched grow over the last 18 years. I do like to sit and enjoy our home (often with a cup of tea), and am so thankful for it and all of the wonderful memories of raising our children here.

Yes, I sit and admire various things inside and out, every single day. I love my home - it's my refuge from an increasingly vulgar world. And I cherish the garden my late husband and I created together. I have continued to improve it and think he would approve. My home is the story of my life. I'll never understand people getting rid of everything and getting all new things. Everything in my house has a story.

Ida, you're in the honeymoon phase right now. I was the same way when we did a major remodel and add-on. DH and I would sit and just gush about our house.

It's five years later and I'm already bored and want to redecorate. lol

I'm happy with my house and I always want to redecorate! I feel happiest about my house in the winter, when I'm cozy inside with fireplace going, dogs laying around, maybe a cup of tea...in the summer I'm more antsy, possibly because we also have a beach house and I'd rather be there! (And I've hardly spent any time there this summer.) I also like that most of the art and tchotchkes have meaning -- things we have bought while traveling, or that the kids have created. Finally, it's fun and gratifying when friends (or random people like an electrician) admire what we've created.

Anyone can live in a house, but it's the time, effort and expense of customizing and decorating it that makes it home. Living in our home and appreciating that we have it is how we enjoy the fruits of our labor. It's been several years now that we've been here and I love it more and more all the time.

I have to say though that much to my DH's dismay, I doubt I'll ever get to a point where I won't have a project or improvement I want to do. It's like a hobby and I get depressed when I don't have something in the works.

I'm happiest with my house when I'm sitting on the back patio. This is where I spent all my off time. I don't have it exactly how I want it yet as the patio flooring needs to be updated but I have worked hard on the landscape and lighting and also had the pool remodeled . When I first moved here the two story house on the end corner could be viewed and that bothered me tremendously. Now you can see green space and planting beds. One more growing season and the new trees will have completely obstructed any sign of near by dwellings. I love my oasis. I especially love it at night with the pool light glowing and the landscape lighting casting a glow up the palm trees.

My whole house opens to the patio/pool area with four sets of sliders and one triple so it is part of the interior decor .

I always feel so much more thankful when sitting outside in my small piece of tropical nature. In the short time I have lived here many lasting memories have already been created with family and friends.

Sue, that's when I like my house the most also, when the FP is going and the two dogs are sprawled out. But then I can't enjoy the front porch which is my happy place in the summer because it faces north. lol

Oh I much prefer the light and feel of winter, especially at night. I just barely get by during the 100+ degree temps of east Texas that can start as early as June and last as late as Sept. But cold weather and early darkness = more cozy time, more dimmed light time, break out the heavier Scentsy fragrances, enjoy the REAL burning fireplace (complete with dog laying next to it). It's SO close but yet so far away :) BTW, sitting outside in the summer in the dense pine forests of east Texas is usually not doable unless one douses him/herself in OFF and have a big fan blowing full blast to ward off the bugs. It's not too relaxing <lol> But there are a couple of months during the year where it's not too hot or too cold or too buggy.

I also like to sit with a cup of coffee and just enjoy looking at certain parts of my house that I've recently finished decorating. I'm the same with my gardening and plants that I've been putting in the ground this summer.

I guess I like to look at pretty things and the spaces I've created for my family :)

IdaClaire articulates my feelings so exactly, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way and does those very things. I take it one step further and photograph all the rooms and have files of pictures of the house and the garden, which is another passionate interest. I also find that with photos I can analyze what's wrong and can find ways to fix that. It's become a great outlet for whatever creativity I have, and a great source of happiness. I'm happy when other people like it, but we prefer to live quietly, just the two of us most of the time, so it's really for me, and I've really immersed myself in enjoying my home. Rejoining the forum when I decided to "freshen" the house has only increased the fun that I've had with it, and the advice I've had here has often steered me in the right direction. I enjoy making small changes to keep it all fresh and interesting and to channel my creative juices. I've enjoyed everyone's comments but IdaClaire's sound so close to how I feel that she feels like a kindred soul (except substitute diet Pepsi for the tea!).

I enjoy it by letting it mature to adulthood.

justerrilyn we are kindred spirits! I love our outside area and spend lots of time there. Our back is completely private - I even take the pup out in the mornings in my nightie LOL. We're wanting to re-do some things out there and I'm looking forward to that. I'm NOT looking forward to shorter days, fall/winter clothes and bad weather (although thankfully our winters are usually fairly mild).

Tina, I think we are lol. I still need to do some planting on the side yard. I can still see part of that 2nd story house from a certain angle. There is a nice bamboo tree nursery nearish that has a great selection of the non- invasive kind so I need a few more trees from there. I moved here from acreage so I'm not used to the close proximity of other homes. Don't want to see them. Husband thinks he's gradually going to flow me into smaller and smaller till we wind up in a condo. It will never happen. Without my own private little green spaces I would shrivel up and die. Might as well drain me of blood because my spirt would be gone.

I enjoy sitting in the living room with a good book and a cup of tea. My other favorite spot is outside under the pergola when the wisteria is in bloom, looking our at the garden.

Good topic, and no it's not conceited at all to feel pride in your home and how you have decorated it.

I'm another who often wanders around, usually with a critical eye as to what needs to be tweaked, updated, etc. Both inside and outside since I spent a lot of spring and summer in my gardens. I sometimes start a list of projects I want to start, not that they all get done. But I do enjoy walking into the den, sinking down in the sofa and getting that 'ahhhh' feeling at the end of a long day.

And I love sitting on our back porch in early morning or on mild evenings and enjoying the silence and the garden views. And an occasional deer wandering out of the woods, the birds, butterflies & hummingbirds going after the blooming things I planted for them.

What a lovely question to ask. People love to talk about their homes! I built my house to be like a vacation for me. My work requires a lot of travel, so when I have time off, the only place I want to go is home. Our house is in the country, quiet, feels like vacationing at a country estate. At least to me it does, but it's not like I'm trying to portray Downton Abbey or anything of that level. Lot of cozy places to read, watch the telly, sit outside at a fireplace and watch the leaves turn, a great kitchen to cook in with my husband or another couple or two. Our master bath has the spa feel to it, and I insisted on a claw foot tub. We're in a country club neighborhood, so there's golf, tennis, swimming, and a clubhouse restaurant and lounge just down the fairway. And it means everything to me. I love being home. It is my sanity and sanctuary.

Like so many of you here, I've always been very affected by my surroundings. Be it a classroom, a home, work, business, restaurant, shop, etc. Depressing-to-me places make me want to be anywhere else. Inviting places, do just the opposite. This need is what inspires and strongly urges us to create nurturing, beautiful-to-us places to live and work. I've personally felt this way as far back as I can remember. A four year old telling my mother that we needed to move the sofa here or a painting there . . . and drawing my own "paintings" on the walls where I thought they should be when she didn't comply, complete with frames . . . using her many lipsticks.

I like that I've been able to create a warm, inviting, beautiful, nurturing home for myself, my family and friends. I did it with my first apartment and every place I've lived in since. And, yes, I love to enjoy my rooms and vignettes when they're finished. Our living room and master bedroom cocoon me. Our kitchen inspires me. Our family room is a great place to lounge with feet up on the coffee table and visit with family or friends. They invite me in. Make me smile. Nurture me. Admiring them comes with the territory (LOL). "Savor" is an even better way to describe it.

These warm Summer days, it's my small, walled garden that calls me most often. My flowers are all madly blooming now. The fountain attracts all sorts of our mountain birds. The high adobe walls cocoon me, while still letting in the view of our mountains behind us. I love sitting out there in the morning, patio umbrellas open, and after dark with the garden and tree lights on, admiring and enjoying everything while I read a bit or chat with DH. It may not be everyone's perfect garden or home, but isn't that what makes each of our homes special? They work for us. Make us happy. Nurture us. And, if we're wise, we allow ourselves times to sit back and just savor it all.

Simple answer: I work from home. We custom built 17 years ago and I LOVE this home. I own a business and I refuse to have outside office space. I have tried it and failed, I found myself spending minimal amount of time in the office and always wanting to be home. Nowdays when I have to meet clients I meet them at their office or I rent conference room space. I love being in this home every day, appreciating it's beauty and I love to entertain. There is not one day that goes by that I don't appreciate how blessed I truly am. We purchased and renovated a beach home this year and I feel the same way about our beach house. It is exactly how we want it, a retreat, my sanctuary.