Thursday, December 6, 2012

Jeepers Creepers...We're Housewalk Peepers!

 
Time once again for legally peeping inside the homes of strangers at the annual
St. Joseph's Women's Guild
Doorways to Christmas
Housewalk.
 
And, oh how we love this! 
It is such fun to see how others decorate for the holidays.  This year 
 seemed to have a strong emphasis on letter graphics with words on the wall, arty and vintage posters (even eye charts like we used as youngsters), and advertisements
 like a menu and a toothpaste ad.

 
Check out this cozy office niche with inspirational quotes painted in white on
chocolate-colored walsl:
 
"finish what you start"
"be thankful"
"keep it simple"
 
 
 
In another home, the woman of the house is an artist and had made dimensional red letters with sayings attached right to the walls.  Here in the foyer you could see
 
"When my heart finds Christmas"
"Deck the halls"
and (not shown because someone was in the way)
"Baby it's cold outside"
 
But my favorite quote was in the kitchen and it said, (again not shown because someone was in my way):
 
"There is no skinny Santa in here."
 
Out of the five houses we toured, we had our favorites for various reasons.
Some appeared magazine perfect, others had pictures galore of family members
who obviously adored being together - very personal views into the life they share daily.  Others had just a few glimpses into day-to-day life and I respect their privacy with that.
 
Another house had books - lots of books - visible in nearly every room, including the dining room.  And in the living room, the books were arranged by color of the book jackets.
 
 
 
As a librarian, I can say this could be a Godsend for the patron who knows what the cover of the book looks like, but has no clue whatsoever what/who the title/author could be, but it is blue.
 
Now, let's talk about the trees we saw on our Housewalk journey.  Oh my!
One house had 60ish trees.  Really, that's what the mini guide pamphlet said - I certainly didn't count them all!  That's a lot of trees. 
I think of that house now as the Imelda Marcos of trees house.
Some trees had themes - sports, princesses, handmade ornaments, cookie cutters, etc.
 
 

 
Here is my own version of of their room in my humble home with our tree:
 
 
We have no loft area, no 2 story windows, no imported Persian rugs, no
valuable ornaments, no vases (vah-ses) holding dozens of fresh tulips and roses,
but it still feels like a place I'd want to live a full, blessed life in!
 
Happy Home-adays!
 
May you and yours feel warmth and love in your home, no matter what it looks like,
whether or not it is a "feature" home on a Housewalk or looking like it needs some TLC.
It is shelter and there are those who would give anything for that...let's remember them at the holidays with anything we can give or donate.
 
 

No comments:

Post a Comment