Wanna Be a Steader!

What is "Homey"?

Question for you...What is "homey" to you?  Or...How would you describe "homey"?

We live about 35 miles from our church.  Yes, there are great churches that are closer than ours, but we've been at this one for nearly 12 years and just do not feel called to leave it at this time.  Our girls have been there since they were 8 and 5 yeas old and, other then their dear and close homeschool friends around here, they also have good friends at church.

Last month was our youngest dd's 17th b-day and all she wanted to do was invite some of her Sunday School/Youth Group friends to a day at a mall and then to come up to our rural area to our house to spend the night and then all go to church together the next morning.  (Another thing that it did was show these friends just how far we travel AT LEAST twice a week and it would help them to understand the sacrifice we make just to worship w/them.)

All but one of the 4 girls (there's a city slicker in every crowd!  lol ) who came up LOVED the country drive and the little rural town we live in.  One had never seen "a real live" red-tailed hawk until she came up, they LOVED the elk farm that's just a mile from our house, the coming dusk brought a deer out of the woods on the way home...and they liked our old 170+ year old home.  Even though we are JUST inside our town limits, our house had once been a farm house when it was built.  Of course, it's been added on to over the years...particularly the 2 baths, kitchen, electricity and FURNACE!   

Two of the girls are sisters and are from a family that has certainly had it's struggles...mostly financially (which we have gone through!).  These sweet teens really enjoyed being treated to lunch at the mall and the country drive out to our house.  While the girls did all their girlie things upstairs (our girls' bedrooms, bath and an old fashioned "loft" w/a small T.V. are upstairs ~~ it's Girl Domain!), they watched DVDs, giggled, polished nails and fixed each other's hair; I was downstairs making pizza, baking some quick sweet goodies, etc.  After our pizza supper, the girls decided to watch a movie on our larger T.V. downstairs w/my dh and I.  The 2 sisters came in to gab w/me for a few minutes while the others were picking the movie and they went on and on about how they loved our old house.  One said, "it's the kind of house I would like to have someday.  It's so homey!"

Well, I have to tell you that THAT is the way to my heart!  I LOVE homey!  That is the highest compliment that anyone could ever pay me about my home.  I have always tried to make my home homey.  I have always wanted my home to be a place where people could come in and feel comfortable...I never wanted anyone to come in and wonder just where they could sit, to feel as if they couldn't touch anything.  My goal has been to make my house A HOME for my family and a comfortable place for our extended family and our friends to visit and enjoy.

What's homey to me?

~Antiques...especially if they are more on the primitive side and are usable.  I collect tins ~ antique and reproduced ~ and actually use nearly all of them.  I store noodles, pastas, candy, cookies.  In the larger ones I store my bags of flour, suger, Sucanat, baking soda/powder, salt and other bulk items until I re-fill my canisters.  Speaking of canisters...I like to use old, usually colored, canning jars as extra canisters.  I like the way they look on my counters.

~I have many of my dear Bigmom's (maternal gr-ma) things.  I don't know how I got them, as my mom is the 'baby' of her 14 children, but I'm SO eternally thankful that I have them.  There is a memory attached to each one...kitchen utensils, pots/pans/cast iron skillet that I use nearly everyday, end tables, what-not table, paintings, quilts...even her apron and I make tea everyday w/her tea kettle.

~Anything "country"!  All of the above certainly fit into this category as well.  And that could include baskets, painted and worn furniture, an old Whooseir Hutch, dry sink, pie cabnet, plates/platters/place settings, antique tins, old or hand made display shelves, roll-top desk, secretary hutch, old iron bed frame made up w/those home-made quilts, rag rugs.

~Enjoying an evening sitting out on the front porch.  Where has that gone?  No one seems to do that anymore.  We also enjoy our back yard, but sitting on the swing on our front porch does a body good.

~The kitchen table.  We live in fast and furious times.  Especially w/a teen and a dd who is now a young lady in our house.  Everyone has their own schedules, their own groups of friends and their own responsibilities.  But the one place where we all seem to meet - as many nights a week as we possibly can - is at the kitchen table for supper.  This is a place where we connect, catch up, laugh, share ideas, entertain guests...and pray.  And, OF COURSE, we enjoy good times over good food!    

I'm sure once I sign off of here that I'll think of many more things...but I would really like to hear YOUR ideas.  So please tell me...What is your idea of homey?  What is homey to you?

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><     

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11:33, 2008-Apr-4 .. Posted by gabbie427

Just by description, it even sounds homey! What a great compliment to receive!!!!

God's Blessings,
Amy Jo

Homey

05:08, 2008-Apr-5 .. Posted by Anonymous

To me homey is what ever makes you happy and makes your family happy.
I do love your description...sounds like me!!!
Love
Tammy
ACountryHomemaker

I love all the same things!

05:18, 2008-Apr-5 .. Posted by meadow

My home feels homey to me when I fill it with those types of things, and others have expressed to me that it was "homey" also:-)

Homey

10:01, 2008-Apr-5 .. Posted by heritagehill

Kim,
It sounds like you described it just as I would. I also love old things, to look at and to use. Your home sounds very inviting and warm. Glad you could share it with the girls, that was a special time.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Marilyn

Homey

10:23, 2008-Apr-7 .. Posted by Nurseforlife

Homey to me is a peaceful relaxing day here at home with friends and family. A good meal, good conversation and just the simple act of being together with family and loved ones. LIke you said sitting on the porch or sitting outside and the deck watching the sunset is an example. I would like all of my friends and family to feel like they are home when they enter our home. BTW my husband and I both loved the bread!

Edited by Nurseforlife on 2008-Apr-7 at 09:25

Your home sounds so cozy

02:17, 2008-Apr-8 .. Posted by peacefulplainness

Kim, thank you for your comment at my blog. I love old-fashioned things, and an old-fashioned, country style house. We are missionaries living in a rented apartment with a modern feel. Since we're so temporary I haven't tried to collect anything except necessities, but one day, when we settle down at home, I hope to make my home a lot more homey than the one we have now!

I SO LOVE YOUR Home!

10:54, 2008-Apr-9 .. Posted by afarmgirl

Kim, thanks for sharing this! It sounds like a dream come true :) I love reading your blog. You are a wise and wonderful Godly woman whom I admire greatly :) Homey is where my heart is :) Soft, welcoming, old world, americana folk stuff :) But most of all, Where Jesus lives and reigns first and foremost that it attracts all to Him is homey to me ;)

Nannie
A Country Homemaker

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07:16, 2008-Apr-10 .. Posted by Anonymous

Oh, I just love your blog and I REALLY love the title!! - I happened upon you while visiting my friend - Amy at http://www.homesteadblogger.com/SimpleFolk
She's been a sweet friend for a number of years and I just love to hear about her homestead and keep dreaming and living through her blessings. --- Having a home with acreage - out in the country - is for sure my husband and my dream and is VERY homey to us. We love the solitude and QUIET. We love the idea of looking out our back window and seeing wildlife and farmlife - very near each other. Our home is on the edge of what begins a "rural" area in our town --- and it's also the border for the "suburb" part - so - we are caught in the middle --- we do have a farmer's field behind us - and for that - I'm EXTREMELY grateful. I can't even imagine houses behind us.
What I also call homey is how we decorate - I decorate in primarily PRIMITIVE decor. It feels so warm and cozy. I think the colors that we use - the warm earth tones are also key to that comfy feeling. When people are here for a visit - they feel - AT HOME, COMFORTABLE and COZY - that's what it's all about to us. --- You can find my blog at...http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/FHCJourney/ - I hope to visit here again, sometime...Charity

Homey

08:37, 2008-Apr-14 .. Posted by Anonymous

Love your blog! Glad I found it! Homey to me is my log cabin w/ my family all snug, seeing my cat curled up on the couch, and fresh cookies baking.
Come visit me if you get the chance - www.logcabininmichigan.blogspot.com .

Looking forward to your future posts!!
Shell

Hi Shell...

03:46, 2008-Apr-15 .. Posted by wannabeone

...Hey I LOVED (loved, LOVED) your blog. I tried to comment but, as I am not a google member, for some reason it wouldn't let me commnet like I can on "Chickens in the Road." But...just so you know...I plan on reading it OFTEN!!

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

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08:11, 2008-Apr-16 .. Posted by Suzanne

Kim, I want to come raid your house now, LOL. I love antiques and primitives and family heirlooms! By the way, when I was a kid, we drove 60 miles to church! To a different state! My dad was a preacher. That was from Maryland to Virginia. When we went to church in West Virginia when he preached at a church there (and we still lived in Maryland) we went for the whole weekend!