10 THINGS THAT MAKE A BEAUTIFUL HOME

We all love flicking through the glossy pages of magazines and peering into celebrity homes, but to often it is followed with a sigh of 'oh but I could never have that'.
You may not have their home, location or budget and you are constantly aspiring to the home of your dreams, but the essence of creating a home is universal. 
As an Interior Designer I get the opportunity of creating beautiful homes and work with incredible budgets but in the end we are all after the same thing.

1. Shelter - the basics are covered by a roof and walls. Due to poverty, disasters (as we have seen all to often recently with the natural disasters that have hit Far North Queensland, New Zealand and Japan just recently).  Our shelter is a basic necessity and a home provides this.  Size really doesn't matter. Everyone needs a place to call home.

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2. Happiness - if you can walk in your door and have a smile on your face at what you see, then you have a happy home.  Stop wishing and wanting what you don't have, and look at what you DO have and what you can do to make it look and feel better.

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3. Family & friends - A home is a place that is filled with laughter and it has an environment that puts everyone at ease.  A place people want to be.

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4. Food - cafes and restaurants are a wonderful treat but home cooked food feeds the soul.

5. Sanity - Having peace of mind that everything has a place means you aren't scattered all over place. Order creates time for you to do more things instead of wasting your time looking for that lost bill (found one this weekend!), the car keys and falling over all the toys in the house. 
Being organized DOES give you sanity (and sometimes you find cash : another true story!).

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6. Security - displacement is very real and if you have a place you feel you belong to then you know you are wanted and will feel secure about you and how people respond to you.

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7. Nature - our plants are what feed the earth and feed us as people.  There is something about the connection with the earth that brings peace & serenity.  Even if you only have a courtyard, growing herbs in a pot is enough to give you a healthy link with Mother Earth.

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8. Pets - Someone to care for and give back love can add years to your life.  Having a pet means responsibility, but that makes us better people in the long run. For a long time pets have been used for therapy in nursing homes, injured able and brain affected people.  The feeling of having a pet in your life creates a very different love that we have with humans.

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9. Freedom - A home is a place to express who you are and how you want to be without being judged by the world.  You may get judged and laughed at by your immediate family but hey, isn't that what family is for?

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10. Love - after all, love makes the world go round and if you have a home filled with love you really 'have it all'

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What do you think are the elements that make a home? You could agree with one of the above (or even disagree) or you may want to share one of the top things that makes your house I home.  I would love to hear from you.
Shaynna