Edited with Winners!
The numbers chosen by Random.org for our four initial winners are:
15, 11, 3, and 7
Which means that Nicole, Naomi, Jennie, and Jamie are winners of the HGTV swag! I’ll be in touch with the four of you to ask for mailing addresses. Remember, all the entrants will be entered in the HGTV giveaway for the wine cooler. I’ll update on that when I have news.
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Here at The Happiest Mom, we do a lot of talking about the emotional and spiritual side of happiness. But let’s face it: material happiness counts, too, and our homes can have a big impact on how happy we feel, whether it’s a great color on the bedroom walls or a functional kitchen that makes getting dinner on the table less of a chore.
This week The Happiest Mom is excited to welcome Heather Armstrong, aka Dooce, as part of an HGTV blog tour (did you know Heather blogs at HGTV now?). Read as Heather shares her thoughts about how good design can make for a happier home (and a happier mom). Leave a comment letting us know about the happiest area in your home…four comments will be chosen at random to receive an HGTV onesie, beach towel or phone case. ALL the comments will be entered in HGTV’s giveaway for a Danby 8-bottle countertop wine cooler.
THM: Can you sum up your philosophy of design in a sentence or less?
Dooce: Design should make you feel happy and at times transport you further than that, like your favorite food or your favorite song.
THM: Do you think good design has the potential to make for a happier mom and a happier family?
Dooce: Absolutely! When you surround yourself with beautiful things—pictures, textures, patterns—I think it can help lift your spirit just like surrounding yourself with supportive friends. Also, a component of good design for me is organization, and I know I’m a better parent when I don’t have to go digging through a pile of junk to find what I need. When everything has a designated place and is in that desginated place, I am much more likely to be the patient mother my daughters need me to be.
THM: I have this holy terror of purchasing things to put on walls. I know what I like, but the walls are like big, blank, scary canvases and I’m just not sure how to get started. I know I’m not alone. Any advice for people like me?
Dooce: Just go for it. Put one thing, anything, on the wall and get started. Because you can always start over. And if you buy something for one wall and it turns out that it doesn’t work on that wall, chances are there is another wall where it will work. Also, I’ve designed so many walls in my home from pictures I’ve seen of other people’s homes. Design magazines, design blogs… I pore over them constantly for ideas.
THM: Your daughter Marlo recently started crawling. Have you had to make any changes to your home to accommodate a mobile baby?
Dooce: Oh, yes! We’ve had to move everything that sits under two feet off the ground, and there was A LOT of stuff at that level. We no longer have anything on our coffee table. We had to move the cable box. No one is allowed to take off their shoes and just leave them sitting next to the door. That kid LOVES to shove shoes into her mouth. I know this is temporary, so I’m getting used to the almost stark decor of the living room now knowing that at some point I can put things back.
THM: Any tips for moms with little ones who want to have pretty things around the house but would prefer they didn’t end up ruined or used as projectiles?
Dooce: Well, my first child wasn’t ever interested in using anything as a projectile, so my experience with this is limited to the last two months where Marlo has been mobile. Everything precious I keep out of reach. Period. The mantel over the fireplace is a good spot for me right now. But that might change when she learns how to climb things. Again, I look at it as a temporary situation, so if I have to move things into storage for a little while, not a big deal.
THM: Leta is becoming a big girl! I saw pictures of her bedroom, and it looks like you went with a style that will really grow with her. In fact, I want her bedroom myself. Did you design it that way on purpose, or was it a happy accident?
Dooce: I absolutely did that on purpose. When we moved into this house I had all the rooms painted this incredible shade of cream. That way, I can bring in pizazz and color with everything else, and then if I want to change things, I don’t have to paint the walls. Her room has a bed, a dresser, and a wall of shelving she can use until she leaves home. And then all the pink in her room she can change out really easily to black when she goes through her goth years.
THM: I’d love to hear about the area of your house that makes you the happiest. What does it look like?
Dooce: Our bed! It was one of the first grown-up furniture purchases I ever made, and the style of it is just quintessentially me. I invested in really high thread count sheets that make me feel like a queen when I sleep, and I adore the duvet and pillow cases. It’s the warm hug I need at night to know that I made it through the day, and when I turn over to go to sleep I always feel like I’m right where I’m supposed to be.
Heather Armstrong's Happy Place
Thanks Heather! For me, the “happy place” of my house is my office. Four big windows with their original trim overlooking the side yard and several big trees, morning sun pouring in the windows, my desk (actually an antique vanity of my grandma’s that I’ve repurposed), my cup of tea, and French doors…that close to block out the rest of the house when I need quiet.
Readers, don’t forget to comment letting us know the area of your house that makes you the happiest! I’ll close comments at noon EST on Friday and choose winners over the weekend. HGTV will choose a winner when all the blog tour participants have finished.
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{ 15 comments }
I agree that organization is key to a happy home — my biggest frustrations are when I can’t find something and that makes me a cranky mom. My happy place in the home is our kitchen. Even though I’m a lousy cook, I’m perfectly competent at making breakfast, snacks and mac n cheese for my kids. I seem to be doing that a lot, in fact. And then there’s the blissful moment when the house is quiet and I can have a cup of coffee at the kitchen counter in peace.
My dining room, believe it or not. It’s surrounded by 3 sets of large windows and just sitting at the table (where I do my newspaper reading, my artsy projects, and of course where we eat as a family), bathed in the natural light, and perfectly poised to see what’s going on in my neighborhood, fills me with joy.
my backyard. being able to sit on my back patio while my 5 kids go crazy running from the trampoline, to the play structure to the sprinkler.
This interview is so appropriate for me to read right now given what I blogged myself today about a strange epiphany I had this weekend about my state of mental peace and my house. My home is my refuge. My husband and I designed and built it ourself. But with parenthood has come neglect and I’m tired of it. When my home feels comfortable, cared for and lived in, than I feel just as comfortable and cared for.
Right now my happiest space is my back porch. Kids can play freely in this space without fear of bobos, and mom and dad can sit and read and drink coffee and enjoy the spectacular spring weather. But boy, it does need a little design sense. I’m feeling motivated to jazz it up!
The happiest part of our home is our deck which we built last fall. We’re enjoying it for ourselves, for the kids and for entertaining. It was a much needed addition to our home!
I adore my kitchen – we just renovated it ourselves this past month. I painted it a slate blue, with oak cabinets and warm, terra-cotta colored porcelain tiles. It’s pretty great, considering that the kitchen our house had when we bought it was a 1970′s monstrosity. I also made, by myself, a hand-tiled island. It reminds me constantly of our honeymoon in Mexico 10 years ago, and every time I see it, it makes me smile.
I love my shotgun kitchen. It has windows that go through so I can see the front yard and the back yard and skylights to make me feel like I’m outside washing dishes. Almost.
I love my office too. It’s got one big window, a beautiful color of blue on the walls, and just above my computer is a print that reminds me of a great time in my life.
I have a huge problem with decorating my walls too! And now that we have recently moved into a bigger house my walls are even bigger, whiter and scarier… *sigh* I have a dream that one day Heather will just stop by and work her magic on my walls, but until that happens I mostly enjoy my work area, because it has doors… and my kid can’t reach the handle yet.
My happiest place is my pale blue bedroom with a huge dark brown, faux leather bed, a velux window to the sun and moon, a beautiful ink and watercolour painting (my only ‘real’ artwork) of a leaf which sometimes looks lke a fish and sometimes like a horse on its side, the dark brown furniture and a sari draped over the window to the garden and two chickens. My two little girls and I can hibernate in my giant duvet or do rolly polys landing on the softest thick pile ivory rug that lies on the light beige striped carpet which has my favourite shade of light blue in it. It is an uncluttered place of love and massive tranquility when I climb with glee into my bed-haven. I am a lucky girl……
our bedroom – it’s sunny and cozy.
Ours is definitely the living room. We have a lot of natural light, a very comfortable couch, and our whole library of books. It’s perfect for lounging around and reading.
I’m happier when I’m out of my house. Maybe it’s because I work and educate my children at home, but home, to me, equals more work. There’s always laundry to be done or an article to write or a home improvement project I can’t quite afford. I’m much happier when I’m out-and-about, either with my children or alone.
Hmmm…this is a tough one for me. I seemed to have missed the “decorating gene” somewhere…must have been being single too long in too many white or beige apartments. LOL
Probably our bedroom. It was my first experiment with bolder colors and color scheme. And, we did all new furniture (bed, dresser, etc.) for that room while leaving more “leftovers” and hand-me-downs for the rest of the (kid-friendly) house.
The room of my house that makes me the happiest is our family room. Obviously because a great deal of fun happens there. But it’s also the room that is the most decorated. I really like how things are arranged on the bookshelves there. And, I try really hard to keep it picked up–and with three young children, that’s a big assignment. I feel so much better when it’s tidy, and that makes me happy.
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