Making home is being taken seriously for the first time in our home. I’ve always been a renter until a few months back. Not putting on any wall decor, as it is almost not allowed on black and white. Everything I do needs to be returned to its original form, so I pay extra care.
I thought having your own home meant living a more carefree life, but it finally dawned on me that I’m on the wrong side. Since when have my eyes automatically landed on black marks on a white wall, like a restless constable looking at a CCTV camera searching for something? If anything alien floated on the surface, ‘Is it a defect?’ is our first question. And washing up couldn’t be more gentle ever, as I wish backsplash could be installed throughout the kitchen.
Sooner or later, I realised using an extendable rod for hanging curtains no longer works; a hole needs to be put in a once-so-perfectly plastered wall. Drill on, first push. Oh, it’s like watching a crucifixion in the front row. These unavoidable wounds in our new home are everywhere now, although a few Command strips are still in use.
But even so, I enjoy making home — on a small scale, not breaking down a wall of sorts. A new home is like a blank canvas. On the bright side, it can be repainted all over if anything unthoughtful happens. On the challenging side, there is so much freedom that you don’t know how to begin. We bought a flat, so it’s still manageable; if it were a 19th-century Victorian house, I can’t even imagine how to hang a curtain.
Some homes have rarely been taken care of, and it requires courage to stay. A few hours is max. Upkeep of where you live is more pivotal than one expects. Do all the bits and bobs get their own place and being harmonious? Do the colours speak of themselves? Can it be your own sanctuary?
The hard work behind a presentable home is unlikely to be recognised, though, so a homemaker is often seen as a fat worm only eating leaves every day.
