by Lindsay Horvath

Created on: October 21, 2008   Last Updated: January 28, 2009

Many aspects of life can be a reflection of the root of who we are as individuals. Clothes, hobbies, the company we keep, even our jobs can paint a picture of what type of a person we are. But nothing reflects our personal taste more than our home. A home is many things: a place for shelter, a safe haven, a sanctuary from the outside world, and most of all, a reflection.

A home can tell a detailed story. Someone who steps foot inside our abode can immediately detect what our personal taste is by viewing our furniture, wall colors, and decorations. They can see our living habits-whether we are neat or messy, organized or sloppy. The life experiences that have made us who we are can be seen in the small touches-a photograph on the wall, a souvenir on a shelf, a foreign bottle of wine on display. A visitor probably has an inkling of the person's financial status, maybe evident in the worn, shabby furniture or the expensive antiques that line the mantle. Visiting a person's home can show if they love pets, have children, like to clean, or have a love of bold colors-all these things are intertwined in the way a home appears.

Consider the first home that was ever mine. It was a microscopic second-story apartment consisting of just four essential rooms. It was the first place that I ever lived alone, and I reveled in that aspect. A visitor to my pad would have first noticed the clean, bright, somewhat feminine colors I had chosen for the walls-apple green, lemon yellow, and "cappuccino". They would have taken in the numerous framed pictures of me and boyfriend, my girlfriends, and my dog. They would be able to deduce by opening my refrigerator that I didn't eat at home very often. My mismatched furniture and lack of anything expensive would show that I didn't have a lot of money at the time but the neatness and orderly feel of the place would reflect the pride I took in my home and financial independence. And of course, the fine layer of cat and dog hair on the couch would indicate that my pets were high on the list of what I deemed important!

Consider my second home. I moved in with my boyfriend after he became my fiance, and his house became "our" house. It took a lot of compromise to imprint myself into that home, and more importantly, to imprint "us". It was a starter house in every sense of the word. The decorating style was a complete mix of his-n-hers, and in some cases, neither of ours. My finance tended towards dark colors and masculine furniture and so the

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>