The Joy of a Handmade Home

I’ve started a collection of original paintings.  And by collection, right now I mean one.  This one:

This little owl that flew over to our house was painted by Michele.  Her Etsy shop is PipiLaLa.  I love the little scarf he’s bundled up in!

I really like the idea of individuality in our homes and supporting “the little guys” like craftsmen and artists.  Have you ever been in a home decorated primarily with handmade goods?

My grandma’s home was filled with original paintings, sculptures, and even handmade covers on her light switches.  Every plate and mug in her house was handmade.  It was unbelievable!  She bought a lot of them, made them herself, or traded with local artists.  Her home felt like magic when I was a kid because of one thing:  her home felt handmade.  Everything was there because it had a story.  It meant something to my grandparents.

All too often, it’s easy to pick up something at the store that doesn’t really matter to us.  We just think it might look good in our home or we can think of a use we’d have for it.  But how often do we flip it over to see where it came from? How often do we pause to wonder about the item’s story?

Mass produced items – do they have a story when they’re made?  Do they have stories in our homes?

I love this owl because he’s out there standing on his own.  There aren’t 30 million others exactly like him.

I love this owl because I imagine the dreams and passion Michele must have had as she painted him or packed him up to mail to me.

Sometimes when I start pining for our apartment back in Berlin, I admit it might be because I’m creeped out by vacuuming tire trim again!  But more than anything, I think it’s because we were creating a handmade home there- tearing down walls together so we could build our own dream kitchen from sheets of wood, sewing banners and quilts (okay… Katie sewing banners!), and hanging a handmade clock.

I think our hearts are so attached to that little corner of the world because it’s all us.  It’s all dreams and passions coming together.

So maybe one day, we’ll find another original painting so my collection can double.  Maybe we’ll have grandkids oohing and awwing at our handmade collection.  And maybe, do you suppose I could finally walk away from the Made in China.

What do you think?  Does handmade make your heart patter?  Is it worth more than something mass produced?  Or is it something you ever ponder… you know, when you’re vacuuming your tire trim?