Our Favourite Creative Homebodies : Hugo and Elsa

Each week we’re tracking our favourite creative homebodies.  This week we are visiting the divine Ms M, Michelle Crawford from the gorgeous Tasmanian based blog Hugo and Elsa.  (And next week we’ll tell you how you can win an iPad by sharing a favourite corner of YOUR home using the #homebodies hashtag! Woot!)

Now let’s hear Michelle’s take on Home.  Over to her….

It started as a whisper, “you are home.”

But I wasn’t really listening. Something in my heart quietly said “you’re home” but I sure didn’t hear it.

It was October 2006, with a baby on my hip and a preschooler at my knee, all I wanted was to find a house, buy it and move in by Christmas. We’d been living in Tasmania for two years and I was tired of renting, tired of moving and really tired of looking for “the right” house to buy. I was far too distracted at the time to stop and listen to any quiet inner voice.

Standing proudly on sand stone foundations, the house ticked some of the wish list boxes: it was a weatherboard farmhouse with a big enough garden and was in fairly good original condition. Plus we could afford it, the biggest tick of all. “We’ll take it” we said after our second look, and we signed the documents and there you have it. We had bought a house and, move in by Christmas we did. But it wasn’t love at first sight, not by any means.

How can I explain the feeling that the house didn’t feel like home? We were new here, and nothing felt right. I looked around and I didn’t see anything familiar or lovely. Although the house was functional, it didn’t feel like it was truly ours.

I wanted a space that met our needs physically, emotionally and creatively as a growing up family. I wanted to create a warmhearted home. A home for filling with family, friends, good food and love. We weren’t there yet, but I could see this place had potential.

Newly moved in, fixing up our place was a priority and so the real work of turning this century old house into a comfortable home began.  First came the easy, cosmetic stuff:  painting the walls white, ripping up carpets, removing fussy curtains and light fittings. In the garden, we planted fruit trees, moved the driveway and built a sandpit, cubby house and chook palace. Over the years we’ve tackled bigger projects like installing skylights, knocking out walls and we completely gutted and replaced the kitchen.  It’s now our pride and joy.  Our favourite room in the house. With its beloved wood cooker, a super-huge dining table and plenty of space, that’s where you’ll find us most weekends, creating, cooking, relaxing and spending time together.

If there’s a quote that rings true for our family it’s Jane Austen’s ‘There is nothing like being at home for real comfort.’ We are a family of homebodies and a weekend spent at home, making the house lovely, cooking delicious food and sharing it with friends is our idea of perfection.

The transformation from our house to our home has been ever so gradual. It’s seven years this summer since we moved in and yet we’re far from finished. As we watch our children grow, so this house grows with them. I don’t mean grow in size, I mean it grows on us. Over the years, with every lick of paint, every tree planted and every tile grouted, that barely audible little voice grows stronger. What started as a whisper has grown over the years and I now hear the words “You are home” quite clearly.  In my heart.

Our warm-hearted home. It is us and we are it.

We are home.

Creative Homebodies : Kootoyoo
Creative Homebodies : Meet Me at Mike’s
Creative Homebodies : Gourmet Girlfriend
Creative Homebodies : Wee Birdy
Creative Homebodies : Foxs Lane 

Would you like to share the bits of YOUR home that you love the most? Tweet or Instagram a photo with the #homebodies hashtag to share or join in.  We’ve got lots of wonderful bloggers posting their thoughts on home and #homebodies over the coming weeks.