Welcome Home

Welcome Home: A Cozy Minimalist Guide to Decorating and Hosting All Year Round by Myquillyn Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I fell in love with Myquillyn Smith when I was gifted with The Nesting Place years ago. It was a perfect discussion on how to make a rented space a home. Welcome Home isn't quite as magical, but I loved her ideas for making your home feel seasonal and warm without buying a bunch of extra things. I love decorating for the holidays and seasons, but sometimes the decor feels inauthentic. This isn't critical to life, but it feels important for me, my little family, and those who I welcome into my home.

A few years ago, some good friends of mine were relocating from California to Colorado. I think all of us who had enjoyed their hospitality for many years were a little bereft thinking about how the glue of group was leaving. The parting advice at their going away party from these great people was to just do it - to just invite people. To not worry about the food and whether you had a clean house, but to just welcome friends and family into your home as often as you could. I think about that advice often. Smith's hosting advice is a perfect compliment and set up to feeling comfortable having people over without much thought or planning. And man alive - when this pandemic is over, I want to have people over all the time. I really, really can't wait.

Happy reading and happy hosting--