welcoming home | amaranthine aesthetic

What makes you want to enter a house? What makes you want to stay?

What makes a home invite you in and welcome you with open arms?

I think we can all agree that there are two categories: the exterior of a house invites you in, and the interior of a house welcomes you to stay. Through my reading and my studies, I’ve found several characteristics that I think say “come on in and stay awhile!”

Exterior Characteristics

Sheltering Roof – symbol of home; offers protection and safety

Visible Entry – designated path to experiencing the inside of the home

Curb Appeal – appetizer to the interior

Interior Characteristics

Warmth

Texture

Natural Light

Comfort

Order

Personality

Rare for me, this post is long on images and shorter on words 🙂

A home is meant to be inhabited, lived in, cared for and enjoyed. If it is not inviting, these things cannot take place. After all, can something be timeless if no one wants to live in it or derive any joy from it?

As you all can tell by now, I’m addicted to books. And, unfortunately for my habit, I discovered many months ago that One Kings Lane has coffee table books for sale every couple weeks, I’ve been in big trouble! I want to share with you one I just received last week, and is so perfect for the theme of this blog.

“Welcoming Home” is written by Minnesota architect Michaela Mahady. Her goal in presenting this publication was to present that main characteristics of a house that make it an inviting home. Personally, I think the summary in the book jacket does the best job of stating this:

“…architecture Michaela Mahady explores how humans experience built places in order to identify those characteristics that make us feel welcome, protected, comforted and happy. She examines such elements as welcoming entryways, sheltering roofs, handcrafted details that convey personality and tradition, and materials and colors that create comfort and warmth.”

Personally, I think she does a great job at doing this. While her examples are predominantly Craftsman-style homes, there are beautiful photographs of all the concepts she discusses. She has designed the book to look at a house from the outside in, working from a holistic perspective to focusing on details. She points out our timeless trait “sense of place” in a great way, discussing physical, emotional and physiological ties with the land and community, and offers some great anecdotal examples. She gives advice on what questions to ask yourself during a building process to ensure that the home reflects your lifestyle and your neighborhood.