I love our home. It is a place I look forward to returning to after time away and I love the memories we have made here together as a family. It is a busy house full of noise and laughter but also a place of colour, beauty and organisation. There are a few changes I would personally like to make but generally my home is just how I like it. I love an inspiring home with heart.
I do love to change things around every so often and love to look in magazines to seek inspiration. I love to relax on the weekend or even during the week with a nice meal to help me unwind and to have a feast for my eyes as I have a sneak peak into homes of inspiring families.
I really enjoy a sneak peak into other peoples homes and was delighted with the large colourful images and personal stories behind the creations featured in the magazine. I adore looking at simple designs and really enjoyed the different textures featured.
One of the reasons I love to relax and enjoy home life magazines is the beauty and peace that it helps to bring into my home. As a mother with many children our home in many ways feels as if it is bursting at the seams in relation to toys, school notes and other family items. When I sit down and look through these magazines, I want to declutter, to simplify and to showcase the treasured items that we hold dear in our home. It is hard to see them and appreciate them if our home is full of stuff.
Some delightful images I adored in the Inside Out Magazine are found below. I would so love to have a room like any of these and I love the unique beauty found in each room.
In reading the articles I felt that the designers featured are passionate about what they do. I love that they have so often brought their design work home and helped it to bring a feeling of heart to their own personal homes.
Some tips I discovered for creating a room with heart are:
*feature pieces that have a story behind them
*seek out objects that have enduring quality
*seek a creative balance
*do not be afraid to use colour
*have a clean light filled living space
*make your home functional
*be confident enough to add a unique touch to your home
*try not to be influenced by trends
*display objects you are attracted to
One of the ways that I love to bring a better atmosphere and a little more heart into my home is with Candles. I have a candle in all of our living areas that I light to bring some warmth, peace and a nicer smell to home. I recently was given some Yankee Candles (which is now available in Australia) to try out in our home. They have a large range of long lasting fragrances to choose from and a style and fragrance to suit any home.
I was sent some Tropical Fruit, Garden Hideaway, Sparkling Lemon and Fluffy Towels fragrances to try out. Talk about being in candle heaven. I cannot tell you how many times I have as a mother used a candle to calm me down. Often all I need to do is look at the flickering flame and it seems to bring a feeling of warmth and light to my life. The wonderful smells that candles bring is an added bonus that I love and I am still waiting for someone to bring out a fairy floss smelling candle for me to enjoy. It is after all my favourite food!
You can also check out Tina's review on Yankee Candles here. She was able to go to an event promoting the candles and I love how they make her a good housewife.
Now here at Seven Cherubs we are excited that we can help you have an inspiring home with heart as we have a 6 month subscription to Inside Out magazine to give away. To help you find some more inspiration, to help you have some time out by getting a gift delivered right to your door for half of the year and to help you feel a little more stylish yourself.
Here I am on a flight to Tassie trying to look stylish with my Inside Out Magazine:
I know...I need more than a magazine to carry it off. Haha!
Here are the guidelines for the giveaway:
1. Add yourself as a follower on my blog (if you are not already)
2. Open to Aussie residents only
3. Winner chosen by the random number generator
4. Entries close September 7th, 2011
5. Leave a comment below and tell me:
What is your favourite item in your home that inspires you?
You can check out Yankee Candles here: Shop and Facebook
giveaway now closed.
congrats to Megan from Edenrose
giveaway now closed.
congrats to Megan from Edenrose
Magazines are my one guilty pleasure when the budget allows. Especially home magazines! Nothing like dreaming a rainy afternoon away whilst drooling over some gorgeous images!
ReplyDeleteThe most favourite item[s] in my home that inspire me are my Ikea Expendit book cases because they keep my cherubs' treasure and clutter off the floor - when they do it right.
ReplyDeleteThat makes me very inspired !
I think it would have to be my Willowtree statues that people have given us to celebrate special occasions- our engagement, wedding, and most recently the birth of our son. They are very meaningful.
ReplyDeleteI'm not entering, because I can only read large print now. But I wanted to say I'm desperately in love with that dining table in the pics. The chunky wooden one with the bench seating. THAT's the kind of table I dream of.
ReplyDeleteAm going to have to try these candles after hearing you and Tina talk about them.
Oh boy, we live in an partially renovated renovator. It's a disaster zone pretty much everywhere you look. We took on way more than we could chew with this house. We're dreaming of getting out and buying a brand new home...with nothing to do! So those gorgeous magazines are a bit pie in the sky for me at the moment. Love the photo of you on the plane. :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are loving the images - I just had to include them in the post and magazines sure are a wonderful pleasure for us to enjoy. Thanks for your comments ladies. N x
ReplyDeleteWe have been living away from home now for 5 years with my husbands job and it's always an effort to make a rental home seem like "our home". My favourite thing would be our photos that we put up to remind us of our family and the little ones as they were growing. We also love candles and always have some going at night to create that warm relaxing feeling.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite item that inspires me is the Red Kitchen Aid mixer sitting on out kitchen bench. Its a reminder of the togetherness that meals and cooking bring to family. As a kid I did lots of baking with my girlfriends and family, I hope to recreate that fun in my home with my own family.
ReplyDeleteI kinda have a magazine problem at the moment. Quilting magazines. There's a huge pile next to my bed (on the floor no less!). And then there's my monthly Women's Weekly. But home style magazines are my other favourite "genre" to buy! Sparingly though, as I can get a bit disgruntled at my own green-walled (seriously) house, lol!
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I so want a kitchen aid mixer and would take any colour Jodie. Awesome inspiration and great to know there are some other magazine addicts out there :)
ReplyDeleteMy favourite thing in my home is my book collection. I have an ever-growing collection of books and I try to mainly have the books I love in beautiful hard back editions. I find my bookshelves to be a thing of visual beauty as well as endless inspiration at my fingertips. I can be transported to another world or time in a moment
ReplyDeleteOoh I love home magazines and 'Inside Out' is one of the best.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I'm often inspired to move the furniture around or add a little vignette after reading a magazine or design blog.
You'll see some interesting things in my home on a Saturday as I haul out all sorts of items from cupboards and the shed, move them around until they're 'just so' and then step back, light a few candles and sometimes even take a photo with a big smile on my face.
So it's interior design mags all the way for me!
Happy day Lovely,
xx F
PS: Your meal and mag combo is mouth-watering
The one piece I'm most proud of in my home is a 1930s art deco sideboard. I love that its a bit banged up. Its the only space that I keep tidy, and I like to run my hand across the top everytime I walk past it. On top are some iron candlestick holders and a retro cake plate. I love the mix of old and new and that carries through my whole house.
ReplyDeleteI really love the photo of my two cherubs that I posted on my blog last week. I love my house but no matter how many home magazines I read (and I'm totally addicted to them) I just can't get the look I want (if I even know what that is). Inside Out is my favourite since Notebook stopped publishing so a subscription would make me (and my husband !$!) very happy!
ReplyDeleteNot entering but just wanted to say thanks for the link love :) I've fallen in love with those candles! x
ReplyDeleteMy favourite item in our house would be our antique piano. We picked it up for free, and love it to bits. My husband and I are certainly not musical- but our 18 month old daughter already loves 'playing'. It is also a great place to store treasured family photos.
ReplyDeleteThis is my blog about it
http://colourmekatie.blogspot.com/2011/03/our-new-piano.html
Ooh I love home magazines! And my bookcases are full to prove it!!
ReplyDeleteI love Yankee Candles as well and would love to hear how that one smells!
I love our Wall of Fame. Our most tresured people appear on the hall wall and it gives me peace and happiness everytime I walk past.
ReplyDeleteI love having a large collection of family photos and hope I can always include them in my decor.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite item in our house is the couch. It's where I cuddle my family at night and it's also a great place to read a book or magazine on lazy Sundays. Love your blog! Ness
ReplyDeleteWhat a great prize! I have to say that home magazines definitely inspire me. And I have enough of them to inspire an entire interior decorating college!
ReplyDeleteI've just started to look at ways to bring colour into The Shoebox, starting with painting the front and back doors, which is really inspiring me every time I look at them. I love every moment that I get to share with Mr G and Miss A in The Shoebox, and I feel so blessed to be in a family home that I love so much.
ReplyDeleteI've just started to look at ways to bring colour into The Shoebox, starting with painting the front and back doors, which is really inspiring me every time I look at them. I love every moment that I get to share with Mr G and Miss A in The Shoebox, and I feel so blessed to be in a family home that I love so much.
ReplyDeleteI think I may have mentioned it in another post, but I like my wall of words describing our family. Love, family, laugh, create, music,dance,believe... we are always adding to our wall. Although the boys want to add, crazy, nut job... fortunately or unfortunately I haven't seen those words.
ReplyDeletejojo3b :)
My mini Statue of Liberty inspires me...My husband got it for me when I was having treatment for breast cancer & said "that's where we're going when you get better". And guess what? We're flying out in a few weeks! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I love my bookshelf full of books & magazines- would love to add Inside Out to it! Great post Naomi xx
Hi Naomi, I LOVE my home magazines, and Inside Out is definitely a favourite. I wile away many hours pleasurably seeking out every little detail in the photos that take my fancy. My favourite thing in our home would have to be the Fler modular lounge suite that we purchased in 1975. As a very young, married couple, it was a very expensive item, but we had fallen in love with the big beautiful blue ribbed-velvet, low backed, studded, suite in the window of the local furniture store, and thought that it was within our means to pay it off. We ended up ordering the chocolate brown colour and were fascinated, when it arrived, by the many ways we could arrange our 7 piece (including the ottoman) modern lounge. I've always imagined a kind of "retirement party" for the old lounge when we finally get rid of it, I have so many photos of it. Babies propped up in the corner, friends sleeping on the double bed it made, family and friends no longer with us cutting birthday cakes on it and children's cubby houses it managed to become. I didn't realize just how many photos I had until we decided to have it recovered 10 years ago, and I searched for a good close up of it and it's original fabric, to email upholsterers. Alas the updated, too-bright yellow suede fabric is now once again, very 'dated' now and the poor old thing is in need of another upholster. Everyone loves our Fler lounge and many friends have asked to be put in line for it if we ever decided to part. I just can't see it happening.... I mean, how many people do you know have the same lounge suite for 36 yrs!!! It's once again very "retro/modern" style and we will try to find a similar fabric to the fine-ribbed brown velvet c1975. It's been with us from the beginning of our happy marriage, and hopefully it will have a few grandbabies to prop up in the corner for photographs in the not too distant future. :) Gail
ReplyDeleteWe have a beautiful lamp that is in the shape of a vase. The outside of it is full of little glass pieces, like a mosaic. During the day I have it displayed as a plain empty vase, and at night I turn on the hidden globe and it lights up through the glass panels. Simply beautiful and so relaxing to gaze at!
ReplyDeleteI had the chance to go away by myself recently, and while I was gone my husband sanded and repolished our cypress pine floors which are throughout the house....they are gorgeous, and I love how our lives are reflected in the high gloss finish. smiles and thanks for the chance to win.
ReplyDeleteI love Real Living - it is my absolute favourite magazine, and the only one I still buy since I stopped spending all my money on magazines pre-children!
ReplyDeleteMy most inspiring item would be my sewing machine - because when I am sitting in front of it I can create wonderful things, if only I got to sit in front of it more often!
Some of things that inspire me around my home are my quilts. I see them and think of how I made them and want to make more!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely giveaway
I love magazines and subscribe to way too many but most are American. I am also a big fan of candles and have been buying Yankee candles for a while now. I first saw them on a trip to the States about 8 years ago and there is a candle shop in Buderim in Qld that stocks them. My favourite scent would have to be the Christmas one they do. It is just divine!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the opportunity to win a subscription. I'm a follower and would love to win!
Best wishes,
Natasha.
Oh what a great giveaway. I love home magazines. Pre kids I used to have a massive collection. I've still got them somewhere. The most inspiring item in my house is a gorgeous heart wreath which I have hanging above my bedhead and it just reminds me how much love I have in my home everytime I look at it.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend lovely x
I've just started following your blog, and have to say that one thing that I really love in my home is a HUGE canvas on the way just of our families legs, including our son with the bottom of his wheelchair. I love it that it still shows the interaction between all of us and the different sizes and abilities that we all have, without actually focusing on what our faces look like.
ReplyDeleteYay, as a mummy of many as well, i love a good indulge into a magazine. We move every couple of years (interstate, that is a big move) & have to set up home over & over. I would have to say our lounge is my favourite piece of furniture (it's a King Furniture Jasper in leater) as it's not so much used for television viewing, but reading, 'lounge craft' & a great place to congregate while dinner is being cooked or served. It a 12 seater so room for everyone & their legs!! It's the one piece of furniture we wanted to invest in on our last/ more recent move & it's serving us very nicely. I espeically like the shelving (for ornaments & magazines) & you can sit all over the arms/ backs/ sides so will be fantastic when we have our big homestead & parties!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this opportunity, often magazines are something i can't stretch the budget to sneak into my world, love Posie
I want those candles!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite things in my home are my photos, books, my teddy bear and my computer (which has most of our photos on here). They all inspire me and I would be so upset if anything happened to them.
xxx
Ooooh, my favourite thing in my home which inspires me is an intricately carved wooden cupboard from India. It was love at first sight. I walked into the store and it just felt like it was mine, instantly. In fact, I actually walked over to it and hugged it. I was not even supposed to be buying furniture because I was saving my pennies to go overseas, The lady in the store gave me a further discount because she saw how much I loved it. I store all my books and treasures in it. Eery time I look at it, it makes me happy :)
ReplyDeletemy desk where my family history books, my kids latest photos sit, and lots of favourite bits and pieces including my little penguin collection sitting across the top of my computer screen
ReplyDeleteI love my scrapbooking cnr - all my memories of my kids and life are there to make me smile if Ive had a bad day!
ReplyDeleteThose food looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, i love it
ReplyDelete