Making Home

Beauty can be a cottage under a canopy of trees

Sam Burnham, Curator
@C_SamBurnham

​Revisiting the Economy of Place.

When we find ourselves connected to a place, what is it that connects us? What are the ties that bind us to a place?

There are elements of a place that you can manipulate such as decor, landscaping, and even architecture. In these elements you can make changes, adjustments, or even create something anew. These are the elements that can perfect the right place or improve a less than ideal location.

There are elements that are mostly beyond our control. The people, the climate, the culture, the terrain. These are the elements that can be the difference between the right place and a wrong place. If you are a mountain person, there may not be anything that would make a beach town the right place for you.

---

Beauty can be shaping what you’ve already got to work with

Beauty can be something ornate that fits with its natural surroundings

​Tanya Berry made a great point when she said “You can make a home,” explaining that you just get somewhere and stay put. The philosophy that she and her husband, Wendell, have espoused focuses on finding and creating beauty in your place. This is where the elements you can change matter. Plant some flowers, add seating on your porch, hang pictures of your family, do things to attract birds to your yard. Create a space you wish to be in. When those elements endear you to a place, you might find the elements you cannot easily change will become more endearing to you.

Beauty can make a home. It doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy. It might even be homemade. Try things out, find what suits you. Go with it. In creating that beauty in your own space, you may even provide a more beautiful environment for your family, friends, and neighbors. Perhaps that will inspire them to add beauty to their place, which in turn adds to yours. That’s an interest bearing account in the economy of place.

---

ABG Sponsor - Click For Link