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We built this house in 1999. It is definitely “home”. We have chosen furniture and accessories that we love no matter the style or else they were handed down, so they may be vintage, antique, mid- century or new-ish. I had the different rooms painted in colors the family liked instead of all one color all over the house. I’ve had so many people tell me that our house is so calm and we feel part of that is the soft sky blue we had the living and kitchen areas painted. 

We have favorite recipes, especially for holidays. It isn’t Christmas if we don’t have a certain cake that I make because my mother-in-law always did. My daughter wants homemade chicken and dumplings for her birthday every year. I use my grandmother’s recipe for them. My daughter is reminded of her childhood with these dumplings and I am reminded of mine, of the days when I used to watch my grandmother make dumplings and she would let me help her. Everyone seems to have a particular favorite recipe that brings feelings of home. 

I see some homes that were beautifully decorated by professionals and loved by their owners but I have never wanted that. I prefer living with the mixed up styles that make our home. Also- My yard won’t win any awards but I’m doing it my way. 

I love my home <3. I’m a busy working mom and wife but I take great comfort in caring for our apartment and cooking meals here. It feels like a giant exhale when I come home, unwind from the work day, put on my pajamas and slippers, and putter around the place. I like making dinner (well, most nights). We usually have a simple salad, potato, and a piece of chicken, baked fish, or omelette. But every Friday, I relish having pizza and a movie night in our living room. Sometimes we walk a block away and grab an ice cream cone for dessert. Our daughter can walk to her middle school. I also love watching her from the balcony window returning at the end of the school day. I feel excited that we will pay off our home in the next 18 months too. My husband and I have worked hard for almost 15 years to make that happen. No matter what is happening in the world, we created our own haven. 

That was a very beautiful post. :)

Hi all, thank you for this post Grandma Donna. All your posts are very welcome but this one resonates with me particularly.  My husband and I have become "almost-empty-nesters" recently, and the house has a sense of emptiness without the young people coming and going. 

It's invaluable and timely to be reminded of the basics to make a house a home, so I can re-fashion our place into a home for this new phase of life.

One space in our home that I love now and which works well is this corner in the front entry. You can put your things down for a moment and sit comfortably to take your shoes off. There are places for shoes,  hats, coats and keys within easy reach of the chair. I like to keep a vase of fresh flowers on another cabinet nearby but the flowers there presently need replacing! :)

We built my home in 1981, we were so young and some may say dumb but we knew what we wanted and buckled down and did the work. 2 very young girls and lived in a self-contained camper while building. 

I love my home and it is most definitely my cozy safe haven.  I am so content to be at home, I sometimes dread having to go grocery shopping or errands, would rather be home. I love it when people come and say how cozy and homey it is. Sometimes they say everything is so interesting, I have lots of plants, rocks, fossils, feathers and natural stuff for my grands to look at and learn from.

I guess my signature dishes would be deviled eggs, baked beans and cheesecake.  I get a bit tired of making the baked beans but they always request them.

Have been super busy getting my "to-do" list for outside and garden done, I have  some things left to do but I am doing what I can when I can without wearing myself out. I am trying to work intentionally and enjoy or at least relax in the process. One thing at a time and not multi-tasking.

Today was picking up sticks and I painted the front porch/deck.... pistachio green floor, teal blue uprights and eggplant rails...It's happy and I love color.

I'm working on this.

I'm tired of our house looking like a storage place.

I know being a minimalist is trendy, but it’s not for me. I might be an “enoughist” though.  Home is a very special word <3. (That’s a heart

For me, home is definitely fairly minimalistic - I have my dad when he was alive as an untidy hoarder, my younger daughter lives in a constant jumble of mess, I have neighbours each side of me who live in constant disarray - and by that I mean loads of junk around the houses and in the yards with long unmown grass and weeds - so for me, I have to have it neat and tidy.  Oh I still have my favourite little bits and pieces and it's by no means picture perfect but I hate chaos and untidiness - just my personal take on things.  As well, a few years back we both looked at things through different eyes and asked ourselves two questions - first one, if we have to move, would we take it with us and the second one was would either of our girls or our grandchildren want, need, or even be interested in it - if the answer was no, then that item (and there were many) was donated.   I don't ever want my family to have to spend weeks or even months going through our stuff when we eventually leave our mortal coil - I've been there, it's not pleasant.

When I had two in cloth diapers, I used Borax in the diaper pail and never had any smell.  I usually washed every other day but still with two without the Borax it would have smelled.

I have nothing against a "fancy" decorated house but wouldn't want to live in one.  I want a home that is comfortable to live in and welcoming for visitors.  I discovered many years ago if the kitchen and bathroom are clean and the living room picked up most people won't notice if it's not perfect.  And if someone comes to my home to critique it, well, they're in the wrong place.

All of your posts are wonderful, Grandma Donna, but this one felt like a hug. Thank you.

Such a beautiful and heart warming post thank you. Lovely photos

I'm grateful for our home. It's the simple things like having a family base, a pretty mug, a vase of flowers, vintage china and linen collected from the op shop, hanging washing outside on a sunny day etc. I like a clean and uncluttered home. 

For me a home is a personal space to be myself and safe.

I wish everyone could have that.

I believe I'm a post behind, however, I'll add my two cents worth.

What I do with an abundance of eggs---- I make and freeze breakfast burritos. I'm a little uneasy with dehydrating raw eggs.

I beat a number of eggs, add cooked turkey sausage, diced potatoes, bell peppers. cheese and green chilies, use what you prefer.  I then ladle a large scoop of this mixture into my nonstick skillet and make something similar to a thick quiche, flipping to cook completely.  I lay the flour tortilla on the thick quiche, after flipping, for a few seconds to soften the tortilla. (We don't own a microwave}, then lay the tortilla down, slid the cooked quiche on it, roll it up, cool, package and freeze. To reheat, I thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then you can bake them in the oven, they can get a little crunchy, the way we like the best is to reheat in our steamer.  Great time saving breakfast and I used the eggs.

Grandma Donna, thank you so much for your inspiration, the morale boosts I always receive and your beautiful home and gardens.  I love reading the blog uneasy times.  What an blessing!

We are planning our "Victory Garden".

Home is where I save money. :D I have analyzed our solar generator capacity, and we have made our plans to expand it. I bought the updated version of our smaller generator plus an adjustable solar panel so I can move it with the sun that has a larger charge than our other panels, and it cost less than what we paid for the original small generator. This means faster charging and more capacity. My other inflation buster this week was buying fabric on sale, enough for two dresses and a nightgown and a simple nightgown pattern, and that cost 56% less than the one dress and nightgown I bought earlier this year. I am diligently working through my mending pile so that I will free to do some sewing. 

Whenever we have been somewhere,  even just to the grocery store, when the car is turned towards home, I always feel happy. :) 

Home is where our carpenter bee is. He showed up last spring and is back again this year. We think he lives in our woodpile. He always flies over to say hello when we are in the yard. 

Oh, I love this post. Home is so important. I couldn't believe while homeschooling all the homes I've been to that only looked like a place to sleep until they left it to the next thing. I always thought the poor children who don't have that homey connection.   I'm a huge homebody.  Having said that, I don't have that perfect spot. With a bad back, and a very old cat that was part feral, I've never had a nice chair he didn't destroy. My bucket list is to finally have a comfortable chair when he goes (he's 16, sigh). But I like smaller homes and ours is just so large. I dream of cutting it in half and simply barring a portion off as storage, but my dh says no (who doesn't clean it.) lol.  Removing our carpet last year, the flooring while pretty, is very hard on our feet and constantly dusty. I miss carpet. It added warmth. No more barefoot or plopping on the floor. Seems more sterile and rugs are a trip hazard.  

Joan S, I was just looking up sky blue for my kitchen! It's now green and I could use a change. 

Lady L, I am also an "enoughist". I did get rid of things hard to clean around and trip hazards but I know if my house was smaller, I'd have more cozy items around.  

I absolutely love to rearrange, but Mr. Grumpy hates it. Makes me feel dead. But still with all that said, I'm always working on home. I love open windows, lace anything, folded clothes in drawers, doing laundry, cleaning (if it was smaller), rearranging, etc. I have a neighbor that I visited through another friend and would love to get in contact with her.  I absolutely LOVE her style.  "It's only paint!" she says.  She has the most fun house to go into - not crazy but totally reflects her, interesting and crafty without quirky, and color without too much color.  She does fun things with plates to decorate her garden - she's just so crafty which is reflected in her home.  I LOVE her attitude about it.  She could be good for me since I can be little anal with my own stuff ;).  I wish I could just be more go with the flow. I love your home Gr. Donna and loved when you just painted your kitchen backsplash area (love that panelling) but when I try to try to add color or ideas, it just doesn't convey. Why is that? There are so many things I love, eclectic, vintage, matchy - and I can never make it work. 

What a wonderful post!  I love your cozy home and gardens.  My mother gave me a chenille bedspread much like yours, white with pink flowers.  I gave it up when I moved out of state, how I wish I hadn't!!  Our home was built in 1940, not very old by architectural standards, but we love bringing her back to her era with thrifted and family furniture and decor.  It's our sanctuary and happy place.  I rarely post, but I love reading everyone's thoughts and feel very much among friends.  Enjoy your weekends.  Another Donna :)

Ann E, I am trying to convince my husband to get rid of the carpet! After 30 years I'm tired of cleaning carpet because of spills, pets, children and now grandchildren.  So I stopped doing it and leave it to my husband. I think he's getting tired of hauling out the carpet cleaner every time my daughter's dog has an accident. I mentioned a rag and a spray would be much easier on us.

I have to wear shoes in the house so not having carpet wouldn't bother me. I'm not a throw rug kind of person so trip hazards wouldn't be a concern for me. 

My husband has a lot harder with change than I do. 

For me a home is a personal space to be myself and safe.

That is exactly how I want my home to be and I like it that way, clean and uncluttered but with nice little touches as you describe.  That makes me feel happy, safe and content.

I removed the carpeting from my home in 2011 and for me it was the best decision I ever made. I have allergies and they were just awful until the carpeting was gone. They are still with me but so much better and more manageable. When we pulled the carpeting out I about gagged.... the amount of dust and dirt under the carpet and padding was disgusting and I am one that vacuums daily (pets).

Plus the mildew from running the carpet cleaner...it was dried but it was still mildew. That can't be good to breathe. I installed bamboo hardwood and have been pleased with it.  After the carpeting was removed, I found out about the off-gassing from the carpet.  It was expensive carpet and padding and bamboo was cheaper to install. I had to pay extra to have the carpet disposed of because of the materials it is made of. It is not biodegradable, really makes you think, those off-gassing petrochemicals are in your home and people are breathing it. Yuck.

I have walk off matts at the doors and a rug at the sides of the beds. 

That's my experience with carpeting and I realize not everyone has the same issues.

We are in our late 70's and planning on replacing our carpet this summer with hardwood. I miss the hardwood that we had put into our previous house. Carpet is much too hard to keep up, as one ages, and it is impossible to keep dust out of regardless of vacuuming and shampooing. We will have to have movers come to move the furniture out of the two rooms that have carpet, but it will be worth it to just have to run the dust mop and the steam cleaner.

No one wears outside shoes in our house or in our children's homes, yet the dust is plentiful just in the air. Joyce C is absolutely correct about the off-gassing and dangers of the chemicals contained in carpet. Smart lady.

I am working on getting rid of things we don't use any longer. I would love to have several rooms painted again, but we shall see if that happens. 

Thank you for your posts, gDonna, and thank all of the online friends for their comments. I always learn something and am encouraged.

Everyone, I wanted to mention that Kieva did an update on Jacob in the forum main page up at the top.  Click Jacobs update link and scroll down to the bottom for the latest update.  It is good news. :)

Updates for Jacob is the link. 

Just a comment on no one wears shoes in their house which a lot of people now demand.  I'm old, I have to wear tie shoes, I cannot remove them or put them on without sitting on a chair so unless a chair is provided, I wear my shoes.  Shoe covers could be provided but unless they are a non-slip covers, they could be dangerous for seniors.  

I find it humorous that when we purchased our first home it was all oak hardwood floors.  All houses in the development were exactly alike and the goal of nearly everyone was wall-to-wall carpeting asap.  I wonder if the current owners of those homes realize they have quality wood underneath that carpet? 

In the United States is it common everywhere for visitors to remove shoes? I live in the midwest and it's very common. However, my southern in-laws never expect nor request visitors remove shoes. I don't know if they're the exception.  To be honest it makes me uncomfortable to have non-family visitors take their shoes off in my home. I never ask them to but most do automatically.  I'm also uncomfortable removing my shoes in a non-family member's home. It seems a bit too casual. 

I don't expect people to take their shoes off when they come into my home, never have done - it's never been a thing in my family anyway.  I do have the odd tradesman ask if he needs to remove them and I always so no need to do so.   I also don't expect to have to take my shoes off when I visit anyone, I've never been asked to do so and it's definitely not expected.  I wouldn't be comfortable doing that in either direction.

Here in Michigan I would say whether people "automatically" remove shoes when entering someone else's home depends mostly on the season. We remove snowy or muddy boots and there's usually a tray by the door to set them on.  I would not remove dry reasonably clean shoes in someone else's home unless specifically asked to do so, and don't feel it's very polite to demand that of guests.  Even less so of strangers like repair people.  I wouldn't even expect the latter to remove snowy boots, though I have had them offer when they see the hardwood floors.  I say not to worry about it - party because they might have to run back and forth to the truck for tools and I don't want to pay someone $80 an hour to sit there lacing and unlacing their boots, partly because I would rather clean up snow melt than have some stranger's smelly socks rubbed all over my floors, and partly out of politeness toward them.  But friends and neighbors take their boots off in winter.

Also I should note that most people I know are rural and lower to middle class so everything is informal.  I think even in winter guests at a former dinner party would keep their shoes on.  They would probably wear regular shoes and walk up a cleared walkway to the house, though, so it wouldn't lead to puddles of meltwater anyway.

And an exception in the other direction, if staying (spending one or more nights) at a friend's house, I would take shoes off at the door every time I come back inside (at least if that's what the family does) even if it's summer and my shoes are clean and dry.

Edited to add:  I love how this forum goes way off topic and we get to learn about cultural norms in other places :)

The update on Jacob is uplifting!

Re: shoes, I grew up in the upper south, leaving them on in my home and others’ homes unless the shoes were dirt or snowy. Being kind of “hillbilly”, we often went barefoot in warm weather anyway. By contrast, my Deep South husband had to take his shoes off in his house or invoke the wrath of his mother :). She made everyone remove their shoes, even the preacher when he visited.  As an adult, DH preferred to leave his shoes on all the time so no one took their shoes off at our house unless they wanted. His sister was as insistent as their mother about removing shoes at her door so we all always did at her house, as did her family. Yet when she had her carpet replaced she said there was sandy dirt ( she lived in Florida, too) under it. 

I actually had huge expectations when I removed mine.  Living in AZ the dust is unbelievable and we had so many pets!  The only place I had dirt when they removed it was right at the entry section. I was utterly shocked by the lack of it. We did spend a lot on the pad and carpet at the time, but after 20 years, shocked!  I also owned a Rug Doctor, so spills and pet messes were cleaned right away.  I had a Kirby which I love and miss. No gross dust cups and a real carpet height adjustment.  I thought my allergies would go and they did not. So it wasn't the carpet. Must be whatever is blooming or just plain dust.  I had high hopes. I have LVP but stone based. Spills and pet messes are a dream to clean up for sure, but I find everything dirt and pet hair flies around everywhere and the amount of grit...it gets slippery. All I do is vacuum and sweep. Throw rugs are a big no - they discolor the floor, hard to take up, and we're both huge trip hazards.  I just traded one problem for another. We don't do shoe removal. W/socks the floor is very slippery, my husband has two shattered ankles and the floor hurts my feet even though I change my shoes and honestly, for us it's not reasonable as we're in and out all day. Besides, isn't it easier to clean? LOL. 

Ann W. I also must wear tie shoes!

I am waiting for my husband to fix my laundry line. He needs parts as I switched from a rope to a non stretchy type.  

Ingrid M 2, I love that simplicity! Yes!

Can I add that I covet a wooden screen door?  I so want one!

We never have a problem with workers as many bring their own footwear covers, but we always have them on hand to provide them for the workers, also. Spa slippers or socks can be purchased in bulk for guests uncomfortable with removing their street shoes or shoe covers can be provided by the home owner.

Research has proven that the bottoms of shoes carry an equal amount of bacteria and harmful germs as a dirty toilet. I will post a quote to help understanding of why some people that have lowered immune systems, children, animals, or walk barefoot in the home request no street shoes indoors.

Obviously, the removal of shoes cuts down on dirt, dust, oils and other dirty components that end up on the ground or public spaces. It cuts down on bacteria, dust and chemicals brought inside and ground into carpets.

Everyone should do whatever they feel comfortable with and desire for their own home. We provide several options for guests and do not want anyone to feel uncomfortable. The reason we request no shoes is due to extensive research and health issues. We, personally, have inside shoes we wear that never go outside. Our outside shoes are kept in a separate location that is enclosed and not inside any main rooms.

The following is information from a Healthline article. There are many research articles to read on the subject.

 "Infectious bacteria can attach to shoes when you have been walking outdoors, in public restrooms, and other places with high concentrations of pathogens. Pathogens are organisms that carry disease. The tread and cracks in shoes are ideal places for bacteria to linger. Here are some of the bacteria that can travel on the soles of your shoes and spread indoors.

In a University of Arizona study, E. Coli was one of the most common kinds of bacteria found on shoe bottoms. E. coli is a dangerous bacteria that can cause urinary and intestinal tract infections. This stems from either dirty public restrooms, dirty ground or carpets where animals reside, or animal defecation.

Clostridium difficile is a bacteria that can cause inflammation of the colon. This bacteria is found largely in urban settings.

Staphylococcus aureus is the most dangerous bacteria. This is found on the shoes of people working in healthcare facilities, visiting healthcare facilities or medical buildings, or in food service.

Pesticides and herbicides used on crops are found in parks, golf courses, etc."

Please don't take this information as an offense. Everyone should live according to what works best and is the safest in their own home.

Many blessings to each of you.

We take shoes off in the house. I've replaced carpet too many times not to know what is hiding underneath! Flooring is less hospitable to germs and easier to clean. We are going to have flooring everywhere but the living room. The living room carpeting will be a short, closed loop type that will be easy to clean, with minimal padding. It's your padding that really harbors the icky things! Nobody will be allowed to walk on the new carpeting with shoes. The back door goes through the kitchen to the garage, so we leave shoes on when we are working and need to walk through the house that way. That said, other people like carpet for the warmth, look, and softness. To each their own. 

Exactly what has been said - we're all individuals, we're all living in different areas, time zones, conditions - here we're easy going so it really doesn't matter whether we have a messy home, a comfy lived in one, or a modern, no nonsense type of place - and yes, I agree there are heaps of germs being carried in or about on our shoes and people with lowered immune systems could feel it - but I might add too that in this present time we are TOO sterile therefore we succumb to many germs more quickly than we would have in the past - kids played in the dirt, drank from the hose, didn't wash their hands, did all the things kids should be doing but now they're barely in contact with any of those things - I had a friend who was an immaculate housekeeper, everything so sterile, cleaned to the nth degree and yet she and her entire family were always down with gastro type bugs and such - her attitude was TOO sterile, and thus no exposure to the normal everyday atmosphere we live in.  Again to each his own but for me, I'll just keep going the way I have done for all of my eighty years and my family and friends do the same.

I actually love to make basic biscuits!  It's quick and easy and is a simple staple.  Mr. Grumpy loves them.  I do make my own bread, but haven't yet found a recipe I like. I prefer to knead my own, but I do have a bread-maker that may be on its way out, since no matter what I do, the bread falls and it never did before. It still tastes fine.  I don't know what it is about age... I've never much been one for bread of any kind.  About a year ago I really like bread and biscuits - homemade stuff. 

I made some kitchen curtains a while back, but I'm not sure I really like them that much. I like what they are, but I think a different fabric may have been better. It was fun to do at the time. I really wanted a ruffle and I winged it. LOL. The longer they're up, the more I see error since I've not sewn, much less done a ruffle in over 20 years.  I find I really prefer sheets for fabric. They wash well, so I keep an eye out. I'm a sucker for calico and gingham, but they're hard to find. I do wish I had a sewing area rather than to haul it out all the time, but I stab myself a lot, so I may be better suited for a different homey hobby. ;)  I just love all things home, nostalgic but functional. It's probably why I love your home, Gr. Donna!  I love the homes that have the "come sit and have coffee and pie" vibe.  Gr. Donna you mentioned your aunt's small home.  Smaller homes just feel so much more homey to me. They say "family".  It may be why I have such ahard time with that feel in my house. Size and empty nest!

Ann E, I raised my family in a small house, now my adult children live in large houses but they have fond memories of their childhood but do not want to live in a small house.  I still enjoy the small house.  I think now it is even more important to live in a small house to keep expenses down.  It has served us well.  Thank you for the compliment about our home.

"Everyone",

Now that we went down the rabbit hole about shoes on or off in the house without anyone getting set off lol, I will ask a question for the forum.  Do you live in a house, (I consider a mobile home or modular home a house),  Apartment, a RV or Caravan, a Yurt, a loft, or other?   Also are you on grid, off grid, solar power?  Do you cook on electric, gas, wood? other?  I would Just like to get an idea of your Making of a home. :)  Grandma Donna

I live in a geodesic dome home. We built it in1981 and it was built by us and a few family members that wanted to help. It is 3 bedrooms and I live alone. We had very little building experience but it worked out.

I have a 1920 gas cookstove that has an elevated oven and sets on Queen Anne style legs. But to be honest I mostly use an electric skillet and roaster to do my cooking as propane costs are really high. It is cheaper to use electricity. I also have a vintage Farberware electric cookpot and use a crockpot.

I mainly heat with wood although I do have a propane gas fired furnace. I love my woodstove and do a lot of cooking on it.

I have a electric dryer but very seldom use it, hanging laundry around the woodstove in winter and outside in the summer.  I dry a lot on hangers hanging from the tops of the doors.

We are the 2nd owners of a standard mid-century American home. The original owners built the house themselves (and by that I mean did it themselves.) We live in a suburban area of a major midwest city. Our house is smaller and not the usual big house this area is known for. However, we live off a private road in the woods. We have a little less than an acre & 1/2 but because it's in the woods our property seems larger. We do have neighbors. We're all neighborly but we enjoy our space :)  People are always shocked when they 1st visit. And of course, delivery & repairmen often can't find it. At the same time we are minutes away from a major medical center, shopping & restaurants.  I love it!

Our home is a high set timber home built in 1967 in what was then a new development.  We bought it ten years later in a very run-down state and over the years we have made it into a comfortable but very functional home - we moved from up north on the Great Barrier Reef to the outskirts of Brisbane which is the capital city of the state of Queensland in Australia.  We sold our brand new small solid home up north to do this.  Sometimes I wish we hadn't, I much prefer a rural coastal town to suburbia in a city.  We are minutes away from a big shopping centre, multiple restaurants, doctors, pathologists and so on - and fairly close to a major hospital - all but the latter, we can walk to if necessary.

Our block is 607 sq metres, and yes, we have neighbours - which was once a quiet area has now been overdeveloped into what is termed new generation which translated means knock all the houses down and build townhouses/boxes - but we're not selling.  We could go off-grid if we were so inclined, but we're not - so we're definitely connected to the grid here as are all the others in this area - to be off-grid we'd still have to pay for the connection even if we didn't use or need it so pointless really.  We're all electric here although I do have a gas BBQ and a portable gas camping stove.  We do have solar power which has been very beneficial in this hot climate.

I live in a 1400 sq. ft. 3-bedroom bath and half ranch house with full basement and attached double garage on two town lots.  Natural gas for cooking, clothes dryer and heat.  I can't complain about gas and electric cost since my bill is $100 per month year around budget plan.  It has varied from $89 to $118 in the last few years but currently is $100. 

I live in a small town in Northern Iowa pop. 1700 or so.  Entire county population is under 10,000.  No food shopping locally except a bad Dollar General, so I drive 25 miles to shop.  That is one reason I only shop once a month plus I hate to shop.  We had this home built to replace an older one lost in a tornado ... not a way I'd recommend to get a new home. 

I live in a 1450 sq ft house in a neighborhood on less than 1/5 of an acre. My house is all electric, and that has turned out well with our conversion to solar generator use whenever possible. I cook on my electric stove but I want to use my crock pot more because I can plug it into a generator. My husband thinks we might be able to run the washer on solar. I don't know if we could run the stove on it. I know they sell generators to do that, but that is probably more than we want to spend. I've actually been pretty amazed at what a few thousand dollars in generators can do compared to tens of thousands of dollars to put in rooftop solar. 

I live in a manuf. home, 2400 sq feet. We opted for 2x8 flooring and 2x6 walls, all tape and textured.  This is our second one.  I miss a site-built. We had two. The small one we had was 1200 when we were first married. My husband just won't live where there are neighbors and our last site built was free of HOA and 1/4 acre. I didn't think you could get much better than that, but... Here though, it's just about the only way to get acreage in AZ unless you have a lot of money or can build it yourself. We've been here 24 years. We have 5 acres, it's not that much considering there are no real trees to block sound and sights. It's all electric. I opted this time not to have a propane truck drive up my driveway to fill the tank like we did in our other one because we didn't want that ruckus and I wanted one bill. We have 2 acres is completely fenced and gated. I cook with electric, which I highly dislike. I like gas/propane as I could regulate the heat better, plus the stoves are made better.  We own it free and clear and because we live far out (20 miles to the nearest anything useless (lol), and a good 40 minutes to anything of use, our property taxes are only 500 per year.  Our "neighbors" have a site built on 10 acres that they built themselves and their taxes are $2500.  So it is downright cheap, until we need a new roof (about 7 yrs ago), or floor (last year).  But it is why we're limited in our flooring choices here.  Weird in AZ is that there are no basements and were no garages only carports. There are garages now, but when I moved here in '89 I thought where on earth do men be men?  We have a separate 30x30 garage. Our electric can run anywhere from $140 which is no heat or air, or around $375/mo. We spend our money mostly on gas and time and finding someone who will come out here to fix or replace things.  We have a lot of no shows if we need house repairs, no deliveries (appliance store) (right now I'm having a hard time with Amazon) we don't get mail delivered to our door either.  It's really been problematic. I've lost friends early on.  We did gain new a few new ones that live out here. Our "neighborhood" is one of those where one would drive by and wonder where on earth do these people work or shop?  LOL.  It is nice with the birds, and no city noise, but the drive can be daunting at this point. If I wanted Costco, it would be a 3 hour trip. Church is 45-50 min each way.  I rarely go out and shop, but stores have nothing anyway.  Mr. Grumpy says that now that he has the acreage, he's too old to take care of it. Needs work for sure, but we have been slowly cleaning things up. I can't do it all myself and he's not really one to be a maintainer.  We do have a pond that I wish would dry up, but I think he's convinced when the sky falls, the fish can be eaten. Truth be told, the way that pond looks, I'd eat tree bark before I'd eat those fish. ;)  I do wish I had a fireplace like our first home, but I would also fear I'd light the desert on fire in the winter.

Good Morning!  My husband and I live in a log cabin down in the woods by Hillsdale Lake in Eastern Kansas.  We have chickens and a very large garden with a creek running thru our 3 acres.  Our furnace had broken about 8 years ago and couldn't afford a new one so we heated the house with our large fireplace. It was quite the chore. We have been able to get a new furnace /AC a few years ago and have gotten spoiled. We eat a lot of our food we have grown ourselves and our 13 grandchildren love coming to Poppy and grams house.We're on a fixed income so we try to keep expenses as low as possible.

My land (outdoors) feels like a home.  It's 20 acres of wooded glacial hills, and very beautiful, especially in spring.  I spend most of my time out in the woods weeding out invasive plants or foraging for edible ones (except when I burrow under blankets and hibernate indoors for the winter.)

The house itself is a mobile home with both a screen porch and a large addition built onto it.  I built the porch myself and it's exactly how I wanted it.  The addition was built by my grandpa, and is well constructed but not the exact layout I would have chosen.  I do like that it has a walkout basement below it, which is where my wood stove is.  As for the mobile home part of the house. . .  It's had a lot of work done, like hardwood floors, bigger windows, et cetera (mostly when my mom lived here) and I am slowly making additional improvements myself at least on the most practical things, like mouse-proofing it and replacing the worst of the kitchen cabinets (which were originally made of particle board stapled to the drywall!) But there are parts of it that still scream 1970's mobile home, like the awful fake wood paneling on the ceilings, which I wanted to paint white, but after trying a small area, cannot find a product that keeps the pattern from bleeding through - I am still weighing whether to paint it a solid DARK color or leave it alone.  There are a long list of other things I don't love, but don't want to devote time or money to replacing when I could spend the former outdoors working on my land, and save up the latter in hopes of one day buying more land.  There are so many aspects I would not have chosen, that I don't really feel my house reflects my personality.  Well I guess it reflects my extreme frugality and outdoorsy-ness by the fact that I'm willing to put up with an interior that looks like that - ha!

I cook mostly on propane.  A truck comes to fill the tank every two years and it's usually around $80 so I consider that worth the convenience.  In the winter, when the woodstove is going anyway for heat, I often cook on that.

I'm on the electric grid but no other utilities - no gas, water, sewer, home phone, home internet (except on my cellphone) et cetera.  I would like to get off the electric grid, but my house is heavily shaded by trees in summer, and usually covered in snow in winter, so it doesn't seem plausible to do solar.  As much as I like the idea of returning to primative off grid living with no electric at all, my well pump, chest freezer, washing machine, power drill, electric chainsaw, and a way to charge my phone are things I'm not really able to give up at this point.

That got super long and I just heard my laundry finish, so it's time to hang that out and get back to pulling garlic mustard, before I ramble any more.

Photos of my outdoor "home."

Tea S, your photo's resemble my wooded area. I see Dutchman's breeches....my all-time favorite wildflower. I used to pick them for my grandma and she loved them. Always put them in a quart jar for display.....great memory.

We live in Lancaster County Pennsylvania in a four bedroom three bathroom home on just over one acre lot in the country, surrounded by Amish farms and other single family homes. It has been a wonderful place to raise our two daughters, and we see them and their families each week as they both live within 45 minutes of us.

Our home is all electric, including heat, stove, well, etc. and our electric bill runs quite high in the winter months.  We have a fair size vegetable garden, and we both enjoy tending it.  My husband is retired so has time to keep up with the maintenance (and the laundry!!!)

I love to sew and cook and create, and in the summer and fall make preserves (strawberry, peach, blueberry) and sauces (tomato, apple, applebutter, etc). I am a homebody and love spending free time just puttering around the house and garden.

I love Gdonna’s blog posts and have learned so much - I too much prefer living a more old fashioned life without all the modern bells and whistles!

I live on just over an acre outside this little rural town of probably 7000 to 8000 people. We lived for many years in a mobile home which is not safe in Florida and hard to insure (hurricanes). We finally had this site built home built on our land  right behind the mobile home then pulled the mobile home out and sold it. It’s wood framed as are most homes here in this area. The original plan was 1385 feet but we added a utility room and our builder increased the upstairs a bit with some clever engineering so it’s about 200 or 300 square feet larger now. 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, open kitchen and living combined. It has porches on 3 sides. It looks bigger than it is. We have all electric. Natural gas is not available out in the country and propane is expensive and unreliable.  I love it here. 

Grandma Donna -  Great Question. Its been wonderful to read about everyone's homes and where you all live.

 I always wanted to live on acreage but with 5 children and husbands work it never happened.  We have lived in a large 1970 house for 34 years in the centre of the North Island NZ and it is not my style at all, with too much glass and a quarter of and acre garden which is becoming hard to maintain but was perfect when the children were growing up. It is heated, by radiators and hot water by gas and everything else is electric.  However the gas has got so expensive here in NZ we hardly use it, not that the electricity is any cheaper.

Pam - I was interested to read you used to live up in the Barrier Reef area.  I met my husband on South Molle Island, Whitsundays in 1971.   We were both working there, me on my big OE from England and him from New Zealand.

Thank you everyone for all the interesting information, its so helpful and incouraging.

I've been away from the forums for a while. Trying to severely limit my online time! I've been keeping up with the blog, though :)

Grandma Donna - Wonderful question, it's interesting to see how we all make a home!

We live in a manufactured home on a foundation. I don't have the exact square footage, probably 1200-1500. We are on 12 acres, but we share those acres with our neighbor, whom we also rent from. He's a good friend -- an older gentleman. We benefit from very inexpensive rent with no increases, and we help him maintain the property now that his age is slowing him down. (I'd argue he still has more energy than I!) 

Our home is in a mixed wetland and forest area. Typical Pacific Northwest -- lots of firs and ferns, berry brambles, Oregon grapes, and greenery of all kinds. We have a resident raven pair that is raising their family in one of the sequoias, tons of owls, foxes, coyotes, and deer. I love the wildlife, but it does make gardening a challenge. Fortunately, I was recently gifted, through a local Buy Nothing group, four 4x2-foot garden boxes. The types with legs for use on a deck, and we have a giant deck that the deer don't go up on. So my gardening woes may be solved, hooray! We also have a small orchard on the property, which we take care of and harvest (although we share some of the preserves with our neighbor, of course). 

Our location is near perfect. We are in the far northwest corner of Washington state. Vancouver, BC, Canada, is the closest major city to us (30-40 minute drive, depending on border wait times), but we are just outside of a small city. It's a 1-mile walk down our country lane to the nearest bus stop, but we can be downtown within 20 minutes of catching the bus. I go to the college campus twice a week, and I take the bus so I don't have to mess with parking. By car, we can be just about anywhere we need to be within 10 minutes, but we are busing and walking more due to gas prices. We have five neighbors, each on 10 to 30 acres of land. This area will likely never be swallowed by the city because it is protected, as the water feeds into an important agricultural area so no further development is allowed (we are the "berry basket" of the United States).

We are all-electric for heating and cooking. No AC, but it only gets uncomfortably hot here for a few days every year. We do have a portable AC/air cleaner unit, but we only pull it out if there is bad wildfire smoke. We are on well and septic, so electricity is the only major utility bill, although of course we also have phone and internet. We want to start playing with wind energy. Our college son, who lives with us, is planning to build a small turbine as a project this summer. He always does a weird project -- last summer it was a foxhole radio! 

This is my absolute favorite place to be in the entire world. I spend days without leaving, just wandering around in the woods or puttering around the house. 

We live in a 1900 sq ft concrete block one story house in the middle of a subdivision in Florida. We moved down here for my husband's work and lived in a rental first. When finally looking for a house we couldn't find anything that felt right.

One day my husband rode around looking at neighborhoods and came across one still being developed. There was a house just starting construction on a lot on a pond. It's a wedge shaped lot, shorter front to back than it is wide, so the side yards get wider quickly as you go back. There is a small reserve for wildlife across the pond, meaning we see mostly water, trees, and sky. Anyway, he saw this, drove to the office, found out the financing of the would -be owners had just fallen through and immediately put down a deposit. Then came home and said "Guess what?! I bought you a house!" He had the look he gets when he is absolutely certain of the right thing to do so I knew that was that. 

We put up a privacy fence on the front/sides and a shorter open fence in back as per HOA specs. The house looks totally bland from the front but if you open the gate it's raised beds everywhere, clothesline, compost bin, everything hidden. He's also built a hydroponic system on the lanai!

It's bigger than we really need for just us, but I work from home now so a separate office is great, and the kids are comfortable when they visit. All electric, standard builder-grade fixtures and such but we have made it our own. 

Janice E - Pam - I was interested to read you used to live up in the Barrier Reef area.  I met my husband on South Molle Island, Whitsundays in 1971.   We were both working there, me on my big OE from England and him from New Zealand.

Janice, I was born in Mackay up there, the gateway to the reef, and lived there for half my life, still my home town, my heart - my Dad worked for many years on Brampton Island and we all went on the Roylen cruisers frequently, so I know the islands well.  Loved South Molle, Hayman, Happy Bay and all the others - sad to see they're most of them now in disrepair.

Thanks for another fine post, Donna! I live in a 1,224-square-foot house that was built in 1938 in Cabool, Missouri, in the U.S. It is 1 1/2 stories tall. It says it is a 3-bedroom, but one bedroom is upstairs, and you have to climb a ladder to get to it. It would be a great place for kids. I heat mostly with wood, but I use an Eden Pure electric heater at night when it is too cold. I have city water and electric, but my own septic tank. Although I am on the city electric grid, I also have many solar lights hanging around my house, and a composting toilet that I use daily. My kitchen stove runs on propane, but I also cook on the wood stove in the winter. I got an Instant Pot, and I really like cooking in it, too. I live on 1 acre of land right on the edge of town. Our town has about 2,000 people. My homey spot is my library area, where I have 3 sides of bookshelves. I have a cozy rocking chair there, and the TV is right across from my library area. My newest homey activity is darning socks. I used to eat too much while watching TV, so I started darning socks instead. Another new thing I started recently is using pancakes as bread, instead of bread. A loaf of bread is about $3-$5 here, and I got a box of pancake mix for 50¢ at the salvage grocery store, so I decided to expand my horizons about what bread is. I don't mind eating them cold with whatever I would put on bread.

When I read your post, I felt that although we are on opposite sides of the planet, we are the same at heart. We got our home built in 2008. It's big, it's not very pretty (or aesthetic as the current generation calls it), and we used materials that fit our budget at that time. When we moved in, our elder boy was 3 and younger one was not even a year old! Now, both of them tower over me. Before my wedding, I had collected plenty of decorating articles and pictures in my scrapbook. But once we had our home, I was too busy with housework and raising my children without extra help. When I go to other homes, I always admire the way how well-decorated their place looks. But once I get back, I am very happy with my own, because, as poorly decorated as it is, it envelops me like a hug. I have not put up commercial art on walls. Whatever is up there has either been made by me, photographed by one of us or are customized gifts from friends. None of it is thematic or coherent, but I like it that way.

When the house was built, I insisted on built-in window seats so that I could spend monsoons reading on them while watching the rain. Somehow, I have never gotten around to doing that, preferring to cuddle up on our living room couch to read. But that window seat was put to good use by our half-feral cat who used to climb in that window on cold or wet nights and sleep curled up there. He passed last month, but I will always be grateful for those mornings when I used to part the curtains and find a black-and-white cat sleeping there. 

I am not a good cook, but I do make meals from scratch for my family. And although baking is not a part of Indian cuisine, I taught myself to bake birthday cakes, bread, and other treats. I love my open-plan kitchen, because unlike in other Indian homes where the men avoid kitchens altogether, my whole family is drawn in when I cook. So, it might not be very neat or presentable some of the time, but I like it that way.

One of the things I do upon entering a new home for someone's housewarming ceremony is praying that the new owners will have a home filled with love and things that make them happy. I feel that it is one of the greatest blessings on earth. Thank you once again for reminding me of that!