The house is quiet for one hour. My heart and mind are swirling today, everything feels a bit off. January has been wonderful yet odd, restorative yet draining. I’m refreshed in some areas yet deeply tired in most. I bet each of you feel a similar way.
I am sitting in my front room. I want to rename it the drawing room like the English do—the room where women would “withdraw” for tea and conversation. This most definitely is my winter withdrawing room. The light is lovely and warm in the afternoons, the carpet is cushy, and the bits and bobs on my shelves make me smile. I’ve moved my prayer journal, Bible, devotional, and planners in here for the immediate future, nestled into the shelves of a wood side table I bought off Facebook Marketplace a few years ago. This corner of the room is helping me find center again, a quiet place to gather my thoughts, discern next steps, and ask for help and solace from the Lord.
I have found that during different seasons of the year, I migrate naturally to different parts of my home. During the late Spring and early Fall, I love sitting in my sunroom, watching the herons and ducks explore, fly, and dive. As early Winter and Christmas approach, I want to be in the den. I also enjoy the den during the heat and outward activity of summer because the dark wood has a calming and cooling effect on my mind. But late Winter and early Spring, my heart finds joy in this front room, this withdrawing room. It’s cheery, cozy, warm, and renewing.
Our homes are for our service, designed to give us what we need. We do not need to serve the spaces or keep a space for a function that doesn’t suit our current lifestyle. We are always free to reimagine our rooms, changing and evolving our style or usage. Sometimes we can get into ruts and feel discontent with our floor plan. This is a great time to ask if we need to change the function of a particular space? How can our rooms help us reach our desires and goals? Is there a better usage for a space in late Winter or in a busier season of hospitality? Where is the special spot in your home where you can recenter? Do you need to move a comfortable chair to a sunny window? Or put a small personal desk in an unused room? It’s life-giving to ponder how to make our homes places of refreshment, of renewal, especially if you are in an emotionally taxing season.
Would love to hear from you since it has been a while. Where are you currently finding room to recenter? What are your essentials for a place of your own?
Much love to you. I hope to be here more all Spring.
Aimee
Such a lovely thoughtful post. Yes, I gravitate to different rooms for the mood also. Since we are in "limbo" right now, between moves, my quiet place is our bedroom. We don't have enough room for a chair, so I sit on our bed and am able to look out of our window where there is a tree, so I sort of feel like I'm in a tree house!
Thank you for sharing photos of your house, and helping us with decorating ideas.
I truly haven’t ever sat in my living room for withdrawal until this winter but the fireplace has beckoned me and it is bringing me SO MUCH LIFE. Also-I thought drawing room was where they did artwork. I LOVE that it’s withdrawing oh my word, I love it