As an Interior Design Consultant creating a beautiful home for my family is pretty high on my list of loves!
I love to create comfortable cozy rooms- decorated spaces for my husband and I to relax, or watch TV or hang with our boys…I love to create vignettes and make our rooms flow with interest and trends blended with classic pieces.
In the end the purpose is always to create a home with meaning where my family members most want to be!
For me a meaningful home is having a home that nurtures, provides my family with emotional security and is a place to connect with ourselves, our extended family and friends!
A meaningful home is filled with things that matter deeply to us and tells our story. It’s a home surrounded by things we love, things we collect, things that our children have made.
Our home celebrates our heritage and family’s past. We were fortunate enough to inherit this gorgeous Mahogany dining room set from my husband’s family. We’ve had so much fun entertaining friends and family at this table! (You can see more of my dining room here).
Our home is filled with memories of our travels and each time my husband is deployed he returns with something locally made for our home:
Our foyer with a handmade carpet from Afghanistan and masks from Djibouti, Africa:
A close-up of the sea green vase and DIY Photo Art I have in my foyer:
I created a spa-like feel in our Main Floor Bathroom with a white shower curtain, white candles and botanical art:
Here’s our Back Entryway – a white framed mirror is the focal point of our entryway and adds a sense of height to the antique school desk. A rush basket works as extra storage. I tied on a metal number 4, as in Setting for FOUR, (this is actually a house number!) to the basket with twine. :
I love the layout and fireplace in our Family Room:
The pillars flanking the Dining room add a nice architectural detail to the room and separates it from the foyer and living room open concept areas:
Vacation mementos from a fun trip to Belize – a picture of our boys bodysurfing on the beach and a shell we found while scuba diving:
I also love to add meaning to our home by filling it with our children’s accomplishments and creativity!
I framed a piece of art that my youngest son drew for me a few years ago. It’s a picture of our family all holding hands! I love all of the Love arrows interconnecting us! Check out how I turned this piece of art into a Turn Children’s Art into Tea Towels DIY.
Adding ‘our story’ to our home is deeply meaningful to our family. And a large part of ‘our story’ is that we are a proud military family; our home celebrates my husband’s military career, service to country and all of the personal sacrifices he has made.
I like to add his military memorabilia to our home in subtle ways. My husband’s pewter mug adorns our fireplace mantel. Traditionally, when posted and as a way to say goodbye, each member of my husband’s regiment is presented with a pewter mug monogrammed with his regiment’s insignia on it. Here I filled it with boxwood clippings from our yard. I love the play of the silvery pewter against the green foliage!
I also believe that an easy way to bring meaning to our home is to bring the beauty of nature indoors, add plants and fresh flowers!
On our sofa table I placed this gorgeous white orchid in a silver ice bucket. I also added these easy handmade DIY Love Votive Candles for a soft glow at night!
But to be honest… for me, the most significant way to create a meaningful home is to have all of my family physically together..…it really is as simple as that.
With my husband often away on military training exercises or deployed overseas and now with my oldest son away at military college and boot camp, to have all four of us together in our home is truly, a real treasure.
After all, family is the true meaning of home!
** You can check out more of my home at my full home tour here!! **
To give your home beauty and meaning, display your collections, your inherited pieces, your travel mementoes and children’s art!
What has meaning to you? How do you bring meaning into your home? I’d love to hear!!!
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* Thank you SO much for coming by for a visit! I love to hear all of your comments! *
Heather
Written by Heather at Setting for Four
Setting for Four is a home design, décor and lifestyle blog. Focus is on home renovations, crafts, DIYs, tutorials, recipes, as well as family friendly design and decorating ideas that won’t break the bank or sacrifice style.
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Heather Luckhurst is the publisher and chief editor of the Design and Lifestyle website 
SO beautiful! Even more so knowing your family is there and together. Have a great weekend Heather.
PS- how is the consulting going?
Thanks for your sweet compliments Rasonda – really!! The design consulting is going really well – I’m pinching myself every day!!
Your home is beautiful, Heather! After seeing your home tour on Debbiedoos, I popped over to see more! I feel a slight connection as my husband just retired from the military after 26 years! I can relate with having to create a new home (honesty, I miss it a little-hah!)!! Your blog is lovely and I’m glad I got to meet you!~~Angela
Thanks Jessie for such sweet comments on my home tour! I wish I could tell you what the color is but it was painted before we moved in and I don’t know the color! It is a creamy yellow, not a cool one.
omg Heather, you put that into words beautifully…..Impressed!!! Great pictures too! Christine from Little Brags
Oh you are so sweet Chrisitine – thanks for the compliments!!
Hi Heather! I’m stopping in from Debbie Doo’s. Your traditional decor sprinkled in with family photos and military items is very relaxed and cozy. Big thanks to your husband for serving our country and you and your family for supporting each other and his military career. It can’t be easy when he has to be away. Your home has a lot of architectural detail (which I love) I love the columns and your fireplace! I bet you have some family dinner at that big table!
Thanks sooo much Sandy for saying such sweet things! I’m so glad you love my decor and thank you for sending your appreciation of my hubby’s service too!!
Hearing you talk about having your military family all together almost brought tears…I grew up in a military family and my two sisters and one of my brothers joined also. We are all grown now with our own families, but the military has spread us out all over. It’s a real treat for us to all be together! Love your decor. Simple elegance! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Oh thanks so much Christy for saying that! Growing up in a military family you know too well the challenges as well as the pride that the lifestyle brings! I’m so overwhelmed that 3 of your siblings joined as well – you must be so so incredibly proud of their service and sacrifice! xo Heather
Your home is lovely and made even more beautiful after reading this post. I really enjoyed reading this Heather, so heartfelt! Sharon
Thanks Sharon for you sweet comments!!
Beautiful – both your home and your message. I love this post!
So glad to hear you liked my post Sheila!!
So gorgeous. I am in love with that old school desk. Such a great idea!
Lovely home Heather! You’ve decorated it beautifully!
xox
You have a lovely home! I especially love the moldings and the fireplace.
Love all those architectural details! It’s like jewelry on an already pretty lady. 😉
I love your home! 🙂
Heather,
I love how you described a meaningful home and what beautiful treasures that your husband brought back from deployment. My husband and daughter just returned from a trip to Mexico and brought back some shells to remember the trip by. 🙂 You are so right, having family home together really is the greatest treasure.
~Sarah
Beautiful Heather! I love how you incorporated the silver mug on the mantle, we have a few of those hanging around and I might need to borrow that idea!
What a beautiful home and I love that you fill it with items from your trips.
You’ve done a lovely job on your home Heather, it’s beautiful!! Thanks for the tour around and I was really drawn to the architectural details (aka love your pillars, girl)!
Great reminders on what makes a home, a home! I love adding personal touches and things that bring my family’s history to my home.
Thanks for the tour. I love the personal touches! Your home is beautiful!
Thank you sooooooo much everyone for your sweet comments! I’m glad you like my home tour!!
What a gorgeous home – beautiful, and looks comfy too!
What a beautiful home! I’d love it if you’d link up to The DIY’ers! http://homecomingmn.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-diyers-and-weekend.html
Heather, you have done a great job decorating your new home! It was so good to meet up with you at Haven, hope things are going well for you!
Your home is gorgeous! So light & airy! And you are so right, having your family together is what really makes a home beautiful!
Hello, Heather,
I just read your “A Meaningful Home” essay and wanted to let you know home much I enjoyed it. My son-in-law is a tanker & career Army, too. Thank you for taking your valuable time to share your thoughts, projects and beautiful home with us.
Hi Carol! Thank you for leaving such lovely comments – I so appreciate it!! You must be so proud of your son-in-law!! #goarmy