Welcome!

Hooray! You found me! After a few glitches, I’m finally up and running.

So, here’s the deal… During the Chrissy break I was so enjoying not blogging, I debated about not returning. Mostly because I had so much stuff going on in my life, it was beginning to be a burden. Then I realised maybe it was what I was blogging about. A lot of the posts were half-hearted because I felt I had to write something - because I know it can be disappointing when you log onto a fave blog and realise it hasn’t been updated. And when you’re feeling that way as a reader, you wonder if others are feeling that way about your blog too - which is a bit of unecessary invisible pressure to put on a blogger who is usually doing it for fun, as an outlet and is not earning any (or very much) money from it. So I decided my original dream to become the next big design blog (!) was hardly going to happen because I just didn’t have the time, energy and desire to invest in it that way.

Sooo, what to do? The posts I enjoyed the most - and those that got the most responses - were my own things: my house, my kids, my projects. Not that there were many of them, but they seemed to be the most popular. So why not just focus on this? I can leave the Etsy finds and inspirational eye candy and great shops to the design blogs. I certainly love reading and hearing about them, but I’ll leave it to those who do it best. Also, I was tired of seeing recycled images and content on many of the blogs I visit - I was certainly guilty of it too, hence the need for a new direction.

So I decided. I want to record my home life. I want The Happy Home to be about family life: creating stylish and liveable spaces, spending creative time with little ones, prettying up the mundane, laughing through the frustrations and complications, and just enjoying life’s little moments. I’m not a stylist, nor am I uber-creative. I’m just attempting to use all I’ve learnt through my work, inspirations I’ve gathered and ideas I’ve come up with to turn my home into a happy one. Because, ultimately, that’s what every home should be - a place that makes you happy. Not because it’s decorated with designer furniture or boasts the latest trend or is hospital-clean or looks like it jumped from the page of a magazine*. But because it’s filled with the things you love and is an extension of all those who live there. This blog is about a real home with a real family on a real budget! It’s real living! (sorry, how could I resist? For those who don’t get this, I work for a mag called Real Living!)

I realise this new direction might cost me readers and even ad offers I’ve recently received, but I can deal with that! I’m not going to feel guilty if I don’t blog for a few days and I’m going to get back to enjoying it! Otherwise, there is no point, right?

I hope you’ll join me here. I’m leaving both renovate + decorate and mini meez online because I might decide to go back to them one day. But for now, here is where you can find me. Oh and at Twitter. And on Flickr (although all the images you’ll find in the galleries on this blog). And also at Real Living where I work. You’ll probably also find me at Ikea ocassionally too and I just know I’ll run into you all at one of the fabulous links I’ve popped in my blogroll. If you’d linked to my renovate + decorate, I’d love for you to change the link - or add it - if you think this is somewhere you’ll continue to visit. And I love hearing from readers, so please comment away or shoot me an email.

Much love,

Belinda x

{* note:} There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of these things - they just might be the things that make you happy. But do this because you want to, not because you feel you need to in order to have a stylish home and envious visitors.