A home’s happiness depends on who lives there

Very recently, some relatives had just moved into a small house not too far away from me. I was told it was a small house, but my relatives really liked it. So a few weeks ago, I paid them a visit. I was greeted at the door and welcomed into a beautiful little house.

The first room was a very nice-sized living room, and it was blessed with big windows to give it plenty of light. There also is a gas-fired fireplace warming the room. A very comfortable couch faced the fireplace, plus several tables, bookcases and chairs, all of which sat upon an oriental rug. The artwork on the walls completed the charm of this room. I could feel the pride of that little house in that lovely living room.

The rest of that little house was as well decorated and as well cared for as the first room. Our relatives had made a gem of that little place, and it was happy.

Houses that are well cared for are happy places, and as a result, their occupants are happy too. However, there are exceptions to that, and I have known one or two. They happened to be much bigger houses located in much more expensive neighborhoods. The owners of one of those places were very wealthy and owned vacation homes in several locations. Their house was beautifully decorated and cared for. However, the owners only lived there for a few months every year, leaving that beautiful place lonely and depressed when it was left alone.

The second beautiful house I knew was inhabited by a large family that liked to travel. They were always planning trips, resulting in their frequent absence from their beautiful home. That house was thrilled when such a big family moved into her. But even though the house was well cared for and beautifully decorated, she was left alone way too often for her to be a happy place.

Despite her looks, when you walked inside, you could feel the loneliness, and the house was happy only when her family was in residence. Eventually, her occupants began to notice her sadness. They were concerned. They wanted a happy house, but they also wanted to continue their travels. After much thought, the family decided to hire a live-in housekeeper so their house would never be lonely. That worked. The house loved the housekeeper and was soon a happy house again.

Is your house happy?

Laura Moore can be emailed at lehmoore1@gmail.com.