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I was sitting in our living room this week with my morning coffee when I noticed something was different. After a few years in a home, you slowly begin to recognize the way the light changes with each season — but that morning, the sun slipped through the blinds in a new way, scattering patterns across the wall I hadn’t seen before.
It’s surprising how a house can reveal new things to you, bringing beauty you hadn’t noticed, even years later. Especially when you pause long enough to see it.
Four years ago this month we moved to an island and into this little house. Sixteen seasons. Four falls. And in each one, both the house and our life in it have changed in big and small ways.
This living room has changed right along with us! We repainted walls, put in new floors, renovated the kitchen which used to connect to it, changed the furniture and rearranged the room more times than I can count.
There were seasons of renovation chaos and seasons when it felt more settled and cozy again. Each fall, this room has looked and felt just a little different — like home.
Life has changed, too! We downsized, became empty nesters, and found new rhythms in this house.
In four years, we’ve celebrated holidays, hosted family visits, welcomed a new son-in-law, and now two grandbabies.
We said goodbye to our beloved Jack the Goldendoodle last year, and the hole he left in our hearts and in this home is still felt.
We’re so grateful he spent three years here with us, filling this house with so many memories.
Bringing our puppy Finnegan home last year — along with the arrival of our two precious grandbabies — has filled the house with the joy of new life again.
Through it all, this little living room has welcomed us in every season.
It has been a place for quiet mornings like this one, holiday gatherings, work projects, and everyday life in between.
Living so close to the sea has its own rhythm — slower, peaceful, rooted in the beauty around us.
It takes time to feel settled, to create a sense of place in a new home and community, and to build memories even in the midst of change.
But that’s what creating a sanctuary is all about. It’s not just finding the ideal way to arrange furniture or the perfect color for the walls, but embracing the rhythm of each season at home — and all of the ways you can make it yours.
Wall paint color: Beach Glass Benjamin Moore
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