We’re always growing and evolving as human beings.
We grow out of things.
We fall in and out of love with things.
Our priorities change.
Our families change.
Our routines change.
Our bodies change.
Our tastes change.
Our circumstances change.
You’re probably not the same person you were five years ago. So why would we expect our homes to stay the same?
Your home isn’t a finished product. It’s an ongoing reflection of the life you’re living.
And I think that’s one of the most beautiful things about home.
It gets to grow with you.
I don’t want that to feel daunting either. I don’t want you reading this thinking:
Oh my gosh. You’re telling me this is NEVER ENDING?!
It’s actually quite the opposite.
Growing with your home doesn’t mean you’re constantly doing some big, elaborate renovation or replacing everything you own.
Most of the time, it’s all of those little changes that naturally happen throughout everyday life.
You bring something new home.
You move something.
Your needs change.
Your family changes.
A room starts functioning differently.
You fall in love with something new.
You let something go.
And little by little, your home continues becoming a reflection of the life you’re actually living.
Change Doesn’t Mean You Got It Wrong
It’s okay to eventually want change.
As I said, we’re always changing as human beings. That doesn’t mean we’re wrong for changing or wanting something different.
And the same goes for our homes.
What you wanted ten years ago might not be what you want or need, today.
Remember earlier in the Home Journey when we talked about considering future you while still designing for present you?
Well, this is where all of that starts to come full circle.
Maybe your family grew.
The kitchen layout you chose ten years ago could have been exactly right for the life you were living then.
The sofa could have been right.
The nursery could have been right.
The home itself could have been right.
And then life changed.
That doesn’t invalidate the original decision.
Something can serve you perfectly for ten years and then one day stop. Which I think is so important to understand.
Because sometimes we look back and think:
Why did I choose this?
Why didn’t I think about that?
I wish I had done this differently.
But you made that decision as the version of yourself who existed at that time, with the life, needs, information, and circumstances you had then.
Outgrowing something doesn’t mean choosing it was a mistake. It may simply mean it did its job, and now you’re ready for something different.
Different Chapters of Life Require Different Things From Home
Wherever you are in your Home Journey, that’s where you need to meet yourself.
Be realistic about the life you’re living right now. Our homes reflect that life back to us, and different chapters of our lives are naturally going to require different things from them.
When you’re single, home might need one thing.
Living with a partner changes things.
Working from home changes things.
Having a baby might mean creating a nursery and eventually baby-proofing.
Kids growing older changes how spaces function again.
Getting a pet changes things.
Caring for aging parents might mean creating an in-law suite.
Your family growing might mean building an addition.
Becoming an empty nester could mean repurposing bedrooms.
Aging in place could eventually mean grab bars, fewer stairs, wider clearances, different lighting, or other accessibility changes.
And it doesn’t always have to be a huge life milestone.
Maybe you suddenly love hosting and realize you need more seating.
Maybe you stop working from home and don’t need a dedicated office anymore.
Maybe the formal dining room nobody uses could become something completely different.
Your home is responding to your life.
And that’s what I want it to do.
Don’t force your life to fit a home designed for an older version of you.
Let your home meet you where you are now.
Your Taste Is Allowed to Change Too
Not every change needs a life milestone attached to it. Sometimes you just change your mind.
Maybe you loved farmhouse ten years ago, and now you don’t.
Maybe you used to love cool gray, and now you’re drawn to warm, earthy colors.
Maybe you bought everything brand new, and now you love vintage.
Maybe you’ve traveled more.
Maybe you’ve learned more about design.
Maybe you’ve inherited pieces.
Maybe you’ve simply become more confident in yourself and what you actually like.
You’re allowed to change your mind.
Actually, I think changing our minds can be a really beautiful sign that we’re developing, learning, and becoming more self-aware.
And I really think so much of this comes down to being aware of ourselves, our thoughts, our feelings, our needs, and what feels right to us.
Sound familiar?
That’s exactly what we started digging into way back in Dream.
And that lesson shines through here in Grow too.
When you’re updating and evolving your home, please remember that something doesn’t need to be considered “outdated” for you to want to change it.
We’re still not designing based on what everyone else says is in or out.
Something doesn’t have to objectively be outdated to simply stop feeling like you.
Your home should reflect who you are, not who you think you’re supposed to remain because you once made a different design decision.
Learn to Notice When Your Home Isn’t Serving You Anymore
Sometimes you’ll know immediately when your home needs to change.
Other times, it might not be that obvious.
You might just feel it.
Maybe even somewhere deep inside your soul you’ll realize something isn’t working anymore.
Something doesn’t feel right.
Something feels different.
Just like we did in Dream, take the time to get to know yourself and pay attention to what you’re feeling.
Your home might be telling you something without directly doing so.
Maybe:
- A room no longer functions for how you use it.
- You’re constantly working around something.
- You’ve stopped using a space entirely.
- Your storage no longer supports what you own.
- Your household has changed.
- Something feels disconnected from the rest of your home.
- Your taste has genuinely shifted.
- You’re maintaining a space for a lifestyle you don’t actually have anymore.
- You keep thinking, “If only this worked differently…”
The goal isn’t to constantly walk around your home looking for problems.
Please don’t do that!
It’s simply to pay attention.
Your home communicates with you too.
Change Doesn’t Always Mean Starting Over
When you realize something isn’t working anymore, that doesn’t automatically mean:
DEMOLISH EVERYTHING AND BUY EVERYTHING NEW.
No!
Growth can be much smaller than that.
Sometimes growth looks like:
Rearranging furniture.
Moving art.
Restyling.
Painting.
Repurposing a room.
Refinishing something.
Recovering a chair.
Changing lighting.
Or even removing something instead of adding something.
Before replacing something, ask yourself:
Is the thing itself actually the problem, or do I simply need to use it differently?
There are so many creative ways to reinvent the home you already have.
Sometimes a small change is enough to make your home work for the person you’ve become.
And sometimes it isn’t.
We’ll talk about both throughout Grow.
Your Home Tells the Story of Who You’ve Been
Curate taught us to bring pieces of our lives into our homes.
Live taught us to actually have a life there.
And now Grow gets to look backward.
Maybe your home holds:
The dining table from your first apartment.
The art you bought on your honeymoon.
The chair you inherited.
The marks on the doorway where kids’ heights were measured.
The nursery that became a kid’s room.
The office that used to be a guest room.
The kitchen you renovated when your family changed.
Something you saved years for.
Something you bought when you had almost no money.
Not every piece has to stay forever.
Not every room needs to remain exactly as it was.
But little by little, your home becomes a physical record of different versions of your life.
Our homes tell the story of who we are, who we’ve been, and the life we’ve lived there.
And isn’t that such a beautiful thing?
This is why I believe interior design is SO much deeper than the pretty things.
The pretty things matter.
But eventually, they become intertwined with the life that happened around them.
Give Yourself Permission to Begin Again
It’s okay to want change. And I actually think it’s healthy.
Maybe you’ve changed.
Maybe your family has changed.
Maybe your home has changed.
Maybe you’re renovating again.
Maybe you’re moving.
Maybe you’re starting completely over somewhere else.
And that’s okay.
You’re not going backward.
You’re entering another chapter.
And guess what happens when something changes enough?
You Dream again.
You ask yourself:
Who am I now?
How do I live now?
What matters to me now?
What do I need from my home now?
How do I want it to feel now?
Sound familiar?
Suddenly, we’re right back where we started.
And now do you see how it’s all connected?
The Home Journey isn’t linear. You may be in Dream today and Curate tomorrow. You might spend years simply Living before something changes, and you find yourself Growing again.
There isn’t one perfect timeline or one final destination.
Your home changes because your life changes. And when it does, you can always come back to yourself and begin again.
Your Home Journey Continues
You dreamed.
You prepared.
You built.
You curated.
You lived.
You grew.
And now?
You Dream again.
Your Home Journey was never supposed to have a finish line.
Your home isn’t something you create once, perfect, and preserve exactly as it is forever.
It’s something that gets to move through life with you.
It will hold different versions of you.
Different people.
Different seasons.
Different needs.
Different memories.
Different dreams.
And whenever your home no longer supports the life you’re living, you don’t have to wonder where to begin.
You already know.
Start with yourself.
And Dream again.
Because maybe this is the biggest thing I want you to understand about the entire Home Journey:
There is no final version of a home because there is no final version of the person living inside it.
Your Home Journey Continues → Return to Dream
If you loved this blog post, be sure to check out these related posts:
Chenoa’s Favorite Finds: Historic Coastal Charm Inspired By Maine
How to Know Where to Start When Designing Your Home
How To Design Your Dream Home On A Budget: A Step-By-Step Guide
Why Every Beautiful Home Starts With A Vision
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