09/09/2026
Home Diaries 50/50
One year ago, when we moved into this rental, I started 'Home Diaries' with a little goal,
to document the journey of turning a rental into a home.
I think I had been longing for a permanent home for most of my life. From the place where I grew up, to cadet college, to my university hall, to my in-laws’ home, and then to our first rental as a couple in another country, I moved through so many places, but never quite learned how to fully settle into one.
There was always this quiet thought in the back of my mind, I’ll have to leave someday.
So even when a place was comfortable and filled with memories, it never gave me that deep peace of thinking, 'I’m home'
I always thought, 'maybe someday'
Maybe when I have my own place.
Maybe when I have my own apartment.
Maybe then I’ll finally feel at home.
But I was wrong!
Life doesn’t always give us forever places. We move, we grow, we start over, and sometimes we have to learn to make a home wherever we are.
So when we moved into this apartment, I decided I didn’t want to wait for our “forever home.” I wanted to make this place ours, with my paintings on the walls, plants in the corners, things made by hand, flowers on ordinary days, quiet mornings, messy evenings, and all the little moments that slowly turn a space into a life.
And today, almost one year and 50 Home Diaries later, I think I finally understand in the process what I had been longing for...
Maybe I wasn’t looking for a permanent address.
I was looking for the feeling of belonging.
The feeling of being settled.
The feeling of not having to wonder where we’ll be next, but simply enjoying where we are now.
Maybe home was never a place I had to find!
Maybe home is something we make, wherever life happens to take us...
and I’m so glad I documented it..
