For the remainder of my life nothing will seem more like home to me than my grandmother's (Yaya) kitchen. To be more accurate, my Yaya's pantry. To walk by her pantry made you feel comforted, but to open it up and release a lifetime of secret spices would overwhelm me with a deep sense that all in the world was well.
I now have a pantry of my own and Lord willing when I have grandkids my pantry will have a life of its own also; to inspire the next generation. I keep some spices in there, cereals, and lots of other edibles to season the wood well.
There so many other smells that turn a house into a home. My wife makes a wonderful banana spice bread, I can smell it before I open the door when I come home. Cookies have to be a universally accepted smell, I have never heard anyone ever complain about the odor of chocolate chip morsels wafting through the air. It is not even necessary to turn the oven on to delight those in your house; simply ask your local florist for the flowers that catch the noses of people in other rooms.
There is actually a bit of science to the art of transforming a house into a home by a persons olfactory sense. Reece Mack wrote a great blog on appealing to all of the senses, including the nose. Tina DeVore also penned a great piece on how the 'nose' of a house can influence visitors (and perspective buyers) without them even realizing it.
So if you want to delight your guests or subtlety win over those looking to buy your house, consider keeping some cookie dough in the freezer and bake a couple right before they arrive. The warm aroma of delicious cookies filling your house surely can't be a bad thing.
Turn you house into a home!
Read more blogs in this genre: What Makes a House a Home
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A good, no, a Very Good post and one certainly worth reading. Your insight is refreshing and brings back many memories of growing up with a Mom who cleaned and kept an immaculate home, did the laundry, ran the household ( My Dad was actually the HEAD of the household but she was the neck that turned the HEAD) but especially she was an excellent cook and baked up a storm. The wonderful smells were ever present. What makes all this seem to me to be so special was that she raised 13 of us.
Thanks Daniel, They were indeed. They set a model for me and provided me the tools that I may be the person I was destined to me. I will share something very private with you ( lol, in a public forum no less,lol ). When I was kid my Dad gave me a piece of paper all folded up and said for me to read it and learn it over the course of my life. I put it in a drawer totally not understanding it. I looked at it many times and tried to figure out why he gave it me. I took it to college and I kept it and read it and began to understand the message.
When I was President of the San Diego Association of REALTORS , I was invited to give a speech to the Women's Council of REALTORS. I was asked to speak on one thing that changed or altered my life (that would account for why I won the presidency with the highest ever percentage votes in a contested election for president). At first I had no idea and then it occurred to me that the lesson my Dad had given me in that piece of paper was the first clue to discovering who I was to come to be.
One of my favorite radio commentators is Paul Harvey and as he would say, " And now the rest of the story". I love that, it makes what I will now reveal to you, make a bit more sense. What my Dad gave to me was a writing believed to be written on or about the 1690's. This writing was first found in Baltimore at the the Old St Paul's Church. It was titled " Deserata". I have that writing right here at my desk. Whenever I am a little down or even feeling especially fulfilled in my life, I take it out and read it. Not that I really need to because I have it memorized. But I love this thing and it keeps me grounded in all the right ways.
It is actually on line in the Internet at www.deserata.net , maybe it will have a benefit for you?
Opps, The link I gave you above, I hadn't checked out since a lot of years ago. Here is a better link that works. Sorry for that.
http://www.geocities.com/blueskala/deserata.html
William - thanks for sharing that! I read the deserata essay and very much enjoyed it.
Daniel -- Thanks so much for sharing! Great job!
Daniel, I want to come meander through your pantry!
Danny - not so fast, I barely know you.
Daniel - love this post! It took me back to my grandmother's pantry. When we used to go visit my grandparents in Florida each summer, I loved going into her pantry. It did have a special smell, and I never thought about that until I read your post. But I loved going in there and seeing all the foods and stuff she'd have in there for our visit.
Thanks for writing this post, and for bringing back some great memories for me.
Ann
Daniel - Your grandother knew exactly how to make you fell welcomed and loved. That is home!