what home means

As someone who works from home, I spend quite a bit of time inside the same four walls my family and I have lived in for almost 20 years. I like our house, which is good because by now I know it inside and out — which stairs creak; the sound the washing machine makes when it hits the rinse cycle; how long the suction on the freezer door lasts before you can open it again.

Of course these are just the details; what makes a house a home are the memories, of children growing up and friends sharing dinner, holidays with family and the small joys and trials of daily life.

These were the ideas that came to my mind when we chose HOME as the theme for the latest issue of mutterhood. But now I find that home has taken on a fuller meaning.

Surprising to me has been the range of topics we were able to cover. I think back to JoEllen Kerwin’s artistic miniature rooms and Laura Luce’s affection for preserving her historic Adler home. I learned about urban design partnerships involving libraries and affordable housing; art that draws attention to neglected places; and masterful miniatures designed by women to train law enforcement and offer historical study opportunities. We shared two very different house tours, reflected on cleaning in a way that made it seem not so ordinary and outed HGTV as our (and 90 million other people’s) guilty house pleasure. We even indulged childhood a bit with fun facts about Barbie.

If there’s one thing I learned after almost three months covering this topic, it’s that we’ve barely scratched the surface. So I ask, what does home mean to you? — Ellen