By Anita Garner
Staying inside for long periods of time isn’t unusual for some of us. We’re nesters. If a cozy spot isn’t available, we’ll make one.
Be still my heart.
I’m a magpie, gathering a few things that make me feel at home and a few other things that turn a nest into a work space when needed. Everywhere I visit, everywhere I’ve lived, it’s always one small spot that gets my attention. No matter how large the room is, I’ll end up using just one part.
The British have a nice word for these kinds of places. They call a small, peaceful space a “snug.”
There’ll be a place to set down a cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea, whichever screens I’m using, pad and pen, magazines, books, pillows, snacks, move a lamp closer, turn a comfy chair to face a favorite view. Window or not, there should be something peaceful to look at.
Drawn to rustic
Whether it’s an estate or a cottage or an old house for sale, visiting in person or online, I play the pick-a-room game. Which of these rooms will become a nest? I appreciate, admire, absorb and when I leave, one room always stays longest in memory. Online I check out country manors where we see lots of family libraries and before the tour moves on, I’ve chosen a place over by the window.
Okay this is Highclere Castle. Not your typical “snug.”
It’s Downton Abbey. I’ll take that chair way back there on the left.
I’m interested in people who fix up falling down buildings and reclaim barns and turn piles of wood into habitable homes. Right now I’m on Instagram helping a family choose paint colors for their summer cabin on a lake somewhere. I don’t know their names or where this lake is, (maybe I have been inside too long) but they ‘re talking about screening a small porch and that’s interesting. Lots of nesting opportunities on a screened in porch.
If I could create the perfect Instagram account or one perfect magazine for compulsive nesters like me, it would be called,
“Cottages & Cabins & Barns & Castles With Corners
& Nooks & Some Nice Flowers & Trees Nearby &
Once In A While Some Recipes.”
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