Photograph your home, the big spaces, the small spaces, the pretty and not so pretty aspects of it. It all is part your home, your place of memories. Take photos to help keep those memories fresh, as time diminishes the little details.
When I was young, my family didn’t take photos of our home, instead was more focused on the people and pets. I wish I had photos that captured more of the background, the rooms, the interior and exterior of my childhood home, as I can’t remember many details now.
My home is an older style, has small rooms and doesn’t have enough light for my liking. I used to try to photograph my home to try to present it in the best light, the best angle for flattering photos. I no longer do that. I want photos that help me remember my home exactly as it is. Sure, the kitchen doesn’t get enough light and is often cluttered but by photographing my kitchen exactly as it is, I remember those negative aspects about it, but then I also remember happy times spent in the kitchen, food we’ve prepared, parties and family gatherings held in that small, cramped space. I want to remember it all. I sometimes use a DSLR camera but often times I reach for my iPhone, it is just so much more convenient and quick. I apply a quick edit with VSCO or PicTapGo apps and load it to Dropbox so its stored off-camera and ready for scrapping with.
These photos of my kitchen remind me of how much fun we have trying new recipes, how myself, my daughter and granddaughter are all foodies and love to talk about food and recipes. The clock on the wall has been there for over 20 years, found in an antique store. The pots & pans that hang over the sink were a brilliant idea I had (if I do say so myself LOL) to install a curtain rod and hooks for easy access. I don’t see the messy clutter when I look at these photos, I see a room that has seen a lot of family time and love.
Don’t forget to take photos of the exterior too. If I hadn’t taken these photos, I might not so easily remember how proud my hubs was to have replaced the garage door and how he painstakingly laid down bricks along the back of the house to create a walkway. The backyard photo reminds me that my hubs built a new fence around the yard but that two years later he still hasn’t gotten around to trimming down the posts and putting the end caps on (sigh) but I do laugh and joke to him about it, how he is a procrastinator just as I am LOL.
Some ideas for taking photos of your home might include:
- furniture, maybe your favorite chair.
- window or doorway, maybe you stand there and look out often.
- wall, maybe it is filled with photos.
- porch or deck, maybe you sit out there with coffee and a good like (like I do).
None of these photos are well planned or composed. I’m okay with that. These are not photos to be framed and displayed on the fireplace mantle or hung on a wall. These are pieces of my life, inside my home. They all tell a story, remind me of a time, a memory, a thought, a feeling.
Decor changes, renovations happen, maybe you move to a new home, or maybe with the passage of time, your habits/schedule/priorities change and your life inside your home reflects those changes, so photograph them now, to keep those memories intact.
What is your life, inside your home, like? Photograph it! Here are some kits from The Lilypad store that I think you’d like for creating your page about your life, your home.
Sahlin Studio | Art & Soul
One Little Bird | These Walls
Kristin Aagard Designs | Love Lives Here
Forever Joy Designs | Sweet Home
Etc By Danyale | On The Street We Live
Amber LaBau Designs | Block Party
Karen B says
I love the photos of your kitchen especially. They have a sense of life and motion and the scents of good food cooking.
Michele Kendzie says
I agree! I photograph my house often. I want to document all of my life! Some of my favorite photos from the last decade are of the toys and things tossed around by my kids, the cluttered shelves showing what we were interested in at the time, and the kitchen showing what foods we were enjoying back then in dishes we no longer have.