A different kind of love letter

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I have to admit I’m not that into the actual holiday. After all, my husband should be doing romantic things for me (and I for him) all year long, right? So in lieu of writing about the gooshy side of love today, I’m focusing on the cozy, I’m-in-awe-of-you, I-want-to-make-the-world-a-lovely-place-for-you-type love we’ve got going for our families.

A few months back, I happened upon an interview from Design Mom’s series, Living with Kids, with Milk + Bookies founder Meredith Alexander, who described her home as “my love letter to my family.”

She took the words right out of my heart. What a stunning way to view the haven you work to create for your children, the space in which they will grow and from which they will develop their views of the world.

As our family expands, we are constantly retooling and redesigning the rooms in our house to fit the needs of the little ones and to keep us breathing easily when, for example, the toddler transforms into a tornadic force with the strength to destroy everything in her path. Some of the work we do is more for fun or aesthetics, while other projects are boring and expensive but required to keep everyone safe.

Despite the specific reasoning for each home improvement task we take on, I now consider all of them words or phrases that make up the ongoing love letter my husband and I are writing to our family. That thought makes it all worthwhile, because it’s our hope that the home we create will be our kids’ safest, happiest and most restful place on earth.

How is your love letter coming along?

Photo captions: Valentine’s love from the stoplights and Christmas lights in SoHo.