Steve & Kathryn BechenNesting Happily Together for nearly 29 years
Kathryn Bechen Ink
Dear SDP e-Friends,
I'm doing my monthly Guest Author article a little early and I hope the fact that May is upon you brings you happiness as you spruce up your home and start to plant those beautiful and colorful flowers in your yards and gardens!
In addition to writing for home magazines, I also write for wedding magazines. In the past few years, I've probably interviewed and written about 30 stories about couples' gorgeous weddings, including one about a $1.7 million dollar celebrity wedding. But whether it's an intimate small family wedding or a celebrity bash, we decorating types all know that after the beautiful wedding comes the reality of sharing a home together, be it a one bedroom apartment or a large house.
That little fact prompted me to write an article for newlyweds this year about nesting happily together: "Your Blessed Nest: Finding and Creating a Comfortable, Beautiful, and Harmonious Living Space for Two." I interviewed some awesome home experts from around the country including author and interior designer Alexandra Stoddard, two professional organizers who travel the country helping others organize their homes, a national award-winning realtor whose firm sells between 150-200 homes a year, and more! I hope you enjoy my article. (Note: Not all of the links in this post worked properly, so to read the article please go to my Writing Samples page on my website at www.KathrynBechenInk.com where it's in the wedding section.)
I can personally vouch that it is possible to gracefully set up a comfortable home that both husband and wife enjoy and that "marries both tastes" because my husband Steve and I have moved 11 times in nearly 29 years of marriage and we've managed to do just that by working at it together. Does that mean it's been all wedded bliss and that there were never challenges in making our home a lovely place to be? No way!
I recall returning from a nice vacation once, for instance, to find out that we had to dig into our sewer line from the street to the house....$4,000, and broken concrete lasting through the winter and into the "mud season" later. And we've been challenged to find ways, before "going green was glam," to implement green living at home to accommodate my severe allergies. But together, we've also had fun nesting together. I'm the project planner/organizer/decorator, and he's the handyman who makes sure it all gets done just right. (He even double hangs my pictures as he knows crooked pictures annoy perfectionist me; how lucky can an organized decorating sort of gal get?!)
As decorators, designers, and redesigners, I hope you share my Your Blessed Nest article with your clients, family, and friends so they'll be inspired to live joyfully together at home too.
Happy Nesting Together!
Kathryn
http://www.kathrynbechenink.com
San Diego, CA
5 comments:
Kathryn,
Thanks for the inspiration. No matter whom you nest with or call your life partner, it's nice to share harmony and compromise. After all, isn't that really what "marriage" is all about?
Nice to see a happily married couple enjoying their home "TOGETHER".
I enjoy your articles.
The bottom line is creating a place that you and those you care about most, love coming home to. But do you always have to compromise? I sometimes pull the "I am a decorator and your not, so trust me" card. Whew, it has worked for over 25 years.
I had to laugh at JoAnne's comment. I pull that card out sometimes too which is great when the project succeeds but NOT SO MUCH when it tanks! LOL! I enjoyed the photos of your home on your blog Kathryn.
My husband thinks he has a decorating talent. The little known fact is it's actually me dropping so many hints that he starts to think it's his idea. Once it becomes his idea I take over to get it done. :)