The legacy I want to leave my kids isn’t a beautiful home they remember from their childhood.
It’s knowing how to create a home that helps them thrive.
Not a specific aesthetic. Not a certain style or trend. But the skill of shaping space around the life they want to live and the people they want to become.
Because here’s what I’ve learned: the way we shape our spaces shapes our stories. And the homes that matter most aren’t the ones that look the best – they’re the ones that hold the most life.
We Asked Them What They Needed
When we redid our kids’ rooms, we didn’t start with Pinterest boards or paint colors. We started with questions.
What do you want to do in your room? How do you like to relax? What makes you feel at home?
My girls wanted somewhere to relax and read, so we added hanging chairs. They wanted to do art, so we added a table and chairs where they could spread out and create.
My boys love Legos, so we built a Lego wall where they could build and display. My oldest wanted a desk space for homework and projects, so we made room for that.
We added easy storage solutions to both rooms so cleanup was quick and everything could go out of sight when it needed to. Then, and only then, did we think about how to decorate.
Function first, around their actual needs. Aesthetic second.
And here’s what happened: they use everything. The hanging chairs get used for reading and thinking and sometimes just staring out the window. The art table is constantly covered in half-finished projects. The Lego wall is a rotating gallery of their latest builds. The desk space gets used for homework and drawing and building card houses.
These aren’t showpiece rooms. They’re working rooms. Rooms that support who my kids actually are, not who I thought they should be or what I wanted their rooms to look like.
The Spaces That Hold Our Stories
It’s not just their rooms.
In our game room, we added a ladder up to a nook in an empty wall space. It’s tucked away and cozy – the kind of spot kids love. Below it, we built cabinets for office storage, important documents, extra air mattresses, all the things that need a home but don’t need to be seen.
Our dining room has a giant table. And in the hutch beside it, we keep all of our board games. There are always games out on that table. Partially finished puzzles. Cards mid-deal. Monopoly money scattered across the surface.
It’s not styled. It’s not ready for a photo shoot. But it’s alive. It’s being used. It’s holding the life we’re actually living.
What I Hope They Remember
When my kids are older and building homes of their own, I don’t particularly care if they remember what color we painted the living room or what style furniture we had.
I hope they remember that we asked them what they needed. That we made space for who they were. That their home wasn’t about looking perfect, it was about helping them thrive.
I hope they remember game nights at the dining table and art sessions in the hanging chairs and Lego builds that took over an entire wall.
But more than the specific memories, I hope they internalize the principle: home can be shaped around life. Space can support who you are and who you’re becoming.
That’s legacy. Not what we leave behind in a house. But what we teach them about how to build a home.
How This Shapes the Work I Do
When I walk homes with families, I’m not just looking at square footage and bedroom counts.
I’m looking at how this space could shape their story, the one we’ve already talked about them wanting to live.
Could this room become a place where their daughter reads and dreams? Could this wall be where their son builds? Is there room for the giant table where the family gathers and games are always out?
The questions I ask aren’t just about bathrooms and closets. They’re about how you want to live. How you want to connect. What you need in order to thrive.
Because the right home isn’t the one with the most upgrades or the best finishes. It’s the one that has space for your actual life. The one that can be shaped around you and your family.
The Way Spaces Shape Story
Here’s what I believe: the homes that matter most are the ones where people feel seen and loved.
Not because they’re decorated perfectly. Not because every room is photo ready. But because the space was shaped with intention and someone thought about what the people living there actually needed and made room for it.
A hanging chair for a girl who needs a quiet place to think. A Lego wall for a boy who builds to process the world. A giant table where the family gathers and games are never quite finished. A nook in the wall where kids can climb up and feel hidden and safe. These aren’t expensive additions. They’re not complicated renovations. They’re just thoughtful choices about how to use the space you have in ways that support the people you love.
And over time, those choices add up. They become the backdrop for a thousand small moments. They become the setting where your family’s story unfolds.
What We’re Really Building
At the end of the day, home isn’t really about the house at all. It is, but it isn’t.
It’s about the life inside it. The rhythms you keep. The space you make for each person to be fully themselves. The way you shape your days and your rooms and your routines around what actually matters.
The legacy we’re building isn’t in the walls or the finishes or the furniture. It’s in teaching our kids that home is something you create. That you can shape space around life instead of trying to fit life into whatever space you happen to have.
It’s in showing them that the goal isn’t perfection. The goal is function. Support. Space to breathe and grow and become.
And when they’re grown and building homes of their own, I hope they remember that. I hope they ask themselves what they need. I hope they make space for who they are. I hope they create homes where the people they love feel seen and known and supported.
That’s the legacy worth building.
If you’re thinking about what kind of home would support your family’s story – whether that’s renovating the one you’re in or finding a new one – I’d love to help you think it through. Reach out when you’re ready.
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