As the year comes to an end, I’m taking a look back at where we’ve been and sharing the highlights. Last week, I shared moments from the first half of 2024. Here are the rest:
In July, a reader begged for help in reclaiming her home. Maureen Rabazinski, a 62-year-old nurse practitioner, and her husband’s empty nest home had been repopulated as their two adult sons — and three grandkids and their toys — moved home during various life transitions, taking over guest rooms and turning her home office into a nursery.
Lesson: The advice I offered Maureen is something we all can benefit from: Every home needs boundaries, and every room needs one clearly defined purpose, no more. The office should not double as a nursery.
In August, I was planning my third wedding in eight years. Not all mine, thank goodness. Though we’ve been lucky in love, my girls and I, it’s been an expensive decade. I’m not the only one dealing with sticker shock. According to The Wedding Report, the price tab for the average U.S. wedding last year was over $30,000.
Lesson: Because no one wants to begrudge a bride a memorable wedding day, I found dozens of ways to save hundreds, even thousands of dollars by cutting costs in imperceptible ways. Here’s a sampling: Keep the guest list tight. Go with large blooms of in-season flowers. Pass on the champagne toast; have guests raise the drink they have in hand to cheer the newlyweds. And just say no to favors.
In September, thanks to the kindness of strangers, one deserving family achieved the American dream of homeownership. Maynor and Leticia Aldana moved out of their slum-like apartment, which had sewage leaking into the kitchen, and into a newly renovated house in Northfield, Minn. Their monthly mortgage payment is now less than they were paying in rent. With the help of their local Habitat for Humanity, Bob Thacker and his wife bought a dilapidated 1,200 square-foot townhouse, then teamed up with more than 100 local volunteers — framers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, designers and master gardeners — and worked alongside Leticia and Maynor to renovate the home.
Lesson: Never underestimate the power of a community with a goal or the power of people and how much they want to help.
In October, I saw what happens when a world-class design firm, with a soft spot for helping those with disabilities, and a leading furniture retailer join forces. The result: Quietly Accessible Furniture. Recognizing that age isn’t easy on us but that the right furniture can make it easier, and help prevent falls, Michael Graves Design and Pottery Barn launched a furniture line that looks like it belongs in a home not a rehab center.
Lesson: More than three-fourths of those over age 50 say they want to age in place. Thankfully, furniture is becoming available that looks residential, not medical or institutional, allowing them to do just that.
In November, we met the “Heirloomist.” Photographer Shana Novak captures special keepsakes on film to “make something seemingly ordinary feel magical.” Ticket stubs, keys, pregnancy sticks, a faded airline boarding pass, teddy bears, worn-out work boots, and muddy slobbered-on tennis balls are among the ordinary but dear items Novak has dignified through photography and in her new book “The Heirloomist — 100 Treasures and the Stories They Tell,” (Chronicle Books).
Lesson: Most of us think an heirloom is a cherished valuable relic from an ancient relative, but an heirloom can be anything, expensive or humble, as long as it tells your story, a story you want to keep alive for generations.
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In December, I started breathing easier and sneezing less after I investigated ways to bust the fur flying around my home and other unwelcome evidence of our two dogs — including their, ahem, aroma. Initially skeptical of home air purifiers, because you have to believe in what you can’t see, namely that they eliminate 99.7% of invisible toxins in our air, such as pollen, dust, dander, mold, viruses, bacteria, and odors from cooking, tobacco smoke and pets, I was dubious. But as I saw independent studies, including ones from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, supporting the claims, I got a portable air purifier, and became a believer.
Lesson: Take care of your air. While this and many other home design columns focus on how homes look, just as —or even more— important, may be how our homes smell. Here’s to clearing the air and cleaner living in 2025!
Marni Jameson has written seven books, including “Downsizing the Family Home.” Reach her at marni@marnijameson.com.