The Shape of Home

Remember that drawing of a house you made in school as a young child? I bet yours was a lot like mine: A square house with a triangle roof with maybe some stick figures, pets, or siblings standing in the yard with you. Though the family details varied for each of us, it’s interesting that our shared, adolescent idea of home was basically the same: A square with a triangle on top.

And then we grow up. We become homeowners, spouses, and parents, and as such, shoulder the job to build out our own notion of home, to take that square house and make it feel as beautiful, comfortable, and distinct as those special kiddos, pets or plants that live under that triangle roof. The act of creating what home looks and feels like for each of us is a tall order, but it’s one of the most meaningful things we can do for ourselves and our families. It’s part practicality and part artistry. Form and function. Home is more than just the setting for our story — it is very much a character in it, and even a historian of it. Home represents who we are and what’s important to us.

As I chat with Mesta Park homeowner Faizah Bhatti at her enormous, swirling, cobalt blue and white kitchen island, I can’t help but be in awe of the vision of home she’s realized. In front of me is a mosaic rendition of Van Gogh’s Starry Night (a shared favorite of Faizah and her partner Chuck), inlaid with gold, and surrounded by a backsplash of dusty blue subway tiles. I remember this mosaic being the first selection Faizah and Chuck made at the onset of their 2021 remodel, but the vision didn’t stop there. No, Faizah’s force-like nature resonates in every color, surface, and texture, creating a home that combines her rich and colorful culture with the reverence and deference to the history of the home itself. It’s a beautiful and unique space, and a safe space for anyone who enters. 

Faizah’s home is a testament to how our homes evolve from that rudimentary drawing and capture the feeling of home when we choose to honor our identity, instincts, and ideas. When we find peace with our individuality, lay down the stories and burdens we carry, and allow the walls of the home to become our safe space to reflect, express, and escape. Like Faizah, each of us can turn a square house with a triangle roof into a one-of-a-kind home. 

As I’m writing this, I look up and see my three-year-old’s drawing of our family hanging on our fridge, and I feel everything I’ve held onto since I was the one drawing those pictures. I think about Faizah and the space she’s made. I think about every time I chose to hide behind the trends of HGTV and Pinterest rather than embrace my own bolder, more unique choices. Do I regret them? I’m not sure. I do recognize that my own sense of home is still developing, and with it, I’m free to dream and innovate, and empowered to do something really special. I owe it to myself, to my little family, and the girl I once was to do something I've always wanted to do. It’s time to paint my kitchen pink.

Featured in the February Edition of Stroll, a magazine published for the people of Mesa Park and Heritage Hills.