This Craftsman Bungalow’s Natural Light is Amazing, and the Decor Warm and Cozy

Name: Sam, my cat, Tux
Location: Old North End Neighborhood — Colorado Springs, Colorado
Type of home: Craftsman bungalow
Size: 1679 square feet
Years lived in: 3 years, owned

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My name is Sam and this… well, this is my dream home. Some little girls grow up dreaming of two-story houses with white picket fences. With a family that moved every year or so, I just dreamed of a place I could call my own. A place that felt unequivocally me, but wholeheartedly welcoming to everyone who entered. And while my Tuxedo cat, aptly named Tux, is a little more selective of who he welcomes into our home, I hope everyone who visits feels comfortable making a mess, being themselves, and forgetting to use a coaster.

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Bright and happy mid-century Craftsman

What is your favorite room and why? I’m going to cheat and say the living room and dining room. But here’s why: Sit on the couch in the living room at about 2:30 in the afternoon—facing into the dining room—and you’ll see how the light through the beveled windows draws rainbow streaks across the whole dining room. Small prisms of color imperfectly splashed across the table, the bar cart, the painting of sunny-side up eggs. So, my favorite room is the dining room—but from the living room—at 2:30 in the afternoon.

If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? I’ve been told my house has a scent. It just smells old—the way an attic or an old crawl space does. I like to imagine it just smells like history and a century of lives well-lived. (The house is 112 years old). But I wouldn’t mind if it smelled like the eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils I keep diffusing.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? One of the last things I bought is the brass light fixture hanging in the kitchen. A girlfriend and I decided we were tough enough to hang the light fixture ourselves—but after some compromising positions, a few choice words, and a light fixture that hung “a little to the left”—we got help from another friend who was a little more familiar with electrical wiring.

Any advice for creating a home you love? Fill it with people you love. A house is just a house until you invite the people you love to share in life’s little moments. I feel most at home when the house is full of all of my closest friends: baking cookies, watching a movie in the backyard, or drinking hot cocoa by the fireplace.

This submission’s responses have been edited for length and clarity.

This post was edited to clarify and correct the information about the people (and pet) living in this home. 12/2/2019