Bring out the welcome mat...

Hello and welcome to the first post on my Linen Cupboard blog. I hope you will find my research into the art of home keeping entertaining and fun. Somehow I think there are many of us out there that long for days when house keeping and cleaning was fashionable. When it was still talked about, taught and understood. This lovely New England welcome mat is from the dotcomgiftshop.

I'm hoping to show both you and me, that home keeping involves many different things and it could (not to mention should) be fun. Why? Because we should love our homes, and those who visit or share it with us should love being there too. It's fundamental to our happiness. Of course we all have different ideas to what makes the perfect home, and that's fine. But fundamentally our homes are where we feel safe and secure. A clean house keeps us healthy and happy.

But before I jump straight past the front door, and start handing out advice on how to clean, organise and live a happier life within our homes, I thought we should start from the outside... A friend of mine has recently re-painted her front door in a fetching teal colour, and that reminded what a difference a front door makes to the whole feel of a home. Walking up to a house that looks clean and cared for from the outside will influence not only how you and others see your house from the outside, but will already set the feel of the house you are about to enter.

So shake out that welcome mat, sweep away the dust and leaves, and give your front door a fresh lick of paint (take a look at the The stepped-up stoop article on the Martha Stewart website for some more handy tips). Go ahead and wash the windows surrounding your front door, put up a light, stick up some new numbers, hang out a sign to welcome people or for those creative souls, get busy making a wreath. Next time you walk up to your front door you'll feel proud... it's your home, even if you don't own your own home, you should love where you live and take care of the place that keeps you safe and dry!

Here are some inspiring ideas and finds, I hope you like them.

From left to right:

Row 1: A very classy and easy way to add a welcome sign to your front door from ScribbleIT; The sweetest birdie hanger ever - would look great hanging in the window of a door, made by emilyfriday ; and a lovely stepping stone to add to your path, available from gardenmolds.com

Row 2: Beautiful self adhesive vinyl sign from Singlestonestudio; This fabulous front door belongs to the Yellow Door Cottage in Australia; Add some modern numbers to make it easy for guests to find your house, these are from Design Within Reach .

Row 3: A simple classic wooden welcome sign by Georgiegirlcrafts ; a very unique and girlie wreath by Constant gatherer; If you have a spare bit of glass by your front door, add your house number to it with frosted glass film as done by Purlfrost

In future posts I hope to feature some inspiring people, and get you (anyone out there?) to send in some photos and tips too! So do take part! Next up- the bedroom, what to keep, what to chuck out, and how to sleep sound. Have a fabulous week! x