Designing Gratitude: How a Beautiful Home Can Change Your Outlook
- Dec 22, 2025
- 3 min read
By Kathleen Jennison
Owner and Principal Designer, KTJ Design Co.
When my husband passed, I felt the walls closing in on me. The memories in our large home too heavy to carry. I knew I needed a change, not just in address but in purpose. That decision to downsize became the first act of gratitude: a chance to honor what was while creating what could be.
I sold our expansive house and purchased a 1935 cottage in Stockton: two bedrooms, one bath, and deep potential. The home needed a full gut-renovation, but I saw beyond its flaws. I saw space to heal, space to grow, and a canvas to pour purpose into.
Grief, gratitude, and reimagining space
Walking into the house months after purchasing it, I still felt weighed down by grief. Even stepping through the front door was hard. But as I began to clear out debris, old vegetation, a collapsing shed, neglected features, something changed. With each physical removal, I felt a little lighter. Renovation and reclamation became intertwined.
I gutted the kitchen and bathroom, replaced plumbing, insulated walls, restored original hardwood floors, and reworked layouts to make every inch count. In doing this, I wasn’t just rebuilding a structure, I was rebuilding my inner life. Each tile laid, each wallpaper chosen, each fixture installed became a quiet act of gratitude for possibility, for renewal.
Designing with intention (and generosity)
Because I’m an interior designer, I approached this as more than just a private project. My intent was to infuse generosity into the very bones of the home.
For instance, I selected materials and finishes not because they were trendy, but because they’d age gracefully giving the space longevity and sustainability. I incorporated locally sourced elements whenever possible, supporting nearby artisans and tradespeople rebuilding their own paths. In some rooms, I designed extra flexible zones such as seating that can double for conversation, surfaces that can host creative gatherings, walls where art might regularly rotate.
Those gestures may seem small in a single home. But scaled across designers and homeowners, thoughtful choices become a ripple: giving work, giving resources, giving opportunity.
The emotional returns of designing gratitude
As rooms transformed, so did my spirit.
The dining room became a framed canvas of pattern and paint that felt bold and alive. The bathroom, once cramped and awkward, opened into a gracious space with classic marble and playful wallpaper accents. The kitchen, reconfigured and modernized, is now warm, efficient, and full of light.
With each finished corner, I felt a renewed sense of ownership and hope. Walking through my home now feels like stepping into a story, but this story is one I’m writing daily.
Every morning I pause by the windows and feel gratitude: for the opportunity to chart a new course, for the hands that helped me, for a home that supports who I am now, not who I was.
A home as a canvas for gratitude
Designing gratitude doesn’t require upheaval or loss. You don’t need to renovate an entire house to begin. Here are ideas to bring this mindset into any space:
Small-scale gratitude corners: A shelf or nook with photos, notes, or objects that remind you of people, moments, or causes you’re thankful for. Refresh it seasonally.
Rotate in giving elements: Swap out art, books, or accessories with pieces from local makers, craftspeople, or even items you donate and replace.
Design multi-purpose, generous spaces: Create corners in your home that encourage connection with chairs for visitors, surfaces for collaborating or making, and welcoming lighting.
Choose sustainable, community-minded materials: Use repurposed wood, support small batch artisans, source locally. These decisions echo generosity beyond your walls.
Host with intention: Invite neighbors, friends, or people you admire into your home as an act of gratitude, whether for tea, a design workshop, or creative conversation.
In downsizing, renovating, and reimagining a home that fits me perfectly, I discovered gratitude wasn’t just a feeling it was a design tool. It taught me to slow down, to choose generously, to honor memory while making room for possibility.
My home now stands as more than shelter. It’s a daily reflection of resilience, love, and creative gratitude. And in each corner of it, I am reminded that beauty and purpose can rise from loss and that designing with heart changes more than just walls.
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