I Think that there is some truth that the hearth is the heart of a home. This picture feels like home not just because of the wood burning stove but because it feels lived in. There are traces of people being there with the slippers on the floor. It also feels like home with some of the wood laying on the ground near what might be a door to the outside as if someone just brough it inside. the wood floor and leather chair and books all add to the ambiance of the warm and inviting space.
I really love how you describe how traces of use help create a sense of home. I think there is definitely a key aspect of home that has to do with how a space reveals the ways it has been well lived in.
Back in my childhood house, there is a landing between the first and second floor made of hard wood. When me and my sister were kids, after soccer practice we would come home and run upstairs without taking off our cleats. After a few years of that you could see the places in the floor where the hard corners of our soccer cleats left little dents in the wood panels. We didn’t play team soccer for very much our childhood, but whenever I walk up those stairs and look down, I’m reminded of running upstairs to play with my Legos. I think those small things, like pencil notches marking childhood growth spirts or patterns worn into carpets, do so much to really tie the elements of a home all together. Like you can furnish a house with books and chairs or what-have-you, but seeing the little traces of occupancy are what really embed you into the history and memory your home.
I think this idea of traces is also so interesting because sometimes they document the behaviors that we are fond of, but they can also reveal things that we might feel embarrassed or ashamed of. I feel like this cabin you use as an example is so picturesque and romantic and is very much an example of the former. This idea of picturesque interiors makes me think about the specifically designed and cultivated interiors from the Victorian era that we’ve looked at. The way that the wives of those households were held responsible for creating homes that reflected a presentational image of their patriarchs seems especially related to your cabin’s interior.
This is not to say that it is an identical example of the design ethic from that past time period. While your example feels like it’s decorated and furnished in a humble fashion, in contrasts those of the Victorian eras middle class seemed to be more keen on imitating aristocracy and exotic destinations. But that same use of careful design to give the impression of an idealized home I think is still there.