The Rhythm of Home in September
Photo credit: Nataliia Zhytnytska
September always feels like a reset. The air is a little crisper, the leaves begin to gather on the pavements, and the freedom of summer gives way to routine again. In our home in Surrey, it means my three-year-old daughter settles back into her days split between nursery and her childminder, while my six-year-old heads off each morning to the village church school.
It’s a season full of energy, but also full of clutter. The buggy by the back door, school bags dropped in a hurry, water bottles lined up along the counter. Evenings bring with them the ritual of nightly reading, the record book to update, comments to write, a score to be given, and the fun of noting down ‘impressive words’. These small rhythms shape our days, and our house, imperfect as it is, does its best to contain them.
We’re living pre-renovation. The carpets are threadbare, the bathrooms are peach, and the fanlight windows above the doors speak of their 1950s origins. In the very middle of the house stands a bar, almost like a pub, no joke, a quirky reminder of its past life. Out in the garden sits our very own kidney-shaped swimming pool that has certainly seen better days. For now, we make do, and it’s oddly grounding. It reminds me that a home doesn’t have to be finished or polished to hold family life well.
The hallway is our pressure point. Every school morning, it fills in seconds: book bag, PE kit, buggy, and coats piled high. A simple bench with baskets for shoes and hooks at child height makes the daily scramble easier. These small, practical systems keep the flow of family life manageable while we wait for the larger renovation to begin.
At six, homework means nightly reading rather than heavy study. Creating a spot for this ritual makes it feel special. Each evening, we curl up together in his bedroom and share the book of the day before updating the reading record. The design isn’t in the furniture (yet), but in the rhythm: the book bag always by the door, the record book to hand, pencils ready for noting down new favourite words.
Our kitchen, despite its dated cupboards, is the true hub of the day. Breakfast before the school run, after-school snacks, and the chatter of what was served at school dinners all happen here. A dedicated cupboard for lunchboxes and bottles, and a peg rail for hanging bags, help the week’s rhythm run smoothly. These little systems shape the chaos into something gentler.
What I’ve realised in this season is that design isn’t always about how a home looks; sometimes it’s about how it supports the rituals of everyday life. A clear table for breakfast, a welcoming hallway, a cosy corner for nightly reading. These things anchor us.
One day soon, our renovation will transform the fabric of this house, and the threadbare carpets, peach bathrooms, pub-style bar, and weary old pool will be a memory. But even then, it will be the daily rituals, the buggy by the back door, the reading record, the rhythm of family life, that give it soul. In the meantime, I’m busy designing our home, shaping ideas and making plans, with planning permission now imminent. Watch this space; there are wonderful things to come.
