To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labour tends. — Samuel Johnson, the Rambler, No, 68.
That’s the very first quote in Gretchen Rubin’s brand new book, Happier at Home (affiliate link) which — like its predecessor The Happiness Project — is sure to be a blockbuster. The Samuel Johnson quote immediately hit home for me, because 
golly, isn’t this blog about finding happiness in our sweet little midcentury homes… about loving the house you’re in, instead of pining after what it may lack… and about giving our houses our tender loving care — so that they can give theirs back?
Crikes, sorry to get all mushy there. But in case you haven’t guessed, I am hugely enormously, gigantically, sentimental about happiness in house and home. It is kind of… all that I think about. I also just read Gretchen Rubin’s first book The Happiness Project (affiliate link) in July. I thought that the book was hugely enormously gigantically brilliant. It was a #1 New York Times best-seller for good reason. The book is NOT self-help FLUFF. This woman is a take-no-prisoners serious, avid researcher. She wrote lauded history books about Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy before she turned to the more prosaic, yet elusive, topic of Happiness. In a nut, with The Happiness Project, she synthesized amazing amounts of research on the topic… and then… and this was the especially brilliant part: She put her findings to work in her own life, small-step-by-small-step, over a 12-month period, and chronicled her experience. The book is super easy to read, super encouraging — but at the same time, it’s deeeeeep. How often can you say that.
Now, Gretchen (I don’t think she will mind my familiarity) has followed up her first best-selling happiness book with a second one that focuses even more specifically on cultivating happiness within your home and with the creatures who may live there with you. UPDATE: Happier at Home has just hit #2 on the New York Times best-seller list, in just its FIRST week on sale. THIS BOOK IS A MUST-HAVE!
One more happy thing: Gretchen once gave a shout out to Retro Renovation on her blog — and send several hundred new visitors our way. She like the retro. Can ya believe it. I can: Retro is Happy!
Shelly says
My happiness is augmented when piles of backed up reading have hit the recycle box and I’m laying in bed with my dog and 2 cats = serenity!
Jennifer Beaver says
How you start your day is your choice. Most days, I choose to start it with gratitude and a hope that I can make the best Monday, Tuesday, etc. possible. It doesn’t work every day and sometimes you have a day that is just plain crap. But it helps to know that I have control over my attitude–and people and the universe seem to respond positively.
RetroSandie says
My little tip – keep a positive attitude. Look for the good and feel blessed with what I have.
Regina Rummelhoff says
I am happiest when sitting on the back porch in my rocker with my first cup of joe in the morning- watching the birds and squirrles admiring the best things in life that are free– for the looker and listener.
Sue Sweeney says
I am happiest when my dog, Sammie, brings his rope to me so we can play! 🙂
andrew hessen says
I am happiest enjoying something that makes me and whoever I am with happy; it could be something trusted or something new. Shared memories. The best.
Annie B. says
A simple happiness boost? A brisk walk in the very early morning when the world is quiet and it seems to belong only to you.
Karen kay says
Our home is like a tree house, we love the shared landscape, the trees, birds and the night sounds.
Mary Trimboli says
I find that gratitude is a huge step towards happiness. Perfect life? No, but I have been blessed in so many ways. A loving family and friends, a cozy midcentury home, a cuddly dog is just the beginning of the list.
Ellen M says
Any time I can spend with my husband doing the things we love, that makes me incredibly happy.
When work and commitments make that difficult, I love to knit for my family. The very act of turning string into a garment, plus knowing I am making something for a loved one, makes me pretty darn happy.