There’s a little detail in the Home Sweet Hawkins branding that has been there for years, and unless you know me personally, you probably don’t know the story behind it.
A Smell That Always Takes Me Back
My grandma lived in New York when I was growing up, and we would visit her for holidays and during the summer. She always had eucalyptus in her house. I remember loving the smell, and over the years it became one of those things I couldn’t separate from her. Even now, I can smell eucalyptus and immediately think of my grandma and being in her home.
I think homes are funny that way. There are certain smells, objects and little details you probably wouldn’t give a second thought to if you saw them in someone else’s house, but when they’re part of your own story, they mean something completely different. Eucalyptus became one of those things for me without me ever really deciding that it would.
My grandma and I were incredibly close. She was my person and always, always in my corner. If I was in trouble, I could call her. She was the person who would laugh and say, “What did you do?” instead of making everything feel quite so serious. I always knew I had her. She was also incredibly supportive of me and my work. Home Sweet Hawkins was still much smaller when she was alive, but she was always telling me I was talented and that I was doing a good job. The business grew quite a bit after she passed away, and I wish she could have seen what it became. There are projects I wish I could show her, things I wish I could tell her about, and so many parts of this business she never got to see.
A Little Piece of Her
The eucalyptus in my branding is actually one of those things. I didn’t add it until after she died. I’m not even sure I had what I would call a real logo before then, so she never knew I chose something that reminded me of her to become part of Home Sweet Hawkins. I wish she had known. I think she would have loved it.
I still use eucalyptus in my own home, and I’ll use it in clients’ homes when it makes sense. I still love the smell, but I think I’ll always love what it reminds me of more.
Maybe that’s also part of why I’m so drawn to the things in a home that have a story. I will almost always choose the piece your grandmother gave you, the artwork you brought home from a trip, the old photograph or the thing you’ve had forever over buying something new simply because it looks good. Those are the things that make your home feel like yours.Sometimes the things we keep around us wouldn’t mean much to anyone else. But they don’t have to. Every time I see the eucalyptus in my logo, I know exactly what it means.
It’s a little piece of my grandma that gets to stay with me… and with Home Sweet Hawkins.