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How to Savor Your Beautifully Imperfect Home
Hardly anyone escapes home design envy. These strategies can help you appreciate your home for all it offers you right now
Houzz Contributor. You can also find me on Lolalina (http://www.lolalina.com/), my blog devoted to all of the things that make a house a home - decorating from the heart, living with intention, and savoring life's simple pleasures.
Houzz Contributor. You can also find me on Lolalina (http://www.lolalina.com/),... More »
As someone who looks at a great deal of photos of beautifully designed homes every day, I know how the pangs of design cravings have the potential to overwhelm. Even three years after moving into our first home, my to-do and to-buy list is still a mile long. In fact, I think it may be several miles long at this point, and any chance of checking everything off my wish list is pretty much shot. For instance, how likely is it that I will add French doors to my (yet-to-be-built) deck from my remodeled kitchen, complete with marble counters and an antique farmhouse table? Probably not so likely.
Luckily, despite the fact that we may be wishing for something different at home does not mean we can't also learn to love our homes just as they are today. Over time I have developed an arsenal of strategies to help cope with any feelings of my home being "less than" what I see in the glossy design magazines. Here are some ideas for gaining a new appreciation for your own beautiful, imperfect home.
Luckily, despite the fact that we may be wishing for something different at home does not mean we can't also learn to love our homes just as they are today. Over time I have developed an arsenal of strategies to help cope with any feelings of my home being "less than" what I see in the glossy design magazines. Here are some ideas for gaining a new appreciation for your own beautiful, imperfect home.
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Embrace wabi-sabi style. The wabi-sabi philosophy, which has its roots in Japan, finds beauty in imperfection and impermanence. The flowers whose petals are just beginning to turn brown, the thick slab of wood with an interesting crack running down the center — these are more highly valued than something flawless. Isn't that refreshing?
| Tune in to your feel-good factor. Forget, for a moment, everything you ever learned about design and just answer this one question: What makes you feel good? What color instantly lifts your mood? What sort of artwork makes your heart sing? Instead of trying to live up to someone else's ideal, allow yourself the luxury of choosing what you love. |
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| Organize something small. When you are feeling dissatisfied with your home, try tackling a small, easily managed organizing project: a single desk drawer, say, or that jar of kitchen tools on the counter. Take every last item out, clean the area with soap and water, edit and remove what is not useful or well loved, and be mindful about what you replace. |
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| Focus (your camera) on what really matters. Try toting your camera along during an entire day spent at home. Photograph every little thing that makes you smile, that you love or appreciate: your child, your cat sunning herself on the window ledge, your favorite mug filled to the brim with steaming coffee. How to Photograph Your House |
Use your kitchen more. The more you use your home, the more you will appreciate its usefulness in supporting everything you do. There is something about the rhythm of shopping, cooking and sharing meals around the table that brings a sense of warmth and coziness to a home that just can't be replaced.
by Pour Toujours
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Find beauty in the mundane. Sure, designer spaces are beautiful to look at. But that doesn't mean your refrigerator, crammed full of snapshots and handmade magnets and postcards, isn't beautiful too. Take a moment to be aware of the meaning behind the little "messes" strewn about your house. They are the sign of a life well lived.
Start a gratitude journal. Whether you use a notebook and pen or a digital tool, the important thing is to begin. Try starting or ending your day by recording three things you are grateful for around your house.
It could be as basic as having a roof over your head or something more specific, like the way your garden looks through your kitchen window or the beautiful rug handed down from your dad.
It could be as basic as having a roof over your head or something more specific, like the way your garden looks through your kitchen window or the beautiful rug handed down from your dad.
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| Lighten your load. It seems counterintuitive, but giving something away can actually make you feel more abundant. Not only will making a donation to charity make you feel virtuous, but you will gain a feeling of lightness and space in your home. Start small, with a single box of books or a bag of clothes you don't wear; but if it helps you appreciate your home more, don't stop there. |
by decordemon
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Tackle a home project you've always wanted to try. Nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction that comes from making something for your own home. Whether it is painting furniture (try the cool chalkboard tabletop shown here) or trying your hand at a DIY repair, there are tons of great home projects out there that cost next to nothing.
Use your space in a new way. I find that when I am craving a big change but can't afford to go on a major shopping spree, it helps to move furniture. Change your living room arrangement, carve out space for a creative studio or home yoga practice, or swap two rooms entirely (dining room for living room, or den for study, for instance).
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| Experiment with an unplugged evening or a media fast. Technology is a marvel, but setting limits will only help you appreciate it more. And going without the constant stream of news and updates can help you feel more grounded and satisfied. Try setting a "last call" for checking email in the evening or choose to avoid the news for an entire weekend, and see how it makes you feel. There is so much beauty in our lives — and in our homes — if only we take the time to see it. More: Loving the Home You Have Clutter Clearing 101 |
Ideabook updated on Aug. 13, 2012.
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After a mammoth bathroom project (only our contractor knows why it took so long) which took the walls back to brick and studs, the whole house was covered in a thick layer of dust and temporarily rehomed stuff and I found myself too ill to do anything about it. My wonderful husband swept through every room cleaning and tidying and returning things to their rightful places and now, even though I'm still unwell, I get a thrill just looking around and taking in the new peace after so much disruption. I have a renewed appreciation for the ordinary unchanged parts of my home now that they're looking their best.
I'm looking forward to putting the 'new' (30s Cluny lace) curtains in the new bathroom. The smallest changes can make the biggest difference.
To combat the negatives, we now take "before, during, and after" pics of our projects, even if it's just a small one. It not only gives us a sense of accomplishment right after the project, as we look back over each year, it's wonderful to see the dramatic, overall changes to our home. How easy it is to do with digital cameras, and we have a file "Around the House" on the computer that gets saved on 3 CDs, along with the year's pics of grandchildren, birthdays, trips, etc. One CD for us, 1 for each of our grown children. If one CD is lost or damaged, it's easy to copy from one of the others.
Most importantly, it reminds us to appreciate what we have, what we've done, and to look at the beauty of our home, as a whole.
Because I am a designer, people tend to think that I live in a "perfect" home. I don't, and I don't even wish that I did. I like the walls to be square and plumb, the electrical lines to be safe, the plumbing to work properly, and so on. It would be wonderful if these were perfect.
When it comes to living in and enjoying your house, does it need to be perfect? My answer is, "Not so much."
Your post has given several great ideas for "refreshing" a house with things that the homeowner already has.
Thanks for the "refresher" course!
I love the concept of decorating for yourself and your own taste it's so freeing . Great article ... Loved it.
We moved into a 23- year-old condo townhouse two years ago on August 20. It is still very much a work in progress. As I have always considered the kitchen the heart of our home, we renovated the kitchen first. I fashioned it after my grandmother's pantry from the dim but fond memories of many moons ago. The end result brought a feeling of warmth and belonging in that it made it "our home." It brings back the wonderful times my Nannie and I shared baking cookies and cakes in that old farm pantry.
Kind regards, Betty from Canada
1). Starting a gratefulness journey right now!
2). Who knew?...Appreciate imperfections (wabi sabi) - how novel.... Instead of always looking at them negatively and adding them to the TO DO list. That point right there just added years to my life.
3). My husband walks around snapping pictures of us on his phone all the time and it literally irks me. What a wake up call for me today to see how wrong I have been in this scenario. I'm always distracted by the mess, or the bad hair, or the dirty outfit, and he's the one catching memories and enjoying our lives. Again I say, hooray for perspective. I will now remind myself to smile for all these photo ops and appreciation them.
4). Design envy. I may need a support group. LOL. I had no idea how ungrateful I have become about my (wonderful) home and the fact that it just needs a bit of cleaning, decluttering, reorganization of rooms and alot more appreciation. I mean when I look at all the projects that we have actually completed in this "fixer upper" and how far we've come over the years I really should be more much pleased with it, and starting TODAY. I will be!
THANK YOU FOR THIS ARTICLE!!!
saw
Thank you
mentioned in your article. I now have a greater appreciation for my house. It is becoming an inviting home again.
I'm going on 12 years in my "unremarkable home". I have gone thru 3 renovations and on my 4th "creation". I love the neighborhood now. Before I lived in a 95 yr old Tudor home in an old section of Los Angeles. (my dream place to live when I was a kid). Space galore. But on the busiest street.
Breaking up is hard to do, but... there is the other side.
My tiny home was advertised as a "starter home" 3+1. Yikes! I bought the ugliest home in the nicest neighborhood. The best part was the yard, and the fact that I didn't have to pay for anyone's renovations.
It is a post war home for the aerospace people. Very basic. I never wanted to put lipstick on a pig. So I finally learned to embrace my apartment-on-a-piece-of-land.
There is a home-built bird house on a very tall pole in my backyard. Multi storied.
I always tell people I bought the bird house and this house came with it.
That home will be reno # 5.
B
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Thank you for a post worth saving and sharing.
Thank you for a post worth saving and sharing.
As a new home owner with projects up to the ceiling and a sickening array of stunning rooms with which to compare our home, it is SO refreshing to read an article about embracing the imperfections. Thank you!