Love your home

Beautiful Pinterest pins and perfectly crafted Instagram posts of cozy, well decorated and put together homes flood my feeds. There are times where I’ve wished that my home looked like what I see in those posts. I think to myself, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if my home looked like a house from HGTV’s Fixer Upper?” “I really wish my house had a second bathroom and a bigger kitchen.” And the list could go on.

While it is certainly ok to hope and dream, it is never beneficial when that hoping and dreaming result in discontentment and envy. I had to stop myself a few weeks ago when I was just dying to get a different couch to replace the IKEA one that we already have. I had all these reasons why I wanted it – the one we have now is too small, I want to be able to take naps on a more comfortable couch, I want to provide better seating for guests. Kyle and I even went to some furniture stores and found a couch on sale that we both liked. But then all these questions arose – would it actually look right in this space? Is it going to be too big? Will we have to rearrange the decorations on the wall so it looks right?

We didn’t buy the couch, and I’m glad. When I got home I started really thinking and realized that my reasons for wanting the couch weren’t out of necessity. The couch isn’t broken or worn, it really does look great in the space where we have it, and Kyle does not mind napping on it (I’m still working on that one). Also, we have an almost 1 year old – which means things are only going to get messier, ha! So why spend money on a couch that my daughter will inevitably spill juice on or may one day decide she wants to color on?

This experience has encouraged me to be more content with my home and the things in it, and to be thankful that I have this sweet little house for my sweet little family. I am now trying to make it a habit to always stop and ask myself before buying something for our house – do we really NEED this? Is the item I am wanting to replace broken, or completely worn out? If not, then I let it rest. This is helping me to love my home the way it currently is, and to be thankful for what God has given me. Not to mention, it’s saving us money haha!

I encourage you to find 5 things today about your house/home that you love. Here are mine:

1. Although my kitchen is very tiny (like only two people comfortably fit in it at at time), I love that I have a window right above my kitchen sink, and that many of the original features are still in place keeping it’s 1950s vibe.
2. While we only have 1 full bathroom in this house, I love that we do have a second toilet in the garage. I certainly wouldn’t send my guests out there, but it is nice to have as a backup haha! I also put twinkle lights in there and decorated it to make it feel cozier.
3. Speaking of garage, I love that we have a garage! While we don’t park our car in there (who does? LOL), it provides us with extra storage space that we need since our house is only 1,250 square feet.
4. I love the dining table that my husband and his dad built. It is beautiful and special, and adds character to our house.
5. Lastly, I love that we have a tree in our front yard. To me, there is something about trees in front yards that makes a house feel extra homey, cozy, and inviting.

Love your home!