A Whole New -- And Necessary -- Way to See Your Messy House
 

This article is so spot-on. Just over year ago I was reading a lot of kitchen/bath design articles in preparation for our new modular and saw so many things that the magazines/bloggers said I just had to have but could not afford/fit/whatever. I wish I'd seen this then.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenno...tml?ir=Parents

Thanks for sharing this - you made me look at my house in a whole new light!!!

Aw, it certainly does give you something to think about. We don't know how lucky we are and what a wealth of wondrous things we have at our fingertips.

Thank you for sharing -

I always need to remind myself to be grateful for being able to wash dirty dishes - - - -

Timely! We have it very good! Yesterday, I was looking at a brand new gorgeous kitchen (new house built) posted on FBook by the neice of one of my best friends. I thought that It should be in HOUZZ! I started to feel sad that I would NEVER ( yes, never) will have a brand new house . This is her second brand new house built. I won't, I know. But we do have more than what third world countries will ever have and I am thankful to live in the USA! This article brings it back to reality. We are truly blessed! The niece? Yes! I have known her since she was 14 and she is a wonderful wife and mom to two. Her husband works hard for all they have and I know that they are a wonderful, intact FAMILY that is raising decent people. I am very happy for them. I envision that beautiful kitchen being used by a happy household. Can't ask for more. "Things" are just that...things.

loved the article. Yes, just hop in the car and go buy more groceries! What a blessing.
sandy

so true I'm grateful for what I have

This article had me smiling and nodding. And I loved the"makeover"!!! Thanks so much for sharing.

I am always thankful for all I have. I have a small house but it is paid for and I have spent many happy years here. I never go hungry and even though I am alone now I am thankful for the years I had with my husband for 45 years before he passed away last year. When I look around I know there are so many things to be thankful for and there are a lot of people who don't have what I have.

Great article. Thanks for sharing.

My sister and I sometimes look at each other and remark on 'how lucky are we?' - to be born in THIS country, at THIS time. As women, we are FREE, we are educated, and we have access to so many things that women, or just people in general over the world cannot access.

That article was what I needed. Our retirement home is a manufactured home...double wide mobile...as most people would call it. I don't entertain as it's not a stick built home. But it is totally paid for and we share 10 acres with my mom. I need to see this place as a blessing not as "not good enough" for entertaining. Thanks for helping adjust my attitude. If people don't like me because I don't live in a grand home...they wouldn't be the kind of friends I'd want, anyway. Now to go clean it...and every time I do, I'm so glad it's not bigger!!

I live in a 3bedroom, end terrace house. Like most homes in Scotland we have very little land attached, but, and it's a big but; it's all paid for, we don't owe a penny. It's a modest, comfortable, clean, quiet home in a good neighbourhood. We are very, very fortunate.

Those incredibly rude individuals who's only contribution to the lady's blog was to criticise her kitchen, really need to have a reality check. I loved her makeover response :D

When visiting people who have 'show homes', I'm always perplexed at how empty their lives are. No 'stuff' around, nothing they make or do around; even the books (if there are any) are empty ones with glossy pages and no content.

Right now my kitchen is in a guddle (untidy mess of stuff everywhere). I'm doing laundry, I have apple rings dehydrating and I have apple juice simmering down slow on the cooker to make butter, I have just taken an apple crumble out of the oven (we picked the apples two days ago, now I'm processing them) I have the sewing machine up on the big table and tidy piles of cut blocks sorted for stitching, and my husband (bless him, love him dearly, but he's the messiest cook on the planet) has just made lunch.
The back door's wide open, the birds are singing, and next door but two's cat has just sneaked in to say hello.
I have bunches of lavender hung up to dry next to paper bags of poppy stems (to catch the seeds), and since himself is going to paint one of the sheds after he's finished lunch, there's paint and brushes sitting beside his overalls on one of the chairs.

That's a real kitchen :)
It'll all clear up but if anyone tried to tell me how to 'remodel', I would struggle to be courteous in my reply.
None of their blooming business.
Clean enough to be healthy, tidy enough to be comfortable, and it'll do fine.
Friends drop in and clear a chair, I put the kettle on and find the biscuit tin, and the conversations are good :)

Mary

Well Mary, now you made ALL of us want to come and visit you! Sounds like heaven in your kitchen. :)

My Mom had what is often called "the gift of hospitality." I miss her every day... we lived together for seven years before she passed away back in 2012. For some reason, your post reminded me of her. If anyone dropped in (and we had plenty of people dropping in!) she'd put on the coffee and get out the goodies and welcome them wholeheartedly, without giving any thought to what the house looked like! People were so much more important to her than "stuff". :)

Had an acquaintance who proved to be just that, "an acquaintance". She kept wanting to see my home. Never invited her over because she was always so critical that everyone needed to keep up with the "times/Joneses". My home is not big (less than 900sf). It serves it's purpose for a house and is home to us. I do my best to keep my home neat and tidy. With 2 hairy shedding dogs it isn't easy. Luckily, DH helps. She finally got to see the interior of "our "home". It is a rental (very inexpensive for rental market and very inexpensive as far as owning it.) Medical expenses have always gotten in the way. It is outdated but modern appliances. Was very critical. I showed her the door. We were suppose to go to the same meeting together. She changed my mind. Your "home" may not be a "house", it may be a manufactured/mobile structure, may even be a tent or lean too for the time being. Just be careful who you allow into it and don't be afraid to show them the door if they need an exit.

My little "home" is easy to keep up. An hour, maybe, in the morning. It isn't my "house" but it is my "home". We've been here for 20 years. One thing missing is an extra 1/2 bath with toilet and small sink. If we lived in the country, I would be ok with an out house.

brilliant, pure genius! And dust bunnies and tumble cat hair weeds, dirty fingerprints are actually IMMUNE SYSTEM BOOSTERS! I will no longer feel guilty for leaving these where they lay while I hide from them in my sewing room!
Guilt blocks creative juices!

I loved this! This is my home -- you can even write in the dust on some surfaces. :o Thanks for sharing.

What a beautifully written, and very thought-provoking, article.

Thank you!

My home keeps me warm, keeps me cool, keeps me dry, and also keeps my fabric dry. What more do I need?

Love it!! I really like the word "perspecticals", I'm going to have to remember that.

I'm a messy person and it embarrasses me sometimes. Not DIRTY, just messy - things like books and mail and baskets of laundry waiting to go upstairs tend to be sitting around. I had a friend from work come over so I could help her do some last second work on favors she was making for a mutual friend's baby shower. It was all a last second thing so I didn't have much time to clean up so I just didn't even try; when she got there I apologized for not cleaning up for her visit. Her reaction was marvelous, she just laughed and said she was FLATTERED that I didn't clean for her. She says that if I cleaned up before she came that would mean we weren't real friends, because real friends just don't care about that stuff! I told her, "In that case, you just became my best friend!" LOL

I don't necessarily think people with super clean houses have empty lives, it's just a different way of doing things. I work pretty closely with a lady who keeps her house immaculate and she's VERY busy with a full life...but she also works on keeping her house spotless every single day because that's important to her. We actually joke about it a lot...I love to tell her something like, "Hey, guess how many shoes are on the floor in my living room right now?" or "You know what? My vacuum cleaner has been sitting in the hallway for THREE WEEKS now!" and she'll have a (phony) freak-out about it... OK, that sounds really stupid but at work it's pretty funny...

It definitely is true that it's good to appreciate what you have.

We have lived in a small home for 45 years, raised three kids in it, very small rooms, I was a stay at home Mom until the last one left home. We all lived through it. When kids friends ate homemade goodies they loved them and didn't get them at home because their Moms worked. My kids felt very good about homemade meals and goodies being the norm for them. They knew where they were going to eat and sleep every day and night. Some kids aren't that lucky.
My saying to my oldest Sister was always "we don't have anything but we own everything we have". They lost everything they had and had to file bankrupcy. Lived way above their means.

I had no money for a crib when my daughter was born. She slept in a cardboard box. I am very grateful for everything I have now.

I think I like that woman. She is down to Earth.

I think I like that woman. She is down to Earth.

OMG... We're we separated at birth?????

Guddle, I must remember this word, as it sounds exactly like my place looks inside.

I have been to countries and saw children bathing at the communal water spigot, no running water in their homes. I have seen women sewing by the light of the street lamp in very dark rooms. I have been in a community where there is only one toilet house and one shower room for about 400 families. I look at what I have and I am very grateful.

Good article....wish more people would just take a breath and look, really look, around them and realise just how fortunate they are. Can't say I'm one for worrying what "people" may think (Mother worried enough about that for the both of us:)). Our rambling old house and garden is eclectic, animal friendly, clean, comfortable and welcoming to those we love.....We are blessed.

Great share. Thanks

Love this thread! Sometimes people get so focused on what they don't have that they don't give thanks for all they do have.

That is one smart momma!

I was always embarrassed about the house I grew up in, not because it was old or outdated, but it was cluttered and messy. A messy home does affect kids. As a teen I tried to clean and have it look nice but it never stayed straightened up for more then a day. No one cared to put things away but me. I did't want my friends to come over because of the mess. Their homes were not that way. I always felt pride in my home no matter how old or outdated and wanted to keep it as nice as possible.

I loved the article. I'm blessed and free! I have more than I could ever need. I am extremely grateful to God Almighty for His Goodness for all His blessing to me and my family. Our humble home is clean and comfortable and lived in. It is very quiet and peaceful as well...

Such a down-to-earth woman! And yes, perspectacles is a neat word! My older sister lost one home to a hurricane and one to a fire. THAT sure makes one realize that THINGS are just that...THINGS that can be replaced, whereas people can't. After reading the article, I started clicking on the 474 or whatever photos below it and reading the captions. That was another thing to bring things back into perspective.

Thank you for sharing, not only did you make me look at my house with a different view, but my life also. I can see where I need to change my outlook on life and the people & things in it. I know a few people I plan to share this with.

Great article. Too often we forget to be thankful

Thanks for sharing...