Yes, we all love magazine-worthy home decor. But it’s important to learn to love your home just the way it is. Read on for 7 tips that will help you fall in love with your home again.
“I want this room!”
“That kitchen is gorgeous.”
“Can you imagine having a master bedroom this size?”
It was just a normal spring weekend, and our family was out touring model homes.
No, we’re not planning to move anytime soon. We just love to see new homes. The husband likes to get ideas for his future ‘man cave’, the girls love to see the way kids’ rooms are decorated, and I just like to look at pretty much everything.
But then one day, our fun little family hobby turned sour. As we left another gorgeous model, our second child suddenly hit us with “I don’t want to go home. I don’t like our home.”
What a zinger. Straight to the heart.
Were we teaching our kids that our home isn’t good enough? Was this fun hobby making our kids unappreciative of the home my husband and I have worked so hard to improve?
Let’s be clear. Our house is no model. It’s a split-foyer home that’s going on 50 years old. It was built in a time when contractors had little concern for craftsmanship, storage space, or even household flow. But it’s well maintained, well updated, and provides just enough space for our family of five.
Even though our family loves to see new homes, I realized in that moment that our whole family needed an attitude adjustment. I took inventory of our home and made a plan to update our house.
Most importantly, I started working on improving our whole family’s attitude about our home. Sure, it’s not perfect, but there’s so much to love about it.
Nearly a year after the day we left a model home with a fitful four-year-old, I can now say that we all appreciate our home far more than ever before.
How to Love Your Home Just the Way it is
Start with acceptance.
Just like the famed serenity prayer, we all need to learn to accept what we can and can’t change about our current situation.
Identify what’s bothering you.
Do you feel like you’re constantly battling clutter? Do you just have too much stuff everywhere? Does your house need updating? For us, it was our kitchen and master bathroom (which, ironically, ended up needing renovation far earlier than planned).
Create at least one happy place.
Find one spot that you can quickly clean up or redecorate in a way that makes you deeply happy. It doesn’t have to be a whole room, it could be a bookshelf or even just the top of the coffee table. Take a few minutes each week to tackle small spots like these, and you will suddenly find yourself surrounded by spaces you love.
Make a plan.
Identify a schedule to update the spaces that you don’t like and find a way to make sure you stick to it. If major renovations aren’t in the budget, figure out small things you can do to make a big impact in your room.
Write down what made you love your home at first…and what you still love about it.
What was it that made you choose that space you love? Was it architectural character? Was it the location? What are the happiest memories you have of your home? Write the list down so you can refer back to it. But don’t put it down somewhere it’ll be forgotten.
Remind Yourself Often That Your Home is Worth Loving
Visual reminders are always helpful when changing a mindset. Put something up to remind you that your home is worth loving. It can be as simple as post-it notes on your bathroom mirror, or inspirational quotes in your favorite planner.
My favorite thing to do is to hang up one or two prints in the main area of our home that reminds us why we love our home. Print it on some heavy duty card stock, put it in a classic frame or on a fun clipboard, and you have an instant reminder to love your home without being awkward or obvious.
Finally, Get Started
You can’t just wish to love your home the way it is. Get started right now by signing up for access to the Free Resources Directory. There, you can download your 10 Reasons I Love My Home worksheet and these adorable art prints to help you remember that love lives right where you are.
Then, you can start your plan to take charge of whatever it is that you want to change in your home.
Before you know it, you won’t feel a need to stop at new home models and compare what you have with what life could be like, and you will definite love the home you’re in right now.
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We went through similar but it stemmed from me not loving the home. We moved a year ago because we had to and the rental we got wasn’t exactly the one I wanted, but the kids loved it. Over time though, because I didn’t love it and it wasn’t ‘me’ it began to feel less like our home. Even friends who came to visit commented on how much not like me it was.
So we sat down, worked out what we loved about our other homes and how we could bring that into this home. We went shopping and put our personality back into our home and made a few other changes. Now we love it and will likely be here for another year.
Kudos to you for realizing that you needed to show your kids that you appreciate what you already have. Appreciation is a great way to attract more good things to you life.
These are great tips! My husband and I built our dream home 15 years ago and I have to say… that after 15 years dreams change. While I still love my house there are so many things I’d love to change about it and really can’t. I have found that small changes can make a big impact and it really is all about the attitude and how you look at it.
Great tips. I do love my home, I just wish it was a bit less messy, but I’ve kind of learned to accept that with two kids, one crazy bunny and me working out of the house for most of the day, it’s never really going to happen. I do make an effort when we have guests, but otherwise I just don’t have enough time to sort it out.
Thank you for joining The Really Crafty Link Party this week!
What a great post! Although there are things I want to change about my our home, I still love it! I feel very grateful to have a nice home. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
While it’s lovely to get new ideas and aspire to lovely things, it’s so important to be content in our homes, and to make them places we love to spend time. Thank you so much for sharing this important post and sweet printable with the Hearth and Soul Link Party. I hope your week is going well!
I’m working on this myself. We live in a rental now, and it’s been challenging to make if feel like y own. Thanks for all the ideas!
I know some decluttering is always needed and being organized is my big thing. I do love my home. Found you on Blogger’s Pit Stop
It’s tough to come back to your own home after being in a new or expensive house. Why does it always seem dingy? I agree with all of your advice! Starting with one area is enough to get motivated and make the most of our own space! Thanks for this reminder that we’re responsible for our own dwellings 🙂 From Bloggers Pitstop
I am in the process now of re-decorating some of the tables in our great room. I think my main issue is we have too much stuff. I like the tips you give and will be using some of them as I move forward.
This is good information. i love looking at other homes, reading decorating mags and watching all the home shows. it can make you disappointed with your home. i use it to help me create a space a love now, even though we are looking for a different home. It also reminds me not to settle for the wrong home, but to wait for the right home that will give us what we need.
Great article! I enjoyed reading how you guys toured other homes for ideas – so fun! I love your tips too. Things do change, and yes, you do have to remember why you loved your home in the first place 🙂 Hope you are doing well! Have been thinking of you <3
We also enjoy looking through nice homes, as well I like looking in furniture stores. I think it is great that you took the cue from your little daughter to change your attitudes and love your own house. I think it helps learning to be grateful and thankful to have a home, at all.
Leslie this great post has been so popular on the Blogger’s Pit Stop, we are going to feature it on the next Pit Stop and it may help some more readers.
Kathleen
Blogger’s Pit Stop
Great tips. It’s so easy, especially with social media, to get bogged down the trap of needing this or needing that. But we need to stop and love the beauty of our own homes. Thanks for sharing with Funtastic Friday.
It is always fun to visit model homes but you make some great points here! Thanks for sharing at The Blogger’s Pit Stop! Roseann from This Autoimmune Life
Leslie, I’ll be Pinning this important post. I hadn’t thought about it before, but it’s probably a good idea to limit children’s (and some adult’s) exposure to model homes and HGTV! My motto (one of them) is Cultivate Contentment. And you’ve given readers practical tips for doing just that.