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| Our little family |
"It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." This quote is from a book by Myquillyn Smith called The Nesting Place and it is so perfect for us right now. I read about this book on the blog Gracelaced, one of my favorite blogs, and I want to read it because I think it would calm my heart right now. Gracelaced is a mom of 6 boys, an artist, follower of Christ, and DIYer. She never pretends she can do everything or anything perfect but continues to find the grace of God in the everyday. I like her a lot.
When we moved here to this new townhouse it was such a blank slate. I was so excited to make it beautiful and feel like home too. Since I didn't have a job I spent pretty much every day trying to make it feel like home. I was getting frustrated because I didn't want to spend tons of money on brand new stuff but we had to buy it new since we didn't bring any living room furniture down - we had no where to sit! I would scour the internet for deals on couches and pin living room after living room. I like our living room now but its definitely not complete. I don't pride myself on my decorating skills but I do my best to make it feel like home. Andy keeps telling me how impressed he is with what I've done to the place which feels good but the house still doesn't feel quite right.
One thing I am realizing though that a home can never be just bought and put together like a puzzle to look just perfect with THINGS like furniture and knick knacks. A home is not about what's in it, but who is living in it and the memories made there with the ones you love. I like the eclectic look of pieces from all stages of life and places and these items, like framed coasters from MN breweries or Andy's iron fist sculpture, bring character, life, and memories into your home. A home must be built from the inside out, otherwise it's just a house. It can be pretty and functional and needs to be somewhat organized. Lord knows I am definitely calmer in a pretty and organized space, don't get me wrong, but I am realizing that I'm not looking at our home with the right lens.
I always loved making our house a home in St. Paul. It was a cute house and things worked but it definitely wasn't all perfect. Most of our furniture was from college, passed down from family or friends, or one of our first purchases as a married couple. I was never truly satisfied with how it looked but I loved how it felt. It had character on its own and didn't need a whole lot of "stuff" to make it work. I can picture myself standing in the kitchen and remembered all the barbecues, New Year's Eve parties, and dinner parties we hosted with friends and family. I go to the front yard and remember picking the currants out of the bushes in June to make currant jam. I remember watching Lincoln sunbathe in the backyard and picking little cherry tomatoes from the garden. I remember training for the Twin Cities Marathon in the summer by running 20 miles solely on the Mississippi. Ahhhhh. So many amazing memories. When I think about that house I think about the memories and great times we had there over the last three years. I don't remember if it was decorated perfectly and what I would have changed and stress over the fact that I never decorated it perfectly. It didn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.
“...you can’t DIY yourself into loving your home. No amount of painted furniture or stenciled pillows will make you more content with what you have. Creating a beautiful project may bring temporary satisfaction, but unless you look at your home through the right lens, you’ll quickly wonder why you’re still annoyed with your space. ”
Amen! Preach sister.
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