(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)
Do you often get discouraged about your home?
Do you catch yourself thinking that your home has great possibilities but you never seem to find the time or the energy to bring it up to the full potential you know is there?
I understand that feeling. Years ago I found myself wondering what to do with my own home. We bought the house because it had enough individual bedrooms for all of us. That is what you do when you are a family of six. That is usually all you CAN do if you're a middle-class growing family living in America today. It wasn't about the charm or the beautiful view, no; it was about having enough space for a growing family to spread out and be comfortable.
On the other hand, we did have a feeling that God led us to the place. I've always felt there were things hiding behind all the clutter, just waiting to be discovered. Over the years I have spotted lots of overlooked charm lurking in the less obvious spaces within the walls of our home. Over and over through the years I've said those unique things just needed to be polished up and shinned a bit and brought out into the open. The house had a personality, but it seemed to be hiding behind all the clutter and accumulated junk of a very busy family.
By the time the kids were grown and living happily out on their own, things really needed organization and freshening up. The longer you live in a space, the more you know what it needs. But I was too discouraged to start. It felt overwhelming. My life was SO busy with family, a professional career in architecture, developing my writing career into something I could enjoy after retirement, and a growing ministry along side of my husband. I could not see a way to find the time for all the things I wanted to do to the house. Also, the budget was always very tight. Big families require lots of money just to exist and we were in the middle of an economic crunch in this country. There was no extra cash just laying around for me to be creative with.
After years of raising kids, cooking, washing clothes and cleaning around the clock, I felt the weight of our mortgage wasn't living up to its full potential. Every time I wrote the check to the mortgage company I caught myself thinking; I could be living somewhere newer and fresher for half the price. But I knew with just a little fixing up, I could also double the value of my home. It was a constant dilemma I looked around myself and noticed that most everything we had in the house seemed outdated and old. We had not kept things fresh and new as the years had passed by. There were so many little problems here and there that had not been addressed. We had simply overlooked them and lived with them, hoping to address them one day. I knew I could fill a notebook just by writing them down in a list. I didn't want to. I felt overwhelmed with the huge list of things that needed to be done.
Then a magical spark of thought occurred to me. Suddenly I realized that I was just taking the wrong approach. I quit dreading the "tasks" and begin to think of my home as an organic, evolving art project. Art must be savored and it takes time for good art to come forth. It takes a lot of little sections to make up the whole of a beautiful painting. This process was the starting place for how my home began coming together after we became empty-nester's. Once I experienced this method of thinking I wished I had used it all along. My children would have loved the whole idea when they were growing up, instead they had to feel our "dread" time when we would try to check off a boring list of chores instead of creating a lovely piece of art out of our home. They had to experience us settling for "what we can do" instead of dreaming of "what we WANT to do." The old saying "change your attitude; change the world" holds true here. I would encourage anyone not to let circumstances hold them back from whatever dreams they hold in their hearts for their home. Forget about the rest of the world, hold on to your own particular dream and don't let it go.
I told myself that every room was an unfinished masterpiece, and I had the opportunity of a lifetime to be a great artist.
I quit worrying about the things that I kept putting off because of the cost. Instead I tried to think of creative ways to get the effects I wanted without spending a lot. I considered the things I could do for free and did those things first. Elbow grease is free. Giving unneeded items to charity is free and it also gets rid of clutter. Paint is very inexpensive and easy to do. A little cleaning, a little less clutter and a fresh coat of paint can totally change a space. I also quit thinking of the house as a whole finished project and began to concentrate on one section at a time. By completing things one step at a time, one space at a time, I allowed myself not to get stressed about the other looming projects that I was not yet able to pay attention to.
During the duration of the whole process, I found a comical comparison. My house was in the same shape that I had fallen into. We both needed a work out! We both needed to go to the gym and get physically fit. It would take time, diligence and patience. It would take will-power. It would take staying power, long-term staying power. When I started thinking of my own physical fitness and the house's physical fitness at the same time, I was oddly more motivated to follow through on both. If I needed to eat healthier and lose weight, so did my house. There were tons of unhealthy junk things laying around that I decided to purge from our home. As I purged the house of the unhealthy junk, I also started purging my cabinets of unhealthy food items. The house and I were going to get healthy together. I loved the whole idea! It always helps to have a partner, even if it is a house. A house always listens when you talk and never disagrees with you. It will let you experiment all you want and allow you the grace to change your mind occasionally.
I took a "before" photo of myself, then I went through the house taking "before" photos of each area of our home. I figured by the time I was thinner and healthier, the house would be too! It was nice having a partner to walk this journey with. This house has always been there for me! I realized it had been waiting patiently for years for me to get with the program. It felt as if the house had a soul of its own and we had become best friends simply because of the memories we had made together. We even loved each other's flaws; nothing had been hidden in our relationship, everything was out on the table. We were now ready to help each other correct the little flaws that were not so charming.
SUMMARY FOR STARTING TO PUT YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER:
1. Think of your home as an evolving organic art project. Each room is an unfinished masterpiece and you have the opportunity of a lifetime to be a very creative artist.
2. Don't look at the whole picture. Pick a starting place and focus on one section at a time.
3, Great art takes time. Savor the process. Don't allow yourself to get stressed about what you are leaving undone. Keep reminding yourself of what you ARE getting done and stay with that until you finish.
4. No matter where you are working in your home there will always be two basic first steps: clear the clutter and clean. Just completing these two steps will work wonders for your willingness to go on.
5. Take "before" photos before you start to do anything. Study these and imagine you are a visitor coming to your home for the first time. Open your eyes to the little details that you automatically block out because you are so familiar with the space. Jot down notes and ideas and number them in the order that you think they should be accomplished. Just do one section of your spaces at a time.
6. Schedule a few hours a week to do the work you have decided to do. Block that off on your personal calendar and do not let anyone else eat up your time. You have a right and a responsibility to care for your own home. This is not selfish - but it is NECESSARY. Think of your home as your biggest investment. Tell everyone else you're busy during that time. Look over the list that you have mapped out and begin!
So where to begin anyway? For me, it seems logical to begin at the beginning. Look around and see where that is for you. Go for it!
In the meantime - Happy Creating!
