I Quit Reading Better Homes And Gardens
This post was originally published at Life Nurturing Education and Renae was kind enough to offer it up for me to post here while I am out of town. Please check out her site and if you like what you see, subscribe to her feed
The beautiful houses in glossy pages of magazines urge me to decorate. Curtains hide a few cracks, but they don’t cover bare concrete floor or holes in the wall. Our 1950s fixer-upper does not resemble Better Homes and Gardens or Pottery Barn. I am learning to accept it. Houses are just sticks and bricks embellished with fabric. Homes are made of something else entirely.
Home reminds me of frosting Christmas cookies with Mom, learning about car engines from Dad, and laughing during games of Monopoly with my brother. Love shines brightly even in misty memories of hateful words and wounded hearts. In family, hope endures and forgiveness stretches to cover most transgressions. These relationships forge early ideas of love for good or bad.
My children’s concept of home is forming in their hearts now. What am I communicating to them? That we live in a “fixer-upper full of roaches” as my son’s parody of Madeline stated, or that this is a place for us to live in peace creating sweet memories.
More than a remodeled kitchen, I want laughter to resound off the walls.
More than pristine flooring, I want peace to reign.
More than new furniture, I want love to engulf us.
Our house is far from finished, but our home is quite comfortable.
Love it. “Our house is far from finished, but our home is quite comfortable”–that’s a great statement. And design mags make me nuts. There’s always one piece of strategically placed clutter (an open book, a plate of plastic snacks, a pair of unrealistically rustic shoes) intended to make it look real. Drives me crazy, since my clutter is not nearly that cool. On the day I see a design mag with an empty Corona bottle and a pair of sneakers laying around, I will take it all back.
Beautifully written. Thanks for sharing her post with us, Emily.
Emily,
Thanks so much for having me. I hope you are enjoying your vacation.
Sara,
It’s true. Have you noticed how few people are in home magazines? The houses featured are so nice because no one lives in them. The only time my house is absent of all clutter is when we pack to move.
Toblerone,
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I reread this once in awhile after drooling over new couches.
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[...] of Remodeling This Life published an article from my archives this week. It is entitled, I Quit Reading Better Homes and Gardens. If you like to save money and live simply, you will want to check out Emily’s blog. She [...]
This was beautiful. You sure got your priorities straight!
I wish I could say my home’s comfortable but the kitchen isn’t. It’s a pain in the rear end trying to work in it and not at all the kind of place where you’d feel like stopping to chat, laugh or love. The living room, however, is OUR place. Some dust in the corners but comfy and safe. That’s where we come into our own
I do agree that most of the places you see in glossy magazines aren’t real homes although a friend of mine was featured in 25 Beautiful Homes and her house always feels welcoming and homely.
Hi Renae,
I must admit that a downfall I have is the gimme, gimmes when it comes to my home. I have a friend who lives in a beautiful million dollar home and a SIL who is an impeccable house keeper so I battle my flesh but am learning that a HOME is not made of material things. Thank you for this reminder!
This is a beautiful post! I am trying to teach my boys that our home is to be filled with these things, laughter, love, peace. When they start fighting, etc. I tell them to take it outside I don’t want that in my home then are starting to take heed.
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For the same reason there’s a lot on TV I can’t watch anymore. Seeing famous person’s houses for instance doesn’t help me be content. It just shows me that there are those out there with much more abundance than me. I’m much more interested in how to be happy with what I have these days.
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