If my life and home feel disastrous and messy, the first sign is the kitchen window sill. Instead of some flowers and a couple bowls with olives curing in them, there will be trains, random junk, and stuff that doesn’t belong that has been left there for another day, when I have more time, energy, and care to clear it off. The kitchen is my space. As long as my kitchen is clean, countertops are cleared and dishes are taken care of, I can let the other stuff go. It’s the space I need to have clean and tidy, even if there are toys strewn everywhere else in the house and none of my laundry is folded.
Today, I am feeling so very scattered, exhausted, and just lacking in motivation. I was so grateful to wake up to a day that I have nowhere to go and nothing to do but sort myself out. I started at the kitchen window sill. These flowers are in the garden every morning, the petals shed by afternoon. There is only a small window of time when I can grab some and bring them inside intact. I love them – they arrive on their own with no work from me (I tend to kill anything in the garden that actually needs attention), and they are such a simple way to make my space inside clear and pretty. Just what I needed today.
Do you have a space like this? An area you focus on to keep you grounded when everything else around you is a mess?
Oh, yes, I MUST have a clean kitchen or I feel crazy and out of control. The whole kitchen must be clean. I have a window sill that pretty much stays the same but I do have a cute little dish/tray where I put those random things like earrings, nails and needles. Yeah. Those kinds of things that have to be set somewhere safe.
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Isn’t it funny the state of our kitchen (clean or dirty) can set the tone our day? I agree! Sometimes I feel like cleaning it is shoveling snow in a bilzzard but it is worth it to have clean counters and dishes!
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Like you, my kitchen has to be spotless. I love those flowers and how wonderful that they don’t require any work. I kill every plant in sight, too. LOL I hope you get your groove back today.
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For me it is definitely the kitchen too. Next is the dining table- it is very often covered with things to keep them out of the little one’s reach, but when it is cleared I feel more peace.
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I feel more at peace when the kitchen counters are clear, but I’ll be honest, they frequently aren’t. Le sigh…
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Ok, I’m guessing it’s a woman thing, but my kitchen is my safe place also. Maybe because as women we stake it out as ours (the men can have the grill outside). I am OCD when I try to clean, I always start with the kitchen and work my way around. I often end at the kitchen also, meaning that is the only place to get cleaned, because I feel better once it’s done.
Men and their sports, women and their kitchens.
P.S. Beautiful flowers. And I am LOVING that colorful bowl next to them! Where is that from?
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Emily Reply:
September 21st, 2010 at 7:06 pm
they are from anthropologie http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=974149&navAction=jump&search=true&parentid=SEARCH_RESULTS
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It’s not so much ‘the kitchen’ for me, as it is the kitchen sink. We have a double sink, and if the left sink is empty and clean, I can still breathe.
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I’m going to be the odd woman out and just say that I always clean up the living room first. Don’t know why. Maybe it’s because it’s the first room you see when you walk into my house. I hate when someone knocks on the door and that room is a mess. I guess I feel like I can always run interference and keep them out of the kitchen if need be.
Besides I love to just plop down on the couch at the end of a long day, look around, and see some kind of order. That part is the same for all of us.
Pretty flowers.
-FringeGirl
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Starting my day out right is what grounds me in the midst of chaos. I need to find a quite time and a quiet place to sit and read the Bible and pray. As far as a physical space, the kitchen sets the tone for the whole house, and it so easily gets overwhelmingly messy.
I love the picture, today I put 3 little vases in the goodwill bag and I’ve been wondering if I should pull them out. I like flowers in mason jars better anyways. Thanks!
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Yep – if the main living area (especially the tables) are cluttered with stuff if feel all frazzled!!! Love your window!
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I think of the kitchen as my space too. When the kitchen is happy, mama is happy. I like that phrase, “sort myself out.” I’m in need of a good sorting-out day…and I don’t mean the 342 mismatched socks that are sitting in the laundry basket. Sigh.
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I get very grumpy if I wake up to a messy kitchen. I clean my kitchen counter, load the dishwasher and sweep the floor every night before I go to bed. I feel very calm and relaxed in the morning, when I make my kids school lunches and my own lunch and hot chai. . The rest of the house, though clean, does not follow the kitchen rules.
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