“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.” ― Thoreau
So why not just laugh now? – G
“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown
Recently I posted a picture of myself in my kitchen, and I immediately started receiving generous messages from people wanting to help me “update” it. Along with their messages came pictures of how my kitchen could look, if I’d just put some effort and money into it.
I’ve always loved my kitchen, but after seeing those pictures I found myself looking at it through new, critical eyes. Maybe it was all wrong. Maybe the 80’s counters, laminate cabinets, mismatched appliances and clutter really were mistakes I should try to fix. I stood and stared and suddenly my kitchen looked shabby and lazy to me. I wondered if that meant I was shabby and lazy, too. Because our kitchens are nothing if not reflections of us, right? I decided I’d talk to Craig and make some calls about updates.
But as I lay down to sleep, I remembered this passage from Thoreau’s Walden: “I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes and not a new wearer of the clothes.” Walden reminds me that when I feel lacking- I don’t need new things, I need new eyes with which to see the things I already have. So when I woke up this morning, I walked into my kitchen wearing fresh perspectacles. Here’s what I saw.
You guys. I have a REFRIGERATOR.
This thing MAGICALLY MAKES FOOD COLD. I’m pretty sure in the olden days, frontierswomen had to drink warm Diet Coke. Sweet Jesus. Thank you, precious kitchen.
Inside my refrigerator is FOOD. Healthy food that so many parents would give anything to be able to feed their children. Not me. When this food runs out, I’ll just jump in my car to get more. It’s ludicrous, really. It’s like my family hits the lottery every freaking morning.
THIS CRAZY THING IS A WATER FAUCET. I pull this lever and CLEAN WATER POURS OUT EVERY TIME, DAY OR NIGHT. Mamas everywhere spend their entire day walking miles to and from wells just for a single bucket of this- and I have it right here at my fingertips. I’m almost embarrassed to say that we also have one of these in each of our two bathrooms, and one in the front yard with which to WASH OUR FEET. We use clean drinking water to WASH OUR FEET. Holy bounty.
This is the magical box in which I put uncooked stuff, push some buttons, and then a minute later- pull out cooked stuff. It is like the JETSONS up in here.
This is my medicine cabinet. Since my Lyme is in remission and each of my babies is healthy- there is nothing in here but vitamins and supplements and tea. Thank you, God. This medicine cabinet is a miracle to me. Every time I open it I feel like I should kneel down and kiss the ground. I have an inbox full of letters from mothers whose medicine cabinets look very different.
Speaking of ground- this is our kitchen floor. It’s not fancy, but it’s perfect for our most important kitchen activity: DANCING. When Chase was three a librarian asked a roomful of kids, “what do we do in the kitchen?” Everyone else called out “cook” or “eat!” But Chase yelled “DANCE!”
I can’t even talk about this thing. Actually, let’s take a moment of reverent silence because this machine is the reason all my people are still alive. IT TURNS MAGICAL BEANS INTO A LIFE-SAVING NECTAR OF GODS. EVERY MORNING. ON A TIMER.
And look you guys: LOOK. This is the kitchen corner where I keep all my kids’ school stuff. My kids go to a FREE school with brilliant teachers and a loving administration and they’re SAFE there. The school sends flyers home about PROGRAMS and CLASSES and CLUBS to make my kids’ hearts bigger and softer and their brains sharper and their bodies healthier. This corner reminds me everyday that my kids have at their fingertips what so many around the world are giving their lives for: quality education. When I wear my perspectacles I can’t look at this corner without a heart explosion.
My perspectacled kitchen tour taught me two things this morning: I’m insanely lucky and I’m finally FREE.
In terms of parenting, marriage, home, clothes – I will not be a slave to the Tyranny of Trend any longer. I am almost 40 years old and no catalog is the Boss of Me anymore. I am free. I am not bound to spend my precious days on Earth trying to keep up with the Joneses- because the Joneses are really just a bunch of folks in conference rooms changing “trends” rapidly to create fake monthly emergencies for us. OH NO! NOW IT’S A SUBWAY TILE BACKSPLASH WE NEED! No, thank you. Life offers plenty of REAL emergencies to handle, thank you very much.
I’m a grown up now. I know what looks good on me, and that doesn’t change every three months. I know how I like my house. I like it cute and cozy and a little funky and I like it to feel lived in and worn and I like the things inside of it to work. That’s all. And for me – it’s fine that my house’s interior suggests that I might not spend every waking moment thinking about how it looks.
Sometimes it seems that our entire economy is based on distracting women from their blessings. Producers of STUFF NEED to find 10,000 ways to make women feel less than about our clothes, kitchens, selves so that we will keep buying more. So maybe freeing ourselves just a little from the Tyranny of Trend is a women’s issue – because we certainly aren’t going to get much world changing done if we spend all of our time and money on wardrobe and kitchen changing.
BUT. Listen. I’m nothing if not a tangled, colorful ball of contradictions. I like a good make-over as much as anybody else. So . . . HERE WE HAVE IT. HERE IS THE MELTON KITCHEN MAKEOVER FOR YA! READY FOR THE BIG REVEAL?
Before:
After:
Ba- BAM! Extreme home makeover! My kitchen IS beautiful because it is full of beauty. SO IS YOURS.
Today I shall keep my perspectacles super-glued to my face and feel insanely GRATEFUL instead of LACKING and I will look at my home and my people and my body and say: THANK YOU. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. THIS IS ALL MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH, ALL OF IT. Now. Let us turn our focus onward and outward. There is WORK TO BE DONE and JOY TO BE HAD.
Love,
G
Author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller LOVE WARRIOR — ORDER HERE
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2,233 Comments
Awesome post. I try to keep my life in perspective, and it can be challenging some times. Posts like this make it a bit easier. Thank you.
I’m so glad you have that pile of kids stuff too!
I love your article. “They” say we shouldn’t love things just people, but I love the humor, appreciation, gratitude, your way of writing, and your loving “perspectacles”. Thanks for expressing these gifts here.
Well said! I think a comfortable, well-used kitchen shows the history of the family’s love and fun. I think your kitchen is great! 🙂
love your words…”sweet Jesus”….”Holy bounty”…Lucky.. Free…I’m 83 and everyone loves my 50s kitchen….”my motto…if it ain’t broke. Don’t fix it..love reading and seeing your place..last pic the best…sweet family
PREACH IT!!! I love everything about my kitchen in all it’s 1999 glory!! I love laminate counters because you can BLEACH them! We downsized last year and began minimizing materialism. Best gift we have given our family 🙂 THANK you for having the guts to speak out!! Here’s to keeping stuff that is perfectly good! No more changing appliances for color- never could do that one!
Yes, this. Thank you so much for the reminder. Before bed I had HGTV magazine and 8 different catalogs next to my bed and I was going through them to try to feel better about what my house could/should be and to possibly impress folks who are going to be visiting next month. Maybe I should just focus on the friendship and togetherness instead of the shocking lack of plantation shutters.
I think u have a nice kitchen. Ur family is beautiful. Im like u Im thankful to God for every single thing I have. As u said there’s millions of people who dont have water or food,among many other things they dont have.Since I hurt my back 16 yrs ago Ive turned into a homebody. Ive had people say arent u going stir crazy staying home all the time? I say Im grateful I have a nice apt to live in.I go out once a week and sometimes two or more.Sometimes I dont go anywhere.Im blessed to have what I need heree.Im not into fashion or makeovers. I live in my shorts and tank tops in summer then pants and tank tops.Lol! Menopause is hot flashes and night sweats so I dont give a crap what people think of me. I only care what God thinks of me. I know He loves my home and me the way we are. I really enjoyed reading this post
My kitchen…..wow. My kitchen is a big haphazard collection of bits from various places. My stove is a 1940s Philgas LP model. It was my Grandma’s (as was the house it’s in). She brought it with her from the farm in the 50s. Next is the refrigerator. It’s a newer stainless steel model. Kitchen counters? Made from plywood in the 40s or 50s and topped with *gasp* contact paper. (For reference, my house was built in 1838) Then there’s the coffee grinder and coffee maker. Next to that is the espresso machine.
I like my kitchen. Sure, I’d like to have a SubZero fridge and a Viking stove, but I don’t *need* those things. Hell, my other “house” that I live in for a month each year is a wall tent in Wyoming with no running water, no electricity (except for the solar panel to charge phone and laptop), and no kitchen at all!
And now your kitchen has hosted ton’s of grateful guest who were served a big heaping helping of gratitude and walked away satisfied! Yum! Thank you! Putting on some new glasses thanks to you too!
I love your post! People forget about what’s really important but you have it nailed. The kitchen in my old house was early 70’s. My girls learned about family and love and cooking and cleaning in that kitchen. My kitchen in my new house is all new. New counters, new cabinets, new appliances, new everything. I love my new kitchen but sometimes I miss my old kitchen where we spent so much time while the girls were growing up. The good news is that I have 5 grandbabies to make this kitchen memorable too!
Ok I love you and your posts but I’ve never taken the time to comment. BUT today I must let you know that I was school clothes shopping with my 3 kids in the mall this morning. As I walked past Gap, Banana Republic, WHBM (all former favs) and looked in the windows and then down at my “stay at home mom clothes” I started pitying myself. My emotions ranged from embarrassed to anger to jealousy. I can’t tell you how your post just SPOKE right to me. I feel like it was a “talking to” that you wrote just for me, but I have a hunch hundreds of others feel the same way. THANK YOU not just for today but for all of your posts that give me strenth in my stay at home suburbian world 🙂
AMEN! may we all follow your lead and recognize how deeply blessed we are and remember what real lack looks like
Thank you for my daily reality check! You are so insightful, brilliant, beautiful, and hilarious! “It is like the Jetsons up in here”…. That cracks me up!!!
I can’t believe anyone told you your kitchen was not nice. I think it is very nice and roomy. I love the microwave above the stove. They take up so much counter space. Thanks for reminding me that my little 1970’s 7×10 kitchen is okay.I think I will go home after work and rearrange my dishes.
What a blessing you have been to me today. Thank you, Thank you.
Enjoyed your post. I have had similar thoughts, about my ‘rough’ looking kitchen.
Thing is, the look of it has never hindered me from preparing food or clean up after, and really what is a kitchen for??!! And we are a family of 10 : )
It’s all about perspective. And we all need to be reminded of that periodically.
I drive a 13 year old car with 174k miles. Her name is Gertie. She has this thing where she sometimes like to let the security light and battery light flash for 10 minutes before she will start. Rather than get exasperated about it – (most times) I choose to use that time to reflect, pray and count my blessings. One of those blessings being that I drive a car – not a donkey!
Thanks for sharing. I will go home and look at my whole house with new eyes tonight.
This is wonderful. I could cry.
I DID cry. I was talking to my kids the other day about a fancy flashy car that passed us on the road. I asked them, “Why I die will they say, ‘Oh she drove an old beat up van?’ or will they talk about who I was and the good things I accomplished and the love I shared?” New things are fun. Of course. But I dont need them to be complete. My lifes mission is to be a servant of God. A brand new kitchen isnt saving anyones soul is it? But a neighborhood dinner in any old or new kitchen might! Thank you for reinforcing a great perspective. The heart is greedy and will always want but we can battle the greed and not play into the consumerism. Love love love this!!
This was shared by 2 friends on Facebook this morning and I hope it goes viral if it hasn’t already. I cried when I read it. Truth often has that effect on me. Thank you for the gentle reminder to stop taking things for granted.
BEST post ever!! THANK YOU for the reminder!!
Spot on sister! This definitely brought a few tears to my eyes. I can’t say how much I love this post enough! This is the exact reason why I hand down my kids’ clothes, buy big ticket items used on craigslist (like our washer and dryer) and haven’t touched the majority of my home décor since we bought our house almost 10 years ago (other than to add/update family photos). We also drive cars that are old (one is 20 years old and one is 12 years old) not because we can’t afford new cars but because they still work just fine! People are so caught up in “stuff”. I especially see it with kids. I rarely buy my kids toys other than birthdays and Christmas because they don’t NEED them. Most of our best memories have been doing stuff other than playing with toys like cooking, dancing, reading, jumping on the bed, playing tag, etc. I hope other people read this and start to put their life into perspective.
THANK YOU for this article! I just shared it with my (tiny group of) blog readers. I live in a wealthy suburb where my next door neighbors have the most perfect, Pinterest-y houses you’ve ever seen. I feel like a total bum when they come over and see my black appliances, old carpeting, and brass bathroom fixtures. (Oh, the horror!) BUT I’m thankful for what we have every day and am blessed to be able to raise our son in a home much nicer than what I grew up in. I am a stay-at-home mom, and living on one income makes it obviously much more difficult to spend money on home improvements, but the payoff is that I get to raise our son. To me, this is much more beneficial than a stainless-steel fridge and new, fluffy carpet. THANK YOU for reminding me – and so many other readers – that our priorities should be in the right place for our family. I especially loved your “before” and “after” pictures! 🙂 So wonderful! Thanks again. :)))
I think this may be the best thing I’ve read in years. And it’s beautiful and inspirational. I’m going to have to save this for eons and eons, just to re-read when the need strikes me. Thanks! Really! Thanks!
Well said. But I gotta say, I love the after picture more. 😉
Loving this. You write like someone who’s lived overseas. I was overseas for a few years, sometimes in a very rural area without running water in the house, much electricity, an oven, or handy things like that.
Now I’m back in the U.S. temporarily, have major house envy, and want to run to the store and buy every neat gadgety appliance that exists. Also, I’m living with my in-laws, who keep house a bit differently than I would. Today, I needed to be reminded of my former life again, how well I have it here, and even how fortunate I am while over there. Thank you.
Wonderful! I wish more people would stop taking their developed nation’s bounty for granted and extol the miracles of plenty we have at our fingertips. Billions of people are doing without all over the globe and America throws away 30% of its food and uses potable water in its toilets. We do not need more stuff, we need more consideration for our planet and our fellow human beings!
I think you got it in ONE!
But … what you have in your back pocket … wait 10 more years, and people will pay the big bucks to go for a retro-look to look just like your kitchen is today. All you have to do is WAIT!
You’re welcome!
Love this! Absolutely NEEDED this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Brilliant and true.
This is great and yes the answer of DANCE is my favorite parts … Because no one can take that wonderful memory from him …. Love it… There is a great VeggieTale movie with Madame Blueberry everyone should watch….it’s right in line with this gratitude attitude…. She goes shopping at “STUFFMART”…. I think you all would enjoy…. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful outlook!
Funny you posted this today, as yesterday I had my own perspectacle moment…in church!
I was feeling insecure because I was tired (and looked it), I didn’t have a stitch of makeup on and I was wearing cute but “comfy” clothes. So instead of focusing on the reason I was there, I spent most of my time comparing myself to others. Until I remembered, God didn’t care…he loved me anyway. And that I was lucky…to have clothes…to have a car to get to church…and to be able to attend any church I felt like.
So thank you for reminding me that it doesn’t matter what we, our houses, our things look like. What matters is showing up.
Thank you for this post! It is so nice and SO refreshing to know other people share my thoughts and views. It’s hard not to be tempted to fall into that–especially when people offer their “suggestions,” but it’s beautiful to step back, reflect on great words and minds, and put everything back into perspective. If you don’t mind, I’d like to write about this post in my blog. Thank you for the inspiration!
Thanks. My kitchen was from the 50s and my dirty little secret was that I actually LIKED it. I did. And now I can say that openly. And, it was pretty small, too. Cooked a lot of damn good meals in that kitchen. My kids learned to climb there. Gave a lot of fun parties. It was a good kitchen.
Thank you for the shot of sanity! I spend my days encouraging people to embrace the abundance around them, and too many of them think I mean yachts. Not that there’s anything wrong with a nice yacht, it’s that’s what makes you happy 😉
Appreciate your attitude of gratitude.
Bless You for living, breathing, and showing the real you! I am with you loving my family and sinking my time, energy, and what little money we have into growing with them to the next stage of life. The house is just to hold the love and our heads as a form of protection- not feathers outstretched like a peacocks to attract a mate.
Thank you! It made me smile and cry at the same time! Love it!
I really love the after! I bet the Joneses can’t top that one! hahahahaha
I love this. I am someone who loves decorating and organizing. I find joy in rearranging furniture and changing things up, bringing color into a room or adding a tile backsplash. It is fun for me. My friend was “decorating” and stressing out about every choice and it made me realize that I do it because it is fun and brings me joy. I don’t do it because I’m trying to fit a trend or make anyone happy but me. At the same time I know how lucky I am to have all that I have, that a back splash or any of those things are frivolous in the scheme of things. Really, an problem I have is a first-world problem and for that I am eternally grateful for. While I enjoy fashion and decorating, there is something beautiful about enjoying things for yourself and in your own way. Kind of the fun of being a grown-up and having the courage to march to the beat of my own drum!
This brought tears to my eyes! I’m sorry that’s what people noticed about your last post. This one is so dead on: it really hits the point of what REALLY matters. My husband and I are very content overall, but then something creeps into our thinking and we totally change our minds. I love how you described your appliances- I will need to do this next time I feel like what we have isn’t “enough”! Great post, great heart, thanks for sharing. 🙂
I love you kitchen! It’s full of life and laughter!
This is so wonderful. I love it. Thank you!
Amen.
Darn you. And thank you. Perspectacles back on.
Keep on dancing, you make me proud. I hope to meet you someday, if we ever have a Lucas reunion again .
While I agree with almost everything you said- you make GREAT points about appreciating our incredible fortune and blessing here in the US!- your children’s school is FAR from free. Every property owner in your city or town pays for it (whether they like it or not), and much of the tax money spent is wasted instead of going directly to educate children. I would also argue that it’s not at all a “quality” education, but compared to underdeveloped countries around the world, it’s considered quality…so I digress. Anyway, otherwise, great points. I wouldn’t feel pressed to change a thing about your kitchen if I were you!
I’m pretty sure she means that it’s “free” in that they don’t have to pay tuition, i.e. it’s not private school.
Additionally, you have no idea which school they go to, so how can you possibly know they aren’t getting a quality education?
I didn’t think I could love you more. Then you wrote this post. <3
I loved this and shared it. It made me smile.
Someone had this posted on facebook, and I am forever grateful. So easy to go across the street and see how your new neighbor gutted their kitchen and made it look like an HGTV kitchen. I could do that. I could spend that money– but why? Why? Why????? My kitchen is perfect for me and my two kids. My single mommy budget have a new kitchen anywhere on the list. I am grateful– and I can’t wait to go look at my new kitchen with fresh eyes not tainted by the neighbor’s HGTV kitchen. I think it’s called coveting– and I’m not going to do it! Thanks for your article!
I am reminded of the proverb, “I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet. Thank you for sharing this warm and uplifting post.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
If they think your kitchen is cluttered, outdated, and lacks charm I hate to see what they would say about mine.
AWESOME! God bless you for setting off “mind renovations” All. Over.
It perspective that counts!
Thank You!
brings to mind: “Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Holy smokes. Thank you for the perspectacles this morning!! My view in my living room this morning had me gasping for air (middle child and her child moved back in suddenly last week and there is a mountain of STUFF piled in one corner), until I realized that 1). Our child feels safe in our house, 2). Our child and grandchild ARE safe, and loved, and fed, and 3). Nothing else matters.
Perspectacles. I do believe that is my new favorite word (right up there with shenanigans).
Love, love, love the ‘perspectacles’! I’m getting me a pair! And by the way, you have the best ‘after’ pic EVER in a kitchen ‘makeover’. Thanks for reminding us of what we have!
Thanks so much for this! I grew up feeling “poor” – middle class with wealthy classmates – and wish I’d learned this lesson before I took on an inferiority complex at such a tender age. Now that I’m grown, I do all I can to help my kids realize how utterly RICH we are! It’s really shameful to not recognize the abundance of our blessings!
I’m never entirely sucked into the Joneses thing, but there are days I edge closer than others. We’ve still got wallpaper in one room that has needed to be stripped since we moved here, almost exactly 14 years ago. I count it a plus that we got rid of the gold striped section and removed the dining room wallpaper that looked very much like Rob and Laura’s on The Dick Van Dyke show.
I’m nowhere near as on top of anything household/decor related as I would like to be, much less keeping up with what the admen want me to have, but I do need a gentle kick in the arse to get my perspectacles back on periodically, and this was as good a time as any.
I totally love this post and will be passing it on via FB, e-mail, and possibly by reading it out loud in my front yard.
Glennon, I’m so impressed with you right now! I know about how special things like refrigerators and running water and microwaves are because I lived without them for a few years in Tanzania, but I don’t normally expect other people in America to be able to see this. This post was a great reminder for me- after two years back home, it’s easy to start to forget how amazing everything is and start looking a little too longingly at the IKEA catalog….
Fabulous! Thank you!
This is beautiful!
I love that you keep Old Bay in your medicine cabinet.
This might be the greatest title for a blogpost ever. Love it. Also: I thought I was the only one who kept vitamins/meds and tea on the same shelf! I guess I do consider tea to be my medicine. Thank you for this incredible post. Time now for me to go figure out how to get clean water to some people.
Spot on! As the saying goes, “The best things in life aren’t things.”
Thank you for this.
Thank you for this! We are currently looking at houses to move. Yesterday we drove around the area and drove past a few that we have been looking at. Of course we fell in love with the one we thought would be perfect only to find out this morning that it is under contract. I say this because over the last 5 weeks we have been watching another house on realtor.com and when we went to see it yesterday I was a little disappointed because it was so much smaller than I had imagined. Now I can see, and will see it differently. It is a house with three bedrooms for my husband, our kids, and I to sleep, in has a bathroom, it has garage and carport, and yes it will need some work but every house does. It isn’t ours yet either but this article will help me keep my eyes turned towards God when looking. Again thank you, and sorry for the rant 🙂
Girl! Yes! Because of my spouse hiding money and then wiring our own overseas while deployed, we had no electric, water, food was bread/crackers and juices from friends. We had a Christmas, though, that I’ll never forget; people heard we weren’t doing well and literally spoiled my two children, two years in a row… I cried.. so hard. I just left him, and we are in a poor neighborhood, with so much more than I could want. We have one another, and they never look down on me for grabbing that microwave, or couch, clothes, out of the alley, and cleaning it up, because we went so long without one and wouldn’t have one otherwise.
Exactly. I try to remain grateful every day for running water in the pipes, the fridge right there, the walls around us.
I love this!!! I just told my son as he was crying about cleaning his room that he should be glad to clean it because that means that he has toys!! Lots of them…and that is definitely something to be happy about! I’m going to look at this whole day like that!
Hands down, one of the BEST entries I have ever read in my entire life! Awesomely beautiful and full of gratitude.
your husband is fine. he makes any kitchen look great!
Woah Trish…inappropriate
Obviously Trish is not married, because if she were, she would know how INAPPROPRIATE and DISRESPECTFUL it is to speak about someone elses husband like that. Trish, he is married, NOT available to you! Gain some respect for their marriage but respect for yourself!
Trish, it didn’t strike me as inappropriate. Craig is a good-looking guy…I think Glennon’s aware! Complimenting somebody on their cute husband doesn’t make you a home wrecker as far as I’m concerned! I guess if it makes other women this uncomfortable, though, I might need to start watching my own comments, too!
how utterly inspiring & filled with gratitude you are by sharing this post :)) you’ve made my day! ~xo~
Brilliant. One of my children is fighting cancer. That is a great set of perspectacles too. Thanks for sharing this because so many of us need to hear it.
I’m speechless. This is one of the best articles I’ve read on this subject. Thanks for making me feel well above adequate about my little home.
I love this observation! Some people are never happy as they can never get enough “stuff” and you are happy with the things that are really important! A man I used to work with told me- “there are all these beautiful homes all over our country and they are clean and furnished but are all EMPTY because people were out working two jobs to pay for them.” He said he just didn’t see the point of having something if you could not be home to enjoy it! It is all about priorities and our children’s childhood and our own happiness! I love what your son said about dancing in the kitchen! I feel like these homes my co worker talked about are empty in many many ways! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject!
I was just explaining to two different friends, on two different occasions (after invitations) why it is my policy to *not* attend at-home sales “parties.” The whole goal of them is to create a “need” for something that you may not have even known existed an hour before. I don’t NEED more STUFF. We have an abundance. By the way, I seriously can’t see what’s wrong with the kitchen! Looks just fine and functional to me!!
I love “perspectacles!” I’m going to do my best to keep mine on!!
I have the ultimate “counter culture” approach to well-meaning friends who comment on “updates” of granite counter tops and subway tile backsplash; I’m super-duper slowly (3 years already) taking my kitchen BACK to its 1942 original flavor, DIY! (I’ve had people come in and say “Oh you can paint over that vintage color with modern colors.” When in fact, I WAS the one who choose the vintage color and painted it myself!
Do I hate what I call the “rental grade” muddy gray/brown flooring they slapped on the house to “upgrade” (irony!) to sell the house? Absolutely. It doesn’t fit my darling house’s aesthetic. But as a friend pointed out, the graige color hides dirt well One day, maybe, I might be able to add cheery era-specific flooring, but for now, my toddler and I freely spill paints, stickers and glitter all over that muddy gray/brown flooring.
And guys, I have a crooked (yes, crooked kitchen!!), it is a 72 year old house after all! When you pour a glass of water, you can actually SEE the water isn’t level! For being as orderly of a person as I am, I seriously don’t mind. It gives me little kitchen character, and the embroidered tea towels and anthropomorphic fruit I have used to decorate appeal to my love for visual balance, so it really is a kitschy, crazy little space which I love! It is certainly not everyone’s taste, and it is definitely not brand-spanking-custom-everything-new, but we are happy and blessed.
I love this. We recently had this amazing opportunity to go live on an Army base as a family in Oklahoma for 6 months while my husband did some training. We were super excited about our adventure and getting to spend time together and meet new people. We were unsure of what to do with our stuff so we rented one of this 16×8 pods and guess what? Everything we owned and treasured fit in it! Yep a whole life in a small box, but it gave me a sense of freedom. I have always said I do not want my life to be focused on the stuff, but rather the memories. If we have something that is not being used we give it away to someone who will use it. I am very thankful for the amazing things I have been blessed with ( your right my coffee maker is close to the top of the list), but I refuse to spend my time trying to keep us with the trends. I had much rather be dancing in my kitchen.
Love. Love. Love. This is just what I needed today. Thank you!
I love this post. Especially this part:
“I have a REFRIGERATOR.”
Because I didn’t always have one. For a year, I had no refrigerator. And no stove. And I was a single mom, raising a son. It was an adventure for him, and taught me how to be very creative and resourceful.
In the winter, we stored our food in plastic tubs on the back porch. In the summer, I bought a few foam coolers and kept them stocked in ice.
I learned to cook anything in the microwave and a rice cooker. I can make brownies in a rice cooker.
Now, I’m financially WAY better off than I was, but I always remember the year we went without, just after my divorce. I struggled. I cried many a night. We went without power for three months. Without water for two.
But we made it through. And we couldn’t be happier and more grateful.
Wow. Carry on, my sister warrior. You. Are. Amazing.
YOU are a rockstar. That is all.
Absolutely love this! You totally hit the nail on the head – people worry too much about what others think and conspicuous consumption is running rampant. I am now looking around MY house with perspectacles as well – looks pretty good from where I’m standing!
This is the best thing I’ve read all day! Thank you!
Well said!!
I work with an organization (as a volunteer) which travels to South Africa to do kids camps and assists families struggling to care for AIDS orphans. Usually this task falls to the grandmothers.
One grandmother in particular stands out in my mind. She’s 72 years sold, she’s actually a great-grandmother to nine children. She made a quilt which we brought back to the states to raffle. We brought the proceeds back to her and she gave a portion to the education fund, and a portion to buy new quilting supplies, and with her portion she bought a new refrigerator. She invited us to her house to see it. It was very tall, and she was explaining how she was going to have to cut a shelf to make it fit. I asked her how tall her old refrigerator was, and with great dignity she told me that she had never had a refrigerator before today.
She’s 72 years old and raised many children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and never had a refrigerator until now. My life is so abundantly blessed, I’m embarrassed that I ever complained about anything.
Well said!
So good… THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Amen. My house is also beautiful because it is filled with beauty and I am so glad you put this out there for the world to read that we ALL might be content with all that we have. And we have MUCH, for which to give thanks.
well said.
Thank you so much momastery!!! This couldn’t have come at a better time for me. You see, the past year has been a complete upheaval of my family, as we are going through a divorce and the selling of the home we built and raised our now 10 and 6 year old in. As I look for potential new homes for my kids and I, it’s heartbreaking to see their realization that we not only can’t afford to buy homes like their other friends live in, we likely can’t afford to even stay in this affluent school district. It’s been a bit of a road to realize that this is no loss at all. On the contrary, the three of us are loving exploring new neighborhoods and excited at the prospect of being in a neighborhood with sidewalks (rather than huge 2 acre rural lots) with the chance to ride bides to school and have more kids (and adults, yay! adults to talk to!) to play with. Older houses with huge mature trees and creaky floors, hideous paint colors that we can completely transform. My kids are seeing the potential when we walk into a home rather than the ick that’s ugly factor. And of course we’ve definitely had the “We are fortunate” discussion because not only do they need to hear it, but so do I. No matter where we end up, we will be thankful, we will be lucky, and we will fill it with infinite amounts of love and laughter. Thanks for posting!!
What beautiful thoughts!Guess It’s easy to become complacent instead of thankful!!
Absolutely LOVE this. Perspective is everything. Gratitude is wonderful place to live.
I could not love this more. I have happy tears in my eyes this morning. Thanks for the reminder that we are all truly blessed!
I LOVE THIS! Thank you!
This is so very precious! You are a wise and blessed woman!
Love this!
Love the “before” and “after.”
Absolutely love this!
That was really perfectly said. You have a beautiful kitchen. 🙂
Thank you. I have the same floor tile and same countertops and spend waaaay too much time wishing otherwise. I may reread this every day as long as it takes till it sinks in. I want to be free!
Loved this. Love you. Thank you for the reminder, I really needed it today.
What an eye opener. Thank you
Looks perfect to me!
brings to my eyes reading this! grateful for that, too! PS your kitchen tickles my clean line senses… looks like a good place to bless your family! I like it!
Two words for you.
THANK.
YOU.