Reclaiming the Art of Homemaking - Part I

Wake up. Throw on comfortable leisurewear. Stand in a hot kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone. Wash a mountain of dishes and clean a kitchen in disarray. Sweep, mop. vacuum. Start a load of laundry. Scrub the toilet and shower. Make the beds. Fold and put away clean laundry. Fluff and re-fluff throw pillows. Cook dinner and make a mess of the kitchen you spent the morning cleaning. Bake a treat for those you love, increasing the already insane amount of dishes that has piled up throughout the day. Unload the dishwasher....just to reload the dishwasher. Get everything just how you like it, just for everyone to live in and enjoy the beauty you've created and make it a mess all over again. Go to bed. Wake up...repeat.

This is just a glimpse into the life of a homemaker. One who doesn't even have kids at this point! Cleaning the same things day in and day out. Righting everything just for it to be undone a few hours later, sometimes even a few minutes. The constant ebb and flow of order and disorder. 

To be honest, this doesn't sound like too much fun - and in many cases it hasn't been for me. Don't get me wrong, I love that I'm able to work in the home, cooking, baking, designing the interior rooms, but the way in which I have been doing all of these things has made it all rather lifeless and yet overwhelming. There is nothing fun and enjoyable about either of those! I know I'm not alone in this plight and so I wish to suggest some ways in which we can reclaim the beauty and the art of homemaking; saving it from the abyss of the mundane. 

        Mundane /ˌmənˈdān/

        adjective

        1. Lacking interest or excitement; dull. 

        2. Of this earthly world rather than a heavenly or spiritual one.

Seeing as though the word mundane has a two-part definition, it seems only fit to provide a two-part solution. One physical, one spiritual, both significant. This post will focus on giving some solutions for the physical aspect. Look for the spiritual aspect in Part II!

4 Ways to Add Interest and Excitement

Get Dressed!

Forget about throwing on those ripped leggings, stained, misshapen t-shirts, and the like. Though there's nothing inherently wrong with this indoor uniform per se, I have found that it leaves me uninspired and more importantly, lethargic. There's nothing to denote the beginning or end of my days! Just going from one comfy, dull outfit to the next; never truly shaking off that feeling of tiredness and the need to sit down and relax. I've begun wearing a lot of comfy but stylish dresses around the house and I can feel a the difference in my mood, alertness, and yes...even my efficiency!

Working in the home is an important role and we have to treat it as such! Just as you would get dressed to head in to any corporate job, spend time making yourself presentable in the home. And if you're worried about ruining your good clothes, get an apron!! Think of it as your newest, most useful, fashion accessory!

Add Some Pretty

We all have those items that we deem "special," only to be used on specific occasions. That set of fine china sitting in the hutch, collecting dust. That tablecloth that only comes out for Christmas dinner. Or maybe you were gifted something expensive and haven't used it because it's just too nice! Instead it sits on a shelf expiring, never to truly give the delight it was meant to. Why do we save the pretty, exciting items for those one off occasions, and use the dull and drab for our day to day? Why don't we make every day special? We consider each day a gift from God, don't we? Why don't we treat each day as such? I say use your pretty china as often as possible. Drink your tea out of a pretty tea set, and place those muffins on a lovely decorative platter rather than a paper plate. Light that expensive, gifted candle and enjoy the way it makes your house smells. Don't worry, there are other ways to make holidays and special occasions..special. Just remember that every day living should be enjoyed as well!

Be Intentional 

We must be intentional of our time! This is important in many aspects of life but in homemaking the more organized you are with how you allocate your time, the more time you'll free up for yourself! So often I have plans for my day but then I get sidetracked with social media, shows playing in the background, telephone calls, and the list could go on! I find the use of a planner very beneficial to me in some respects. I don't get so rigid as to schedule out every single minute but I like to have a guideline for what I need to do for the day and attribute time blocks to them. Having a goal plainly laid out before you encourages you to stick with it! I know that when I let myself roam too freely, I get into everything and finish nothing!

Being intentional with time also means to make sure you have downtime! So take a break to be revived and get refocused.  When it's lunch time, sit down and have lunch. Give yourself time for nourishment and relaxation and not just a quick "on the go" bite to sustain you as you continue on. I am so guilty of this and it usually leaves me hangry, feeling overworked, and with no free time in sight. I have plans to implement a "tea time" into my daily schedule where I can, on top of a proper lunchtime, have 15 minutes to enjoy a snack and some tea while I scroll through my social media, call family, or just relax. This way I can put the distractions aside while working and have a specific time to look forward to all of those things without them weighing me down. Being intentional now means more fun and frills later!

Incorporate Your Hobbies

There always seems to be some home related task standing in the way of all things I enjoy and wish I had time to do. When I finally do have the time, I'm so exhausted from the consistency of housework that all I want to do is be a couch bum! I have discovered that combining some of my hobbies with my daily tasks allows me to get my work done and in a way that I enjoy. As someone who loves to read (I use to read about 2 books a week at one point), I have so many books on my "to read" list and not enough free time to get through many of them. Fortunately, I've recently taken to using audio books! YouTube has so many free audio book recordings that I can listen to while getting my daily tasks accomplished. Now I actually look forward to getting to the dishes, or folding that monstrous pile of laundry because I cannot wait to hit play on my audio book and find out what happens next in the story! I'm currently on the last few chapters of "Anne of Green Gables" by Lucy Maud Montgomery and cannot wait to start a new book. This has been such a game changer for me, so I definitely suggest giving it a whirl if you find you dread certain tasks! 

I have also gotten back to my love of classical music, opting to put some on instead of mindless TV that most of the time only distracts me from my duties and leaves me feeling unaccomplished. Listening to compilations of classical music allows me to focus on the task at hand, while allowing me to simultaneously discover new pieces I love like Mozart's Flute and Harp Concerto in C Major, K. 299. It's always exciting discovering new things! Find ways to incorporate the things you love into your daily "to-dos" and I promise you it won't feel like such a chore anymore!

I hope you got some inspiration on how to add some fun and interest back into the daily grind of homemaking. Everyone is unique and thus what is considered fun, exciting, and interesting will be different for each individual. Adapt what you need to adapt but be sure to enjoy the task God has given you and do it with dignity, love and grace! Happy homemaking!

xo

Janine

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