Lindsey has no idea I’m going to talk about her house today. But, it has to be done.
Last week Lindsay shared some photos of her house with a post called Get Real { A House Tour}. And she showed photos of her house as is. Nothing new, we’ve all seen bloggers show their real life house. But, I learned a lot by looking at Lindsey’s house and I thought it would be fun to chat about.
I’m hoping I can put into words what it is that I have taken away from seeing her home in full use. Basically, I still think her home looks ridiculously gorgeous. And, we all know, her style is perfectly lovely and her house is just amazing but, even if you don’t love your house as much as you love Lindsey’s there’s a lot to learn from these rooms, they look great even lived in. Kind of like the beautiful girl who wakes up with bedhead and an old tee shirt on. I think there are many a country songs about how that girl is prettier anyway.
So what IS it? What’s the secret to having a pretty house even when it’s completely lived in? This is something I desire in our own home~I can’t escape the fact that we live fully in it so, how can it look ok in the midst of life? That’s the real secret, right?
Here are a few things I noticed:
1. Space.
Lindsey doesn’t fill every square inch with tchotchkes, patterned rugs, patterned drapes, 5 extra chairs… even with two bolts of fabric on her floor, there’s still room for toys. No matter what size house we have, the temptation can be to fill it up, but, allowing some room for the everyday happenings can create space for you to feel more comfortable with the stuff of life sitting out in full view.
2. Cleared off surfaces.
Linsdey jokes about what is on her counters and island but, for the most part, they aren’t covered with decorative pretties that go unused. Most things on her island are things she used that day. So, leaving stuff out didn’t just add to the already there stuff. So, if you know your season of life is going to be messy, why not clear off your surfaces to accommodate what needs to happen. Let’s face it, it still looks pretty good and not overwhelming to straighten up because she doesn’t have a bunch of non essentials happening. And, when you find extra house plans on your island, if it isn’t already coated with pretty unused things, you don’t get annoyed as much.
3. A dedicated dumping spot.
Yes, it’s filled with stuff, but, I bet she could have it cleared off in 8 minutes if she needed too. I can learn from this. I keep thinking I’m disorganized because we always have shoes, bags, keys, receipts and so on and so forth and things of that nature and everything….all over our foyer and kitchen. WHY don’t I just acknowledge that we need a dumping ground and create a place for it so that I’m ok with it?
We’ve talked about it before: The two Ways to Achieve your goal of a less messy house
1. You can learn methods and tips and tricks to help keep your home less messy.
2. You can lower your expectations and accept the fact that you will have messes and that each season of your family’s life will bring different kinds of beautiful messes.
My office has looked like for the past week. My In-Laws even stopped by and I didn’t try to straighten it up. I just closed the glass doors hoping they would put a prettier frame against the reality behind them. Instead of seeing a big daunting mess, I can see the fact that our taxes are done and I get to work from home.
Remember this book? A Perfectly Kept House is the Sign of A Misspent Life: How to live creatively with collections, clutter, work, kids, pets, art, etc…and stop worrying about everything being perfectly in it’s place. Yeah, that puts a little spin on our priorities.
We have a hardworking home that puts up with all of our abuse. I’m really grateful for our beautiful mess. Instead of thinking about what my house isn’t, I want to focus on what she is.
Yesterday afternoon on a whim I asked on facebook and twitter if anyone had a photo of their lived in house they could share. I got so many beautiful photos and am still getting them~thank you all! Here’s why…
So glad to know that my house isn’t the only one “suffering” out there…lol
loved, loved, loved this. just what I needed.
This absolutely rocks it and the video was like a pat on the back and an “it’ll be okay” to everyone who has a messy house today!
That. was. awesome. I lead an amzingly blessed life, and my house is sometimes (often) cluttered and dirty. Your post is a fantastic reminder of which of those two facts I need to focus on.
I ADORE this post! I often “stage” photos, but we really live in our house. With a very active 2 year old, it’s impossible to have a spotlessly uncluttered house. I’m learning to embrace the mess. Thank you sweet Nester for daily inspiring me!
I think the secret is to accept the beauty of the a lived in house – it’s real, like the pretty girl w/bedhead, or a child with a dirty face. Perfection is a lie, perpetually out of reach. Pursuit of perfection leads to missing out on the beautiful messiness of today, and the fullfilment of a lived in life.
Loved it ! I think my favorite picture was the dirty fan. I cried. It was kind of therapeutic to see a real, lived in house. Wouldn’t it be great if some of our favorite decorating magazines had glossy pictures of messy, lived in rooms instead of perfect,clean rooms with no toys strewn about ???
I wonder if anyone has ever done that ?
Kathy
The dirty fan cracked me up. The first thing I did was look up to see what state my ceiling fan was in! It’s something I just never think about until it looks like the one in that picture. Glad to see that I’m not the only one who lives in a REAL house ;)
Thank you so much for this post. I guess I though my house was the only house that was not picture perfect everyday. Now I see that I’m not alone. Maybe you should have a post where we could all link up our messy rooms!
I think a few people already do that kind of linky, leave a comment if that’s what you do!
Thanks Nester! Just what I needed to see to feel a little better about all my disorganized stuff everywhere the week before Easter when we will have a house full of people…..aaaahhh….I can breathe now……I’m not alone! Thanks again :)
I truly appreciate the honesty in those photos! I struggle with trying to keep the house perfect but it’s a large home and filled with people! Thank you for sharing this with your faithful readers!
Feelin’ better already. It’s so nice to be reassured I’m normal. :) Thanks!
THANK YOU! I’ve been struggling with this so much since I’ve gone back to work this year. I just can’t seem to balance it all and I’ve been feeling like a failure because I can’t keep my house picked up – let alone clean! It is so beautiful to see I’m not the only one that lives with a little mess now and again. I’m going to try and ease up on myself during this busy stage.
Loved the video. I saw houses filled with love and loved ones!
This video is just what I needed today. My house is a mess, but my family has five loaves of homemade whole wheat bread to enjoy this week as well as snow cone syrup. Who cares if my kitchen counter tops and floors have a fine layer of flour mixed with red kool-aid powder. Thanks for all you do to inspire me to love my home and remember what is truly important.
I didn’t mean to be anonymous. Thanks.
Darla
My most favorite post of yours EVER!!!!!
You have set me free! Never again will I apologize for messes. We live here and we live a full, happy life! And that gets messy.
And to the person with the super dusty ceiling fan, you are my hero! :)
Thanks for letting me know Im not alone! lol
This is a wonderful post — I loved reading your words, and I love Lindsey’s home too. The video was lots of fun, even though it was hard at first for me to share photos like that, seeing all the other ones made me feel so much better. :) It’s so good to see these warm, lived in homes. So much better than a sterile magazine spread!
Oh my gosh-I just popped on here to avoid doing all my dishes from my Passover Seder-and this just filled me with happiness! I have 4 young kids and 2 insane cats and an amazing (but messy) husband-and the clutter can really overwhelm me sometimes. Thank you SO much for reminding me what I have: what I always wanted-a big, happy family and a house filled with love!!!
Thank you , thank you , thank you~ Nester, for posting this!
I don’t have what all these moms and ladies have here… I’ve got an Empty Nest and I’m still trying to piece it all together into ORDER!
I have good days and bad days… So glad to see these pictures. Just what I needed to get me straight. …lower my expectations a little and keep moving forward!
Love! Thanks for the shot of perspective. My messy house drives me crazy, but my house wouldn’t be (so) messy without my little 2 and 4 yr old blessings, and husband and 2 dogs(blessings too of course!!). I have told myself before that I will stop making excuses when my house is a wreck but I still do it. No more. This post made me smile, and was a great reminder of what real life is all about!
I love how you put things into perspective. Thank-you!
Oh thank you! I’m going nuts right now with my house-in the process of moving my son into a larger bedroom and creating an office/guest room. I’ve succeeded with the former, working on the latter-needless to say, my house is a mess. But you know what? It’s okay!
You have such a way with words!
Love it.
Especially the one with captions – “Random potty!”
great post! i adore cleared surfaces but with three children it is sometimes hard. thanks for pointing out that so many photos are staged and items removed from rooms before pictures are taken. lindsey has a cheery house even with things messed up a bit. i think i need to show my husband this post!
Hi! I loved this post. I related most of all to the part about the house being a beautiful girl with bedhead hair and looking gorgeous that way. What a poetic way to say exactly what I was thinking. I couldn’t stop staring at her floors! We have something similar but in a darker, espresso color and I thought how much I loved them in the color she has too. Beautiful, beautiful post. & so real.
I love that! I know I feel better seeing that people live like I do most of the time. Sure it’s nice & neat for company but those are our real, everyday lives there. Speaking of which – I had planned to send you some pics but didn’t get to it before you had all you needed because I — had to cook dinner! You know real life stuff. :) Thanks for taking the time to put that together, it’s so cute.
Thank you for reminding my that my house is supposed to look like a magazine cover 24/7!
This is in no way related to your post but you were in my dream last night! I dreamed that I went to a Bible study at your house and when it was over I was so excited to walk around all of the rooms and see everything but my baby needed a bottle and I forgot to bring one so I had to leave and was very sad. However, in my dream you had crazy patterns on all your walls and when I woke up I thought, the Nester would never have walls like that. CRAZY!
Great post…..leaving room to live….my new motto!!!
THANK YOU!!! You made my day! That was your best post EVER!
Thank you for this. It’s one of the best, most uplifting posts I’ve ever read.
How is it that the pictures of messy houses made me more motivated to clean mine? I think I assume everyone else has it more together than I do, so I feel like giving up because I’m already so far behind. Seeing that other houses are real and lived in helps me tackle the messes in mine (though I am certainly not aiming for perfection! Just beauty out of the current clutter).
Now I know I’m a little strange, but I almost burst out in tears watching the photo montage of messy houses. My baby will leave for college in a few weeks, and my eldest will move out on his own after a seven-month post-college sojourn. All I can think about every time I see a messy spot in my house is how much I’m going to miss that mess. All the rants over the years have come to this crazy, almost-beyond-description wistfulness for messy rooms, toys on the carpet, dolls in the sink and Lego pieces right where I will step next. It’s enough to make me run over and borrow the neighbor’s toddlers. Sheesh. Who would ever thave thought …
now you are making me cry.
So I toddled back over here and saw your reply. Then I read my comment again and *sniff* started in again. THEN, I went to the kitchen, and surveyed the mess after dinner, the mess I can’t clean up because the sink is on the fritz. The ball game is blaring, the Astros fans are cranky and the daughter unit is riddled with pre-grad angst. Ahhhhh, it aint over quite yet.
Sigh. Thank you.
That video had me laughing out loud! THANK YOU EVERYONE for showing us your real homes. And thanks Nester for giving us permission to chill out about the mess. :)
love this. love lindsey’s home. that song cracked me up! thanks for reminding me that i need to create a “dumping zone.”
This has got to be one of the most beautiful posts I have ever seen. Now I know that I’m not alone. Plus, after reading some of the reader comments, I am grateful for the messes because it means that my babies are still little and not headed off to college just yet. I will embrace the mess and enjoy the little ones while they’re still little and while they still love to play and make messes. Thank you for that!
God Bless,
Kathleen
thank you! loved this reminder!
Oh my, this post was SO great! I don’t have children yet, but it is still relavant for me. Thanks so much for sharing your insight & wisdom! Well done!
Oh, you made my WEEK with this!
What a great post and video. It’s not what the house looks like , it is who is in the house and what they are doing. It is the whole house vs. home thing. We don’t get a house because we need someplace to put the dishes or park the car. We get a house ( apt, town house, trailer) to LIVE in. Thanks for the reminder.
Awesome! The picture of the dust on the fan blades made me laugh out loud. What a great post.
Yes! I love houses that look lived in! And mine definitely does, but it is so true that if the clutter is gone and only things I use and love are hanging around, it still looks great! It’s funny because a friend who came over today looked around and said, “You cleaned!” All that had happened was the kids had picked up toys off the floor. :)
Nester,
Obviously by reading the comments you know you hit a universal nerve. There truly was something holy in the photos and the song and the sentiment. Whereas Emily typically writes about Grace in the Everyday, I think today you did it. Well done. Very well done.
Karin
Such a great post. Good to know I’m not the only one that loves living in a ‘lived in’ home, with the ones I love.
Thanks :o)
Love this post! I always really enjoy seeing beautiful houses… that are STILL beautiful despite being lived-in. Even that takes thought as a mom and as a decorator. Creating beautiful spaces that are also highly workable and functional. Great stuff!
Michelle’s comment is making me cry too! My son is just 13 months and I already want him to live here forever. I’m looking at his toys strewn across the living room floor right now and am so Grateful! And Blessed!
Wishoo…Thanks, I needed that.
Funny how you did this on a whim and it is SO what so many of us moms needed to see (I loved the song, too!). I will not get on my babies to pick-up ONE thing for the rest of the day…I will instead just love on my five messy and NEVER not hungry boys.
Thank You. I love you Nester!