Today I’m over at (in)courage, sharing about my need for beauty, and that I’m okay with that. I used to not be okay with that. But I am now. From the post:

“This morning, I stepped over no fewer than five stinky, balled-up socks en route to the bathroom. After breakfast, I scrubbed congealed oatmeal off the kitchen table where the 4-year-old sat. I asked for happy hearts to reign during this busy day, and was returned with blank stares. And of course, there was a dirty diaper.

I’m not complaining. This is the stuff of life, and it’s all sign of living with humans, among those I’m rearing and guiding towards maturity. Hugely thankful for that.

And I’d argue there’s even a certain beauty to it all—the snot-encrusted face that grins with devotion as he hands me his paci to give it a try. (“No thank you. No… I’m good. Really. Please stop,” I say as he crams that sucker against my mouth.)

But this dirty, daily grind can honestly overwhelm me if I don’t add a splash of genuine beauty in to my everyday. It’s true… I’m a girl. I thrive on beauty.”

Head here to read the rest of the post and to share your comments.

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• A little beauty goes a long way
• Sixty minutes an hour
• Q&A Tuesday: Why Do You Use Facebook?

When I was a little girl, my Great Uncle Mo had a cottage on a beautiful lake in the wine country of Western New York. My parents had a cottage of their own hours away, so we spent most of our time at that cottage; but from time to time, we’d spend a day or a weekend at Uncle Mo’s.

Uncle Mo never married, so the family of my grandfather (his brother) was all he had. He loved having a place where everyone could come to swim and play, celebrate Labor Day, and eat hot dogs.

Not many of my childhood days were spent there, but my memories are clear—memories of standing on the rock break wall and skipping stones, sitting at his long rickety picnic table on rickety benches and eating hot dogs. Getting sun-kissed and exhausted from days of splashing in the water and playing in the grass.

Uncle Mo passed away when I was 17 years old, 16 years ago now. The cottage was sold and when the new owners were remodeling it, it burned to the ground. A new building stands in its place now, a building that I have never seen.

I still like to picture the yellow two-story cottage with a big screened porch overlooking the lake, creaky stairs leading to a second floor full of bunk beds to accommodate overnighters, a tiny kitchen, a living room with a folding table for playing cards and dominoes, and one little bathroom.

In that little bathroom sat Uncle Mo’s chair.

A little white chair, unassuming and strong, built like everything was back then—to last. The paint was chipping with age then, even moreso now. Somehow, all these years later, that chair has ended up at my home in my bathroom in a little house in a tiny town by the ocean where my family calls home.

The chair has stood the test of time, spending winters in unconditioned storage spaces, never really finding a home. The day it came to me (and I still don’t remember why), I pictured myself at Uncle Mo’s cottage, looking at that little old white chair that spent decades in his bathroom.

I can’t imagine many people sat on it, seeing as bathrooms have another place to sit. It was just there. Sturdy but aging, just like I remember my Uncle Mo—who used to greet every single one of us girls as we arrived at the cottage as “the prettiest girl at the party.”

When we arrived to celebrate his birthday every Labor Day, he would respond to every birthday hug and greeting with a “happy birthday” in return—the same way my 5-year-old does on his own birthday. He never knew Uncle Mo.

That chippy white chair sits in our bathroom now and gets brought out when we need more seating for visitors. It regularly sits—unassuming and sturdy, aging and chippy—as a gentle reminder of summer days in wine country. It’s an example of the way that one small thing can bring back memories that matter.

My family is very simple, we don’t collect things, and we know that memories are forever even if we never keep a tangible reminder. There are some things in our lives that are worth keeping and passing on for the gentle reminders of what once was.

Home is what we each make it, and is made up of moments of love, laughter, joy, sadness, comfort. Home isn’t just where we spend our nights, but where our love and our memories lie.

Some places will always be home, even decades after we’ve visited. Home is something we can hold onto with one simple thing, like a chair that sat in a bathroom. Home is where our memories are, where our moments have been—no matter how fleeting, where we can look back and feel love and find a smile.

This is apropos for the month of Project Simplify here at Simple Mom. What’s something in your home that holds true, valuable memories for your family? What’s staying in your home because of its small, simple significance?

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• Uncle Mo’s Chair
• Houses Have Windows, Homes Have Stories
• Q&A: What are your summer finale plans?

I can’t tell you the precise definition or location of “home”, but I can tell you this: home is whatever you make it.

In my case, it’s been a progressive making and remaking since the day Martin (my German-born husband) and I met. We’ve been called nomads when we moved to Berlin, Germany, gypsies when we came back to the US, migrators when we moved into a tire house, adventurers somewhere in-between, and more often than not, “that interesting couple”.

It’s a lot of packing and unpacking. But here’s something I’ve learned:

The beautiful thing about home is that it really has very little to do with the building. It’s all about the people.

A home is just the setting for all the stories of our lives.
Photo by Katie Clemons

Today as you read this, Martin and I are holding hammers and nail guns. We’re building a little home that we’ve been dreaming about for almost a year. (I mentioned the launch of our project briefly in this post, DIY: Finishing What We Start.)

Our home is anything but normal; it’s 720 square feet in the back of an airplane hangar. It’s a place for fixing and storing small airplanes. One day, it’ll have a big office for my online journal shop, Gadanke. It’s exciting, but it’s not normal.

Photo by Katie Clemons

Chances are, there’s something about your house that might not be so “normal” or “perfect”, too, right? That’s okay. In fact, that’s part of what makes life so beautiful. Do you remember the squished apartment with the awful oven that you and your husband first lived in? Remember baking a birthday cake in there? Do you remember the year the Christmas tree tipped over? How about something crazy like when a bird flew in the chimney or your son brought home a new pet without asking?

If we always focus on what the Jones Family does at their house, how can we pause and celebrate our homes? Our worlds? Our dreams?


Photo by Katie Clemons
When our homes don’t feel normal, when our families and lifestyles don’t feel normal, it isn’t something to be embarrassed about. You shouldn’t feel ashamed and never let anyone in. If we celebrate our stories and celebrate our houses (no matter what they look like), then they become home. There is nothing more beautiful for us as women and mothers than having a place where we can be ourselves and celebrate our family’s stories.

You don’t need a perfect home to have a good life.

You just need good people that you love and a passion to live. Celebrate that!
At the end of the day, follow your own dreams, not the dreams of other people. We don’t want the picket fence in the suburbs. But that doesn’t mean one lifestyle is better than the other. It’s just what’s better for us right now. What’s best for you?

In the past month or so, a couple bloggers have really embraced home in some beautiful ways:

• Jane at The Borrowed Abode rents and dreams of working from home. She just build furniture when she couldn’t find something at thrift shops.
• Juliette is an American blogging at Zu Hause. She lives in Germany with her pastor husband and misses American craft stores. She humbles me with how she still finds beautiful ways to celebrate the seasons at home.
• Kim & Scott at Yellow Brick Home celebrate handmade birthday parties at home.
• Jules at Zurika is another American expat in Germany. She embraces her German community and northern Europe weather like no one I’ve ever seen.

You embrace your home with the paint and rugs that you pick. It’s the used couch you got from a coworker. It’s the way your kids play and spread their toys. It’s what you cook dinner. It’s your home. Celebrate it your way.

And if you want to hop in a plane after dinner, come on over!

How is your home different from our definition of “normal”? How are you celebrating that?

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• Home Is What YOU Make It
• Creating a Handmade Home
• 5 Ways to Slow Down and Embrace Your Holiday Stories

My kitchen table was given to me by my parents. It’s the same kitchen table that I ate dinner at every night when I grew up. My parents, brother and I each had our own spot at the table.

I have many memories of the meals we ate, the stories we shared, and things we did at that table. I remember sitting around that table making Christmas cookies each year. I remember the year my cousins came over, and we all made gingerbread houses together at that table. I remember getting sick at that table, laughing at that table, and crying at that table.

And today, it’s that same table where my kids are making memories—sharing meals with us, telling stories about their days, laughing, crying, getting sick, making cookies, doing craft projects.

After all these years, the table is not as pretty as it used to be. There are specks of glitter crusted to it that will only come out the day we decide to sand it down and refinish it. There’s glue stuck to it. There’s stray paint from craft projects and home renovations.

These days, it’s usually covered with a tablecloth because I’m embarrassed for anyone to see the state of my table. But the other day, when I took off the tablecloth to put it in the wash, I sat at the table—bare, dinged, glittered, glued, messy—and remembered each of the stories behind the messes.

I saw the green paint that strayed from my son’s first painting project. I saw the glitter and sparkles from the first Christmas craft my daughter and I did a few years ago. I saw the lines in the wood where the pencil was pushed too hard during homework time.

How could I cover up these things, as though they’re things to be ashamed of?

My table is not perfect, but it has done the job it was meant to do very well. Life has been lived at it. Lessons have been learned at it. Memories have been made for decades, right there at that table.

It tells the story of lives being lived, not life missed out on in the name of perfection. The same way that marks on the walls, scuffs on the floor, toys on the table, and dishes in the sink prove that the places we live are for just that—living. Not perfection.

photo by remodelingthislife

This time of year, I spend a lot of time thinking about the things we have, and I want to instill that same appreciation in my kids. We talk about the Christmas season being about more than what we’re going to get on the 25th. I think about families that don’t have any table to sit at, surrounded by family and full of good food.

Our messy table reminds me of all we have, especially during a time that could be too busy or full of consumerism to notice. The messy table reminds me to slow down and keep making memories with my family. To keep making messes as part of our living.

The Messy Table is this home’s silent reminder that it is well-loved and well-lived.

Do you have a “messy table” in your home?

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• The Messy Table
• 5 Ways to Slow Down and Embrace Your Holiday Stories
• Houses Have Windows, Homes Have Stories

It was over five years ago now that my family bought the falling apart fixer-upper that is no longer falling apart and we still call home today. When we signed the dotted line that day, I had grand visions of future happiness because of this house. Once we fixed it up and sold it, we could go buy the house I really wanted in a nicer neighborhood, with a bigger yard, a screen porch, and garage. Then I’d be happy.

Does this sound familiar?

Someday, when things are a little bit better. As soon as I have that, accomplish something else, live there…then I’ll be happy.

Life doesn’t always go as planned and sometimes, right where we are is where we find we’re truly content.

I found myself in a home with few closets, no pantry, no attic, no basement and no garage. This meant that I didn’t room to stash stuff I wasn’t using. Everything in our home had to be functional, or we got rid of it. I couldn’t buy new things just because I liked them, without a care for where it would actually go.

Slowly, as years went by and we renovated our house as the monthly budget allowed, I learned to be happy with what I had, knowing that inside these walls was everything I needed.

Something about washing dishes in the bathroom sink when the kitchen was gutted, sleeping on a bed in the living room while the bedrooms were renovated, and taking showers in the backyard with a hose while the shower got tiled made me realize how lucky I was to have what I did.

I no longer wanted three bathrooms—who wants to clean them, anyway? I no longer wanted a great room or a screen porch for the joyous family time I envisioned in such expansive spaces. The little living room we had was all I needed for ticklefests and movie nights with my family.

Photo from Remodeling This Life

And the kitchen is a place to make the food that brings us together each day, no matter what it looks like. I found myself being completely happy, right where I was.

There is no secret formula for finding contentment, but going without certainly helps. It’s not always easy to appreciate what is always right there in front of us. It becomes so part of the ordinariness of our days that it’s hard now to remember the days before when things weren’t as good.

But when I close my eyes at night in my new bedroom, or when I take a long, hot bath in the new bathtub, or when I stack my dishes into the dishwasher, I can remember when it wasn’t like that, and I’m happy for what is, in all of its unexpected, small everydayness.

How can we not be happy just to have what we have? To know that having a home, food to cook, and family to spend our days with are such blessings?

When I let go of the idea of someday happiness, I found it in everything around me. I didn’t need a bigger house to be happy, and I certainly didn’t need something prettier on my walls, or nicer bedding, or fancier gadgets in the kitchen. There are things that make our lives easier or prettier, but I learned that none of those external things was going to make my life better.

Beautiful, happy moments happen in big houses, small houses, fixed-up houses, and outdated houses. They take place in itty-bitty studio apartments, and they take place in homes we own or spaces we rent. The beautiful moments, the contentment with what we have comes from within, not from the walls around us.

How are you grateful today for your home?

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• Find contentment in unexpected places
• Houses Have Windows, Homes Have Stories
• The Messy Table

“Where are you most at home? Is it in your home?

“I’ve thought a lot about this over the years, as my family and I have lived and traveled all over the world. And this summer, we moved yet again. This time, to a brand new town. …

“Nesting is in my blood, and I love making a home for my family. But I’m pretty sure there’s a home waiting for me that’s complete with a wraparound porch and a working stone fireplace, and it’s situated near crystal clear waters on a sapphire street — because it’s not going to happen here.”

Head here to read the rest and to interact in the comments.

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• UPrinting - Spread your message.
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• Grateful for Home
• Weekend Links
• Community within a Cross-Cultural Tribe

The new year is here, and with it comes the end of a nice break for most of us. As much as I enjoyed the lazy mornings and fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants days of the holidays, I was really looking forward to getting back into the regular routine.

Something about a new year sparks in me a desire to establish more order and intention in all that I do, so when back-to-school and the new year came together, it was perfect timing for establishing some new, old routines to keep home life simple and days running smoothly.

I tend to dislike schedules but thrive on routine. A routine makes everyone in my household happier, everything runs more smoothly, it establishes reasonable expectations, and it makes for a saner home.

Here are some basic routines that help keep our house tidy and the people smiling around here.

Work It In

Photo by Remodeling This Life

Having tasks that flow together while living life is an essential part of a simpler home. Rather than saving up for an entire task that takes huge chunks of time, where nothing is ultimately done except cleaning messes or taking care of overwhelming piles of papers, dealing with it “as you go” and making it a part of the daily routine will ultimately free up more time to get to the heart of living. Having a simpler home makes it possible to enjoy the everyday ordinary moments more.

Start The Morning Right

Photo by Centsational Girl

A basic morning routine is key to starting any day off right. Here’s a great article about jump starting your day with a simple, five minute routine.

In the morning, I throw in a load of laundry in while coffee brews. You can empty the dishwasher so it’s available to load dishes as the day goes on so they don’t pile up. Make beds first thing after getting up — nothing makes a room look tidier than a made bed, and an unmade bed can make a tidy room look messy.

There’s nothing like having it all done, waiting for when you crawl under the covers at night after a long day. Remember the power of ten minutes. Small, simple, short routines that are built into the day make all the difference.

End The Day Right

Photo by Remodeling This Life

A routine establishes expectations. This is especially helpful for kids, and for mine, the evening is the most important time for a routine. My kids know that after dinner, it’s play time, then bath, put on jammies, brush teeth, and read books.

We don’t follow the clock as much as we follow the routine. They know what’s coming next and they expect it, so it all runs much more smoothly than if we had to chase them around screaming every night that they had to stop playing their game at a certain time and get in bed. The routine helps all of us relax and unwind.

I discovered a while ago that the key to starting each day right was ending each day right. By ending the day with cleaning the kitchen, putting away toys, planning or packing lunches, mornings became easier.

Evening is when it works best for me to fold laundry. I fold and put away at the same time, and I lay out clean clothes for school the next day. No searching for socks when we’re supposed to be out the door.

The key is finding what small things work at what times, and then adapting them to the everyday.

In each and every task and routine, think of making things good enough. Not perfect. Keep things manageable so that you can find what you need when you need it, have someone drop by unannounced without having a panic attack, and enjoy the truly important moments of each and every day along the way.

What simple routines are part of your day-to-day that help keep your home running more smoothly?

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• Establish Routines For A Simple Home
• Have Yourself an Inspired Little Summer
• Keep Your Home Clutter-Free

This time of year can get overwhelming fast. Before the turkey has even settled in our stomachs, it’s time to plan putting up the Christmas tree or getting ready to race into stores for Black Friday sales. I personally end up feeling like the entire reason for the season gets lost in the chaos of sales and decorations.

I love to put up simple decorations that honor the season and provide a daily reminder of what the true magic is this time of year, rather than ones that attempt to take center stage.

Here are some ideas for keeping it simple with some quick and easy holiday decorations.

Epsom salt candles

Photo by Remodeling This Life

Last year, I did a quick and easy project with my then five-year-old daughter by making shimmer candles. We took basic candles and glittered them up for a festive holiday feel. This project takes less than five minutes.

A simple wreath

Photo by Sarah Bohl Designs

I love a simple and beautiful wreath like this. A wreath is such a classic way to bring in the holiday spirit. There are a million and one ways to jazz up a wreath, but the most important thing about a wreath is to remember what it represents: the real nature of unending love.

String it up

Photo by Remodeling This Life

One of the quickest projects I did last holiday season was to string up some twine in my kitchen window, and then cut out stocking shapes from burlap and clipped them up. This year, my daughter wants to string up snowflake cut-outs. Anything would do — you could do anything from paper ornaments to cookie cutters.

Fill your jars

Photo by The Inspired Room

These jingle bell jars are so cute, and there are so many other ways to use jars this time of year, too. Fill them with ornaments, pine cones, bells, beads or anything else you might have on hand that can become instantly festive.

Are you keeping your holiday decorations simple this year? What are some ideas you can share with the rest of us?

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• Quick and Easy Holiday Decorating Ideas
• Link Love :: Kick off the Christmas Season with Simple Home Decor
• Plan Your Peaceful Christmas: Task 4

If you have young children, things probably won’t stay neat and tidy for very long on their own, and none of us want to spend the holiday season cleaning and organizing rather than baking, visiting friends and family and enjoying all that it has to offer!

I often get asked how we keep our home neat with four little ones. The key is that we literally clean up every single night before bed. We put things back where they belong, wipe down the counters and vacuum/mop any areas that need it. Because we do this as a family, it’s relatively painless and means that we wake up with a clean slate every day.

Here are some more tips to help you maintain your home and keep up with the household chores without sacrificing time with the people you love.

Kitchen

• Keep a pantry inventory to keep track of items your need to replenish.

• Plan your menus so you’re not buying extras you won’t use.

• Clean out your fridge each week before you go grocery shopping and wipe down the shelves as you do.

• Line the bottom of your oven with foil to catch drips and spills.

• Clean up stove spills/boil-overs right away so they don’t build up or harden.

• Get into a habit of running your dishwasher regularly and emptying it right away so that your dirty dishes don’t pile up in the sink. Or wash the dishes by hand.

• Rotate your pantry stockpile regularly.

• Use glass storage containers. They’re healthier AND you can see what’s in them.

Kids’ Toys

Photo from Deal Seeking Mom

• Follow the one toy in, one toy out rule and give away a toy each time a new one is received.

• Clean up every day and put toys away by set so that the mess doesn’t build up over time.

• Rotate toys every 1-2 months rather than having them all available all the time.

• Request clutter-free gifts like craft supplies, experiences and books (you’ll never convince me that children’s books are clutter!).

• Give kids regular age-appropriate chores and have them help maintain their areas.

Bathroom

• Limit the number of bath toys in the tub at a time.

• Wipe down the sink every day. We use my husband’s towel from his shower (he’s supposed to be clean when he gets out, right?) or you could keep rags under the sink to use.

• Keep a written inventory of medicine so you don’t find out you’re out of ibuprofen at 1 o’clock in the morning with a feverish kid.

• Clean the bathroom while bathing your kids.

And More

Photo from Decorating Your Way

• Don’t use your master bedroom as a catch all.

• Don’t let flat surfaces accumulate stuff; find a home for it.

• Think twice before putting something in storage — do you really need to keep it? Is it worth the cost of storing it, the time you’ll have to invest to take care of it and the space you’re giving up?

• Follow the touch-it-once rule — if you pick something up, find a home for it right away rather than setting it down to be taken care of later.

• When you take something out of storage, be sure to put it back in the correctly labeled box when you’re done.

• Store your regular decor in your holiday boxes so they’ll be easy to find when it’s time to pack the seasonal/holiday decor away.

By looking for little ways to maintain your home every day, you’ll cut down on the company-is-coming panic and have more time for the things that really matter!

This post was brought to you by Cozi, an online calendar that families can share to make sure everyone is on the same page! Manage your calendar, shopping lists, to-do lists and even family memories from anywhere. Enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card by submitting a tip to Cozi’s Best Household Tips contest!

How do you maintain your home during busy seasons, especially when you might have more guests than usual?

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• Plan Your Peaceful Christmas: Maintaining Your Home During the Holidays
• Organizing Toys for Dummies (or at least preschoolers)
• Plan Your Peaceful Christmas: Guest-ify Your Home

With Christmas six weeks away, it might seem like you’ve got all kinds of time to fortify your abode — but if your family is like mine, November and December are when the calendar gets crazy busy.

Why not take some time now, before the chaos arrives on your doorstop?

Similar to part two of my book (head to the bottom of this page to scroll through some pages in advance), I like to take my house prep process room-by-room. Here are a few ideas for the house hot spots that are especially trafficked by guests.

The Living Room

I love looking at photos of the house built by contributor Mandi of Your Way

If you’ve got small living quarters, like my family, then you might only have a pull-out sofa bed to offer guests. Don’t apologize for this — just make it work well. It will need to serve as both Command Central for your holiday season and as a bedroom for your out-of-towners.

• Declutter, declutter, declutter. Now’s a great time to go through this central room and box up your unused and unloved books, magazines, and movies.

• Surfaces are at a premium when you’ve got guests with their own luggage. Box up any tchotchkies that don’t really serve a purpose. Leave room for a little festive decor, but that’s it. You might find, at the end of the holidays, that you like your newfound less-is-more look.

• Check your sofa bed. Is it clean? Make sure now that it’s sleep-able, before you say ‘yes’ to your guests.

• Prepare the little things that make it easier to keep this central spot cozy for your visitors — make extra coasters (I like these and these), or keep a stack of blankets in the corner.

The Bathroom

This will be one of the most heavily-trodden spots in your home while you have guests. A little goes a long way to make this spot more useful.

Photo from Apartment Therapy

• Make towels insanely easy to find. Ever stayed in a place and you feel squeamish having to look through cabinets to find what you need? Make it simple on your guests.

• Clean out drawers and cabinets, and leave empty shelves for upcoming guests. Take this time now to declutter and organize. As I mention in my book, you probably don’t need most of the stuff hiding under your bathroom counters.

• Before you throw out all your hotel sample leftovers, save a few of the best and assemble a little basket of oops-did-you-forget-this?-well-here-you-go items.

• Make toilet paper easy to find, too. That’s never fun to hunt for, especially in someone else’s house.

• If your kids’ bathroom will double as the guests’, declutter the bath toys, so that there’s ledge room in the tub.  Just a few are fine.

The Guest Bedroom

If you’re blessed to have a bedroom dedicated solely to occupy guests, then you’ve got more room than us right now. But when we lived overseas, our kids’ playroom doubled as a guest bedroom, and we loved having tons of visitors sleep in that room (we had almost 30 guests in 2008!).

Photo by Sherry & John of Young House Love

Here are some things that take a guest room from good to great:

• Provide an empty spot to open and store suitcases and bags. Declutter your surfaces.

• Neatly pile extra blankets, pillows, and towels in an easy-to-spot location.

• Give your guests something to read before falling asleep. Short stories and magazines are great, as are easy-to-read, practical books.

• Lighting. Give your guests a light they can turn off from the bed. If you’ve got the room, set this on a nightstand (also good for the reading material).  I find it challenging to go without these things in a guest room.

The Rest of the House

There are a few more spots in the house you could prepare now for house guests.

Photo by Heidi of Mt. Hope Chronicles

• If extra kids will be bunking with your own, start now on those rooms. Make a goal of packing up half their toys so that room cleaning is easier. You can always switch out the toys after the holidays are over. Or, if the toys aren’t missed, you can donate them to your neighborhood thrift store.

• Toss out expired food staples in your pantry, and make room for food your guests might want to bring.

• Make basic ingredients easy to find. Holiday guests enjoy helping you cook, and it’s easier when they don’t have to go on a man hunt to find the flour.  You’ll appreciate it after the holidays, too.

• Buy a few basics your guests might appreciate it, even if you don’t use them normally. My husband and I both drink our coffee black and prefer unsweet tea, so we always forget to have sugar and creamer around for company.  If you don’t drink coffee, buy a small bag to keep around for guests.

• Pack up any clothes you’re not wearing this season, so that you can provide closet space for your guest’s clothing. Or, get rid of any clothes you’re not wearing at all and add them to the thrift store pile (my book has a good list of the essential clothing pieces for both men and women).

It might feel early to do all this house prep for the holidays, but you’ll be thanking yourself when you don’t have to run around doing this right before you head to the airport and pick your guests up.

Next month, I’ll talk more about how to mentally and emotionally prepare for an influx of visitors in your home.

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Are you expecting guests? Where will they sleep? What’s one area in your house you could tackle this week to make it more inviting for your upcoming visitors?

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