So today's topic for Upbeat Authors is how to make your home more pleasing and less stressful. Since my home is my favorite place to be, I have some thoughts.
1) Fill it with pretty things. Okay, maybe not FILL it, but have pretty things around. I love Fiesta dishes and pillows and succulents, at the moment. The bright colors of the dishes, the hints of comfort from the pillows, watching the succulents grow...all those things make me so happy.
2) Enjoy every room. I told Fred when we moved in here 18 years ago that I never wanted to take it for granted. We had lived in an ugly rent house for 10 years, and when we moved to this house, we didn't have enough furniture to fill it (we do now, trust me!) I wanted to appreciate the openness and the brightness and the location of this house. So I have spots in each part of the house that I make a point of enjoying--my big chair, my screen door, my cutting table, my breakfast bar (where I'm writing this!)
3) If you can, hire out. Five years ago, I started having a lady come in every three weeks or so. I was busy writing and the house was falling behind, and I was stressing. Best. Investment. Ever. She comes every other week now, and I still have to do the fun stuff like litter, dishes, laundry, but she takes care of the floors and bathrooms and it is NICE to come home on those days to a clean house.
4) Have pets. I have more than my share, and would likely have EVEN more if Fred didn't rein me in. Yes, there's fur everywhere. Yes, I clean up more than my share of pee and barf. Yes, I've bought the vet a vacation home (j/k. I think). But each of my critters has its own personality, and are as entertaining as can be.
How do you keep your home more pleasing/less stressful?
1) Fill it with pretty things. Okay, maybe not FILL it, but have pretty things around. I love Fiesta dishes and pillows and succulents, at the moment. The bright colors of the dishes, the hints of comfort from the pillows, watching the succulents grow...all those things make me so happy.
2) Enjoy every room. I told Fred when we moved in here 18 years ago that I never wanted to take it for granted. We had lived in an ugly rent house for 10 years, and when we moved to this house, we didn't have enough furniture to fill it (we do now, trust me!) I wanted to appreciate the openness and the brightness and the location of this house. So I have spots in each part of the house that I make a point of enjoying--my big chair, my screen door, my cutting table, my breakfast bar (where I'm writing this!)
3) If you can, hire out. Five years ago, I started having a lady come in every three weeks or so. I was busy writing and the house was falling behind, and I was stressing. Best. Investment. Ever. She comes every other week now, and I still have to do the fun stuff like litter, dishes, laundry, but she takes care of the floors and bathrooms and it is NICE to come home on those days to a clean house.
4) Have pets. I have more than my share, and would likely have EVEN more if Fred didn't rein me in. Yes, there's fur everywhere. Yes, I clean up more than my share of pee and barf. Yes, I've bought the vet a vacation home (j/k. I think). But each of my critters has its own personality, and are as entertaining as can be.
How do you keep your home more pleasing/less stressful?
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