We’ve officially been in our home for a little over four months now. It feels like longer than that but I think that’s part of the overall feeling of 2020. Which is weird because we always want time to slow down and then when it feels like it has, we want it to go faster. Or maybe it’s because we all want to skip past this election insanity and enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas? Things that seem pleasant and bring us joy are obviously what we are all after right now.

And I am after that for my home. It’s been a great transition overall for many things like my hubby’s new job, kids finding friends and even with homeschooling. We are very thankful for how well things have gone, especially considering the craziness of things right now.

The biggest struggle for me personally has been loving our home. Which is crazy because we are in a brand new beautiful home. Trust me, I’ve shamed myself a lot over this and questioned myself about why I am struggling. There are a few reasons, one, yes we have a brand new home but we purchased a model home so we didn’t get to choose anything as it was already done. Second, we left behind a beautiful home that we worked hard on for nine years making it into what it is today. I lived with laminate counter tops that had seen better days for 7.5 years. I finally got my quartz counter tops I had dreamed of for a long time. We also used every room in that home and it functioned well for us. So many gatherings and parties there, tons of space for kids and adults. The two living rooms and eating areas on the main floor were awesome for hosting families. I really miss the spaces we had in our last home. Our new home has a different layout and I am still trying to figure out how we will use our home when hosting. I seriously miss having a dining room so much. Finally, somehow in my mind it’s easier to renovate or do things to a home that’s not brand new. It feels wasteful or ungrateful to tear out something that’s new and has nothing wrong with it.
So here’s how I am finding joy and learning to love my home without doing major projects or spending a ton of money on stuff. (Well except lamps because we owned one single lamp when we moved.)
Cozy it up. I’ve been turning on soft lamps at night, playing music and creating an environment in my home that makes me feel joy. Hang up photos of your family or pets. Bring out all the plants, candles, blankets, pillows, art or whatever it is that brings you joy. It doesn’t have to be something you purchase. Turn on the music, the fireplace and the lamps. Don’t save it for someday, use it now!

Create spaces that you bring you joy. A few weeks ago I rearranged our main living room chairs by moving them away from the windows. What a difference! Every morning I grab my coffee and head to my chair to enjoy the view of the pond. The chairs had their back to the pond before and the sofa faced the fireplace. So the view and windows I fell in love with when I first walked into this house I wasn’t even able to enjoy when I would sit down. Now, I sit here and read, blog, journal or just enjoy the view!

The same for our basement living space. Basement living spaces are not my favorite, honestly I want to just stay on the main floor. But our big sectional and TV are in the basement in this house. It gets a lot of natural light because of the walkout and windows so that’s huge for me. But I was still struggling to hang down there. So I rearranged the sectional, moved the electric fireplace and TV to a different wall and created a cozier space down there. Now, I don’t mind going down there at all. I’ve found myself hanging out there and enjoying it! It cost me nothing to move some stuff around and create a space we all enjoy.

Shake it up! Maybe you have a space like a dining room that you aren’t using more than once or twice a year? But now perhaps you or your spouse are working from home for an indefinite amount of time. Why not turn your dining room into a home office? Or maybe you need a room for your children to do school work in? Perhaps you don’t use that spare guest room like you thought you would? Just because a room is called a specific name doesn’t mean it has to be for that purpose. Our basement area functioned as a play room, office for my husband, studio space for our business and a spare bedroom for our daughter.

In our last home my husband’s office was in at least 3 different rooms in our home. We moved him around for the season of life and function of our home that worked best at the time. I personally love having a dining room but I know many people do not use it. Don’t let that square footage go to waste! Maybe that exercise space, office space, craft room or library you’ve always wanted can be yours with some rearranging of furniture. Facebook marketplace is a great spot to find deals on furniture.
Paint it! For a low cost fix, paint is a huge game changer. Having the walls painted in flat paint has been a struggle in here with a bunch of boys running around touching the walls. I’ve been chomping at the bit to start painting all the walls. Add in the fact that I wasn’t loving the wall color they had used, I knew it was time to change it.

Last month after trying out a few samples, I painted the main floor a different color and instantly loved it! For less than $100 I completely changed the feel of the main level to something more me. Instead of grimacing when I looked at the wall color, I was smiling. Painting the island and the front door did the same. There was nothing wrong with it before but it was my own little stamp on it. Simple, small cost projects that make me smile.
Dream about future projects. One of the first projects on our list was the fireplace. We knew when we purchased this house that it would need to go. It’s very basic and honestly, cheap. Even the realtor admitted that they wouldn’t be doing this fireplace design again in their model homes. After finishing our fireplace in our last home, we sure are missing it! For years I had dreamed of a planked ceiling with a wood beam and a feature fireplace. Now it’s time to dream again, for the fireplace in our new home!

So I’ve been busy pinning and saving fireplace ideas for months. I’m looking forward to enjoying the finished project this winter! If I could decide on some stone or brick maybe we could get this thing started.

It might take a few years before you can renovate or do the projects you want but having a vision and planning for it sometimes help you love your home more now. Knowing that you can change things eventually will help you figure out what you really do want for design and function in the space. Especially when you are investing a lot of time and money into a home project. So why not use this time to rearrange some furniture, maybe even change out the room if it’s not working for you and cozy up your spaces to bring joy into your home now?