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I have been contemplating a lot about my life and our home lately. How I spend my time. How I spend our money.

And I have learned things about myself that I think were always a little unfocused to me. Things I believed about myself that I now know to not be true. And things I have let go of, beliefs I have countered and truths I have embraced.

The biggest things I have begun to appreciate and hold dear are:

1. I value my time more than things.
2. I have no desire to compare or compete with others

For item #1, I recently made the decision to cut back on my work hours. I was trying to juggle subcontracting work with full on freelancing and it just wasn’t working for me. I was overworked, overtired and overwrought. So after a good discussion with my husband, we decided that I would stick to primarily subcontracting. It is less stressful work and I enjoy it more.

The minute I made that decision I felt lighter. I had more time. More time for the kids and more time to do things around the house. Less money but more time. And time is more valuable to me right now. This moment, this life, won’t last forever. I am very grateful for the opportunity to appreciate it.

Because I have more time now (yay!), I have been making a list of what I want to do around the house to finish up my projects, my organizing, my decorating, etc. And there is quite a list.

A few are actually going to be “redo”s. Things I did or chose based on what I had seen or read online. Things that looked pretty but maybe didn’t work for me. And I have made the decision to create a home that suits ME and my family regardless of whether is it picture perfect or pinterest worthy. I will always love to read and peruse home design and decor websites. I love it. But I don’t need or expect to have a home that is magazine worthy. And I don’t want that.

So I have changed my perspective. My views. And slowly begun to change our home.

The first thing I have begun to do is dig through the mementos, the awards, the souvenirs of a life well lived. And they are slowly being hung up next to the pretty. I want our house to tell a story. Our story. I want to celebrate our milestones, our achievements and our family.

So in my office, I started to hang my history:

And in his man cave (AKA the rec room) I have begun to hang his:

And even if these aren’t “pretty” pictures or fancy wall decor, they are ours. They are us. And I love them.

Next, I plan to start to change the things that I did or chose but don’t work for us. That don’t work in our house. First stop is this bathroom:

I painted it with stripes to try to add some interest. I LOVE striped bathrooms. Still do. But in my bathroom? It just didn’t work. We actually have a lot of shades of tans/creams and wood in that room and adding more to the mix made the room feel WAY too busy.

So I have plans to simplify the look, make it more functional and organized for us.

And that is the key.

“For us.”

Because really, who else is your home for?

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Posted by Janet under life, musings, our house