Accepting Imperfection: A Guide to Homemaking in a Less-Than-Perfect House

Every house can be made a home. After all, home is where the heart is. In this world where we see so many picture perfect home pictures, it can be hard to be satisfied with our humble homes. My encouragement to you today is to joyfully make your house a home.

(You can hear about it on YouTube here.)

The Social Media lie.

I am not one to use social media a lot. (I have no idea how Instagram even works!) But even so there are so many things I see that are picture perfect. So many homes seem to be color coordinated, finished, and painted. Even some pictures I see with “messes” to supposedly show “real mom life” have tidy messes. I mean, they don’t look at all like the messes that happen at my house!

The problem is we used to just see our neighbors houses (and if I did that here on my street, I sure would find that I would prefer my house in many cases.) Now we get peeks into houses all over the world. The sneak peeks are not of the whole house either. I am not saying everyone should post all their real life messes, and not necessarily their perfect pictures either. But we need to remember what is reality. Often the mess is behind the camera.

I am certainly not saying that order is not attainable, or that we shouldn’t strive to improve our physical houses. But as a mom of four young children, and with a small house that is unfinished, I need to remind myself often of what is reality.

Love Your Home.

Maybe your home is smaller (or bigger) than you wish. Maybe it is old (or new and unfinished). It can be home even so. It was hard to learn to love my home when we moved in nearly five years ago. Admittedly, it was a very stressful time as our house was much less finished then now (large pieces of black plastic for the inside walls, a rough cement floor etc.), and our second daughter was born just a week after the move. But with time and a few improvements, I am learning that it really is a place I love to come home to.

We are not entitled to having the home of our dreams. Just think a little bit of all the people around the world that live in mud huts, or slums. We can be thankful for what we have, and come to love this place.

Children don’t notice.

My sister in law keeps reminding me that at these ages my children don’t care about how the house is. My oldest is six. If I think back to when I was that age, we also lived in a tiny house. It didn’t bother me then, so why should I think it bothers my children now. What they need most is a happy home atmosphere.

Simple ways to make it “Home” on a budget.

I have heard it said that as homemakers, we are doing the kind of work God did in creation. We work hard at making order out of disorder, and bringing beauty into the ugly. It requires so much from us to keep things from going to chaos. We are not like God to get it done with a simple command, but we are doing a worthy job.

Sometimes we don’t have it in our budget to be able to make our homes the picture perfect place we wish it could be. There are simple ways to add touches of home to our houses.

Use Nature.

The Creator also loves beauty, and He created it around us to use for free! If you wish you could add more to your home, try adding what God has already provided. Sometimes a bouquet of flowers adds the perfect touch.

Look around for ways to improve it.

Occasionally I will look around and think of what I could improve. Can something that is sitting out go behind a closed door? Could I maybe switch out a picture frame or a wall hanging, or rearrange something? Maybe you can’t do all you wish, but you can add touches of beauty to your home with what you already have.

Work on improving your housekeeping.

A place that is neat and clean feels more like home to me. I am still getting better at this. It is something that can be done in any home. Even a mud hut with a dirt floor can be swept.

In small houses like mine, as soon as a couple toys are pulled out, it all looks like a mess. But I have found a blessing in that too. As soon as we decide to tidy up (which we do a couple times a day), in a few minutes it can be back in order.

We are not home yet.

I still sometimes tend to get frustrated at the unfinished house that is my home. I dream of more space. All of this is a good reminder that this isn’t my true home. I have a heavenly home that will be finished, and I won’t need to work to keep it clean!

It’s a comfort as the song says, “When my journey is over, I am going home… … the place I have been dreaming of so long…” So today if you struggle with your house and with wishing for your “dream home,” why don’t you dream about Home with me a bit?

When we go on a trip, it always feels good to come home. We are strangers and pilgrims on earth as the Bible says. It does us good to not get too comfortable here on earth. We are heading home!

Save it for later.

Accept your home.

I have been learning this in the last few years. Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home. Accept and enjoy your home, find simple ways to improve it, and remember that this isn’t our forever home.

If you want more encouragement in homemaking, The Virtuous Home has a list of homemaking blogs that you might enjoy.