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  • Writer's pictureGrace

Dreams and Things

It's interesting to me, you know, how life comes in seasons. Some seasons for dreams, some seasons for rest, some seasons for adversity, and some seasons for enjoyment. I look back over the seasons I've lived in and each has been so good in its own way. I've learned lessons in all of them. I've had seasons where I had to really grow in learning contentment, I've had seasons where working towards a goal was the forefront priority and everything else had to line up with that. I've had seasons of adversity where almost every day felt like a fight and I learned so much about heart posture and character and to be thankful and joyous in the midst of it. I realized the other day that I have begun dreaming again and it's felt so long since I've let myself dream that it took me off guard at first. I have pushed dreams down for so long as we were simply in survival mode financially and it did little more than make me discontent. I had to train my mind to be focused on what was at hand and not think of improvements or things I would like to do/have. While I know it can be detrimental to allow our minds complete unguided thinking of temporal things, I believe dreaming is good for the soul. It has been awhile since I felt such surges of creativity and thoughts and plans. It is elating!


My mind swirls with ideas all day long and I think of all the things I could do. I think of wardrobe changes I'd like to make, projects here and there, ways to make my home more cozy and inviting, flower pots/gardens for next spring, organization ideas for my pantry and fridge, and on and on. Slowly, I plan and dream and research and make my lists - the waiting part is the hardest. But oh! how fun it is when I finally begin to purchase items and the picture in my mind starts coming to life! Taking small steps is the hardest for me. I would like to buy everything at once and see it all come together at the same time instead of adding things a little at a time. It's a balancing act between needs and things that would simply be nice to have or would make things look nicer. It's also balancing our multiple priorities right now and figuring out how much we want to allot to each one. I think, too, as women we like to nest and if a home is not our own, then how we organize and decorate are the things that make the space truly ours. I am sure that part of my desire to fix all the little nooks and crannies is an effort to feel grounded and nest and makes things feel a bit more secure after feeling so untethered there for a bit.


Back to dreams, I have so many! I want to experiment with Mixtiles and I think it would be so cute to have 3 in a row by each of the children's beds with pictures of them. But then the practical side of me wonders if it's a waste of money to buy mixtiles since you can't change out the pictures in them. I like them better for the children's rooms though since they don't have glass and seem a bit safer if they get knocked off the wall. I've always been terrible about printing and framing pictures and I have almost no pictures of people in my home. It is something that I've wanted to change for a long time now but has been low on the priorities of where money should go.


I'd like to get more seating for the living room, poofs for footrests, side tables for lamps and books.

We just purchased the children beds after them sleeping on the floor for over a year. We had planned on building them bed frames to fit their mattresses as they are not standard twin sizes. However, with the prices of lumber how they are and little extra time, we decided that if it hadn't gotten it done in over a year, we should just buy beds as it was probably not going to happen anytime soon. We will save the mattresses for camping and guests. They are so comfortable! We got this loft bed for our daughter and this bunk bed for our boys. That's a couple things I can check off my list!


She immediately made a “fort” under her bed.

I think organization is the next big thing I would love to tackle. I love pictures of fridge organization and pantry organization. I would definitely like to have baskets and organizers for those spaces. I would like some baskets as well for closet organization to make it visually more appealing. Why must baskets and organizers be so expensive?!


I love these rope shelves. I think I'd love to have one by my entry way window and have plants on. I also like this type of rope shelf as well.

Speaking of my entryway, I'd love to have a bench and mirror and plants by my front door. The entryway is so wide and tall. I am loving these round mirrors and think I would like to do something similar. But again, why must mirrors be so expensive?!


I would love to buy the children a Nugget couch for the basement area. There is nothing down there and they love to build forts and tumble down there. I think once winter comes and it's too cold to play outside, they will be burning a lot of energy off down there. I have wanted one for over 4 years but it's never been something I've seriously considered buying because of the cost. However, it might be something I start setting some money aside for now that I can.



I have had fun dreaming of all the things I could do to make things prettier or more functional. However, I have to keep myself in check and stay in reality. I have to pace myself and figure out what items will make the biggest difference with the least amount of money. These are fun problems to sort out and it's good to continue to grow in patience.


While it is fun to dream and "shop" and figure out my style and what I would like to purchase, it can also be something that is overwhelming and can easily make one discontent. I find it helpful to remember that I'm racing against no one and that decorating a home and making it lovely is a lifelong journey and process and there is no timeframe. It is the art of homemaking, the art of making things lovely that I want to cultivate, not the end goal. It is also helpful to remember that cleaning, caring, and maintaining my home and items are much more important and impactful to the feel of the home than any decor can be. Filing the paperwork, sweeping the floors, doing the dishes, cleaning out the fridge, maintaining order as best as I can, daily maintenance of the house, clean smelling laundry, folded clothes, vacuumed floors, made beds, fresh meals and baked goods - these are the things that have the most impact for a home. Not the decor, not the current trend, not the fancy organization tools. So I try to balance the art of caring for my home along with my dreams for improvements and enjoy my home just as it is rather than when it will be what I want. If we continually wait for our home to be what we envision, it never will be. Because the things in our home aren't what make it home. They help, but they are not the heart of the home. When we wait for this project to get done, this remodel to be tackled, this new room makeover, new decor, a new home, to move out of an apartment, to buy a house - we miss the point of creating a home. We are chasing a moving target that we can never fully reach. We waste valuable time waiting for a someday thing, while we miss the most important part of the homemaking journey every day. It's not the items we collect or the way we decorate. It's not the paint colors or the dream spaces. It's the caring for whatever we have, wherever we are.


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