One of the things that makes me incredibly sad is when I hear people say, “Oh, we’re waiting until the kids are grown to have a nice home. For now, I just want cheap stuff that doesn’t make me cry when they break it.” First off, that’s SUCH a long time to not love your home. Your home is your haven. Your place to relax and rejuvenate. How can you do that when your home doesn’t make you happy?

A while back, I was flipping through the channels and came across a Cary Grant marathon just as Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House started. Funny thing is, seventy years after the movie was released (and the book it was based on was written), people are still making those same mistakes.

For such a little word, it’s got a ton of meaning…

That magical holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is one of my favorite times of the year. In our house, we put Christmas decorations up the day after Thanksgiving every year. (Mostly because I’m as excited as a kid about it.) 

By the time New Year’s Day rolls around, though, I’m just SO SICK of looking at it all. Everything feels cramped, cluttered, and overdone. I want it all put away. NOW. So, I pack everything up and spend about a week enjoying the clean emptiness left behind. The problem is—much like a new year’s resolution to go on a ridiculously strict diet—that feeling doesn’t last. What you really want is something fresh and new. 

So, what’s a girl to do when her home has a holiday hangover?

If you’ve never had to deal with the tragic quirks of a poorly planned house, you are one lucky woman. I’m guessing, though, that you’ve had at least one home with issues that make you wonder on a regular basis about the sanity of the person who came up with the house plans. And oh, lady, you’d better believe that I’ve seen some weird stuff over the years.

When you’re a busy woman, just the thought of adding one more project to your life can make you feel overwhelmed. Building a new home is no different. Sure, there may be parts of it that you’ll enjoy, but you also get a giant ball of dread in the pit of your stomach when you think about all of the planning, research, and decisions that need to be made. Your time is already carefully divided, so it makes you wonder—can you really fit one more thing on your plate? It’s not that you’re not capable. It’s that something, somewhere has got to give. But what? And where?

Remember when you were a kid and the Sears and JC Penney Christmas catalog would come in the mail? You couldn’t wait for that magical moment when you could grab a marker and circle all the toys you so desperately wanted for Christmas.

Think about it—if you were to lose everything in your home in a fire today, what would you need to start over? Everyone got out safe with a couple changes of clothes and a few pictures, but you have nothing else. Obviously, you’ll need new furniture, but think of all the little things you’ll need, too. Sheets, towels, a shower curtain, a mop and broom, trashcans, dishes, pots and pans, pantry staples—salt, pepper, flour, sugar, etc. Now, think about all of the little touches it takes to make a house a home.

What makes an otherwise perfectly sane woman—who has NEVER done any rappelling/rock climbing/etc.—suddenly decide she’s willing to rappel down the side of a 12-story building? For me, it was the chance to help a non-profit that is near and dear to my heart raise money to expand its reach.