Welcome to the Making Your Home Sing Monday meme! Every day you are doing something to make your house into a home for yourself and your family (if you have one). My point with each Monday post is, what are you doing or going to do today to make your home sing?It can be an attitude or an action. Motivation, our attitude, baking, encouraging our husband or children (if we have either one), organization, cleaning, saving money....the opportunities are endless.Last week my husband repaired the cabinet under our kitchen sink. The wood had some water damage so he had to replace it. Prior to it being repaired I had moved several things out from under there and stored them elsewhere.
A couple of days ago my husband added four long shelves to the back of my upstairs pantry. This enabled me to add more storage to our kitchen, and will save me running downstairs when I need an extra can of tomato sauce for a recipe, etc. I can now store more food upstairs.
But it also got me to thinking about what I wanted to store in my kitchen and what I
already have stored in there.
We have amassed a nice collection of water bottles. But do we need every single one of them? How many "fun" coffee mugs do we really need?
What are the chances that we are going to entertain 30-40 people on the spur of the moment who all desperately want coffee? And if that
did happen, are we really going to use mugs? Wouldn't we use disposable cups instead? (Answer: oh yes, most definitely)
How often do I use those crystal candy dishes that I have? (I only have two of them but do you know that I only use them once a year,
if that?) Why am I keeping them if I really don't use them. Because" someday" I might need them.
I think I'm keeping them for a dream. Because someday I may want to use them to
impress somebody. Or maybe offer someone a pickle or olive or piece of candy that did not look like it just came out of a bag or jar. Even though everyone knows it did.
I have four little glasses (the rest broke) to serve orange juice in the morning when we have one of those awesome family breakfasts where the table is nicely decorated and I am humming and singing as I make breakfast, wearing my adorable little apron. The sun is shining and the birds are singing and it's just like you see on t.v.
Except that we never do that because no one but me likes to eat breakfast, and I don't think I've used those little glasses in years and I am not a morning person anyway. So why do I still have them (the glasses, not the family)? Because "someday" I might need them.
I have my husband's grandmother's beautiful candy dish hiding in a cupboard because we never use candy dishes and I'm afraid it will break anyway. So instead I hide it away where we can't enjoy it.
I have way to many dishtowels and not enough room for them. I have too much tupperware and even though I have enough room to store it all, do I really need them all? It's always annoying to find the right size and lid of the ones that I use the most, as I'm picking around the ones that I rarely, if ever, use. But "someday" I might need them.
I have three crystal or glass serving bowls of different sizes that I have in my kitchen. I think I've only used one of them in the last several years. But they're still there "in case" I want them. I am not a "crystal" person, I guess. I reach for my Pyrex or stoneware. But I keep them because "someday" I might need them.
We keep a lot of things because "someday" we might need or want them. But some things are inexpensive and can be easily replaced if we find a use for them later. Some things can be borrowed. And some things we just don't like and are never going to use. Period.
Have you ever heard the suggestion that things should
earn their way into your kitchen? Some people suggest that you take your cookware, mixing bowls, spoons, dishes, pans, etc. and put them into a box and put it somewhere. Then, when you need to use something you take it out of the box and put it back in the kitchen (after using it). Whatever is left in the box after 30 days or so doesn't deserve to be in the kitchen and should be given away or stored away (such as a turkey platter).
Some things are saved because we're hoping that maybe "someday" we'll become more like Martha Stewart and actually carve a water melon into a shark, or make a souffle, or make an eight course meal complete with handmade place cards.
Nothing wrong with holding onto some things and dreaming, but let's
know ourselves. Do we really want to
do that? If we do, then let's do it, people! If we don't, then let's let it go and move on to the things that we really DO want to do.
As I get older and the kids move out and I have grandkids someday, I don't see myself getting fussier about the details. I see myself wanting more space and room and ease and simplifying.
What are
you saving for "someday?" Take out the item and look at it. Is it
you? What use are you saving it for? Maybe you won't ever be the gourmet cook that your mom was, but isn't that o.k? Maybe you will never can your own applesauce, but isn't that o.k? And if it's not, and you're saving the canning supplies for "someday," then
can that applesauce, girl and make your home sing!
So this week I plan on making my home sing by making some decisions as to what I want to store on those shelves. I also want to rethink my kitchen cupboards and drawers and simplify a bit more. I want to "know myself" and realistically assess some of the things I'm keeping for "someday."
Day of the week?: Don't remember
Sunday
Tuesday
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