Cara McDonough
Blogger at caramcduna.com | Mom of Three
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One of the things that often occurs when we have one of those utter rarities – a completely free weekend – is that my husband and I get very excited about improving our home, mostly concentrating on what seems to be the most popular theme in modern-day culture: decluttering.
And decluttering feels great, especially when you have kids who bring roughly 400 extremely special and important new belongings in with them every time they enter the house, like a barette one of their buddies clipped in their hair at school, even though we have discussed on numerous occasions the topic: “Please, I am begging you, do not share hair stuff at school.”
Or maybe it’s a weird little structure handcrafted from paper and decorative tape, and your son explains that it’s a present for you to open…that he made himself! So you go to open it but you are not opening it in the right way, and then you have ruined everythng. Everything.
Yes. Decluttering, and ridding your home of these once-crucial-now-forgotten items, is wonderful.
But this weekend, inspired by a few design sites I’d been exploring, I decided it would be fun to take on a project that would provide a more immediate and heightened sense of joy than the dutiful act of decluttering. I had a little time to myself while J and the kids were outside and the baby was napping. So, intoxicated by the prospect of an hour alone in my home with nothing to do, I went into our kitchen to start on an idea I had.
We have an open, recessed pantry-type area between our kitchen and our dining room, where we’ve always kept food. I don’t mind the food being on display, exactly (although I have found myself hiding junk food in the back over the years, placing things like a five-year-old box of red quinoa at the front although it is a staple in our diet, hilarious). But pasta boxes and plastic bags of pretzels are most certainly not the most lovely things we own.
And because we live in a small space where every detail makes a difference, and because I’m a grownup, and grownups are allowed to occasionally be deeply affected by superficial things like sprucing up their homes, I decided, “Enough with this pantry being messy but useful. I want it to MAKE ME HAPPY.”
So I took all the food out and put it in the smaller cabinet by the stove.
Then I took all the plates and bowls, mugs, glasses and cookbooks I love the most and put them on the shelves in the pantry.
Then J came in and he thought it looked awesome, but that painting it might make it even better.
So I went out and bought bright turquoise paint, and he got to work.
The result: a once cluttered and stress-inducing space turned bright and joyful. Plus, it makes a lot more sense to keep the food in the cabinet that is actually IN the kitchen, adjacent to the stove.
Also, by displaying only the nice-looking and healthy items, like the fruit, we are way more likely to eat that stuff. Experts are always going on about this, and I never believe them. Like, “Oh, ok, so what you are saying is that if I want to eat all the leftover Easter candy, but there is an apple out in a bowl, I am more likely to eat the apple, which will fulfill my craving for sweets with its natural sugars?”
Well, actually, in that case, no, I am still going to find the candy buried in whatever cabinet or drawer. But still, hiding the less healthy options does work at least sometimes.
Should we have realized all this sooner? Eight years ago when we moved in, perhaps? Sure. There are so many home projects that fit that category, like how we probably should have fenced in the backyard right away, or added a screen to the sliding glass door to give us extra breeze during the height of summer, minus the threat of mosquitoes.
But thanks to our procrastination, we now have a whole bunch of home improvement projects to look forward to, for instance, fixing the bathroom doorknob so that it doesn’t fall off every couple of months, which is, crazy enough, something we’ve come to accept as part of normal life. And which might be why I find it so soothing to be in public bathroom stalls that lock, which is decidedly a not-totally-normal feeling.
This post was originally posted at caramcduna.com on 4/8/16.
About Cara McDonough
Cara McDonough writes for several websites, newspapers and magazines about parenting, women’s issues and other subjects, and blogs about life in general at caramcduna.com. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut with her husband, three children and two dogs. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram.
26 Comments on “I Cannot Believe I’m Writing This (A Post About Home Improvement)”
Sometimes parting with stuff can be difficult but it makes things easier when trying to start newer items
I love doing home improvement
It especially feels good when it’s done and you get to enjoy the finished product, doesn’t it?! :)
I love all your great ideas. De cluttering is always so hard for me so thanks for sharing this!
It’s hard for most of us, Rhonda! LOL. Glad you liked the post. Thanks for the comment.
I have been decluttering and Spring cleaning all week. It will be great to be done! As for home improvements, I don’t think I will ever be done. New projects keep popping up! Love the pantry! It looks great.
Yes, the project never seem to end! Good luck! LOL
We are in the middle of 2 different home improvement projects and it is so stressful!
Oh gosh! It can definitely be stressful. Hopefully you’re able to have so fun with it too though!
It turned out really great! I’ve never really thought to do that…paint the inside of a space only a different color in order to make it stand out!
Yes, we thought it looked neat too! Glad you liked it! Thanks for the comment.
I love how the pantry turned out!! My next project is a coffee nook type thing and this would be perfect for that!
There’s always some little home improvement project that needs doing, huh? It’s amazing what a new coat of paint or a new storage solution can do for an room though.
I looove how you did yout pantry! Great idea – it’s beautiful. I can totally related to that 1 hour of time and being excited aboutthe possibilities of what you will do with it lol Rock on – you did a great job & I enjoyed your article.
Glad you liked it, Patricia! Thanks for the comment!
i’m in the process of getting rid of my stuff and it feels great. having less stuff is like a burden lifted from your shoulders
It sure is!
I’m a very organized person so I’m always decluttering stuff from the house. In fact, my husband thinks I’m a little too happy to get rid of stuff! I love all the items my girls bring home but it is just not physically possible to keep EVERYTHING!
Being able to get rid of stuff is a great skill to have, Lisa. Lots of us wish we were better at it! It’s so easy for our houses to get so cluttered. But like you say, it’s not possible to keep everything!
I love decluttering! And I love your new pantry/space! I wish I had the space available in my kitchen for the same area!
Too funny. We took the top cupboard doors off in our kitchen. Scary!! This of course required us to eliminate 1/2 of the items in those cupboards. Project has yet to be completed, but wow, I haven’t missed a thing. I must continue to declutter!
Awesome, Kelly! Good luck finishing it! Hope this has inspired you to power through the rest!
Decluttering is always fun and I love to try something new in my home. :) I love the turquoise! I’m a huge colour fan. :)
Time to go buy some new paint maybe? LOL :)
I’m impressed. I really like the turquoise color. I am in the process of decluttering one room at a time.
Sounds like a familiar process, Pam! LOL!