This weekend I experienced one of those "I'm gonna go psycho on somebody" feelings. Have you ever looked at a room in your home and thought you were going to pull your hair out for whatever reason? Mine was due to piles of junk and messiness throughout the entire house.
I am not an extreme clean freak, but I do like to have some order in my home (Matt probably just rolled his eyes right now, if he is reading this). At times, I let it slide. I get busy. I get tired. I get lazy. I get crazy. (Most likely in that order too)
Well, now I'm all crazy. I am feeling the stress from motherhood, wife, maid, and cook.
Why am I sharing this with you?
I admire beautiful, well-kept homes I see on the internet or in magazines, but my home is nowhere close to it. That's why I drool and fantasize over those pictures. In fact, I am hoping and wishing that this mess is actually "normal" for any woman in my situation. Just lie to me and tell me I am normal.
Let's take a look at the stuff that was literally driving me crazy over the weekend.
Hold on. I just need to scream for a moment.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Warning! The pictures you are about to see *may* cause an anxiety attack.
My bedroom dresser topped with construction paper, a quad, DVDs, and papers.
A stapler, box of colored pencils, my bag hanging high so Owen cannot get into it, and one lampshade on top of my library cabinet.
Those are freaking yams on my chair. Yams.
Owen's bathroom. Dirty clothes, dirty rug, shampoo bottle, and one towel.
Oh.My.Goodness. Piled laundry, everything piling on the back of the toilet, and some junk on the sink. Oh, and one Mac charger.
This my nightstand. Not very relaxing. Coupons and magazines.
A very ugly, messy, mismatched, unrelaxing bed. Still working on that bedspread.
Told ya I was eating on a card table. I moved our dining table into the craft/sewing room.
Oh my goodness. More freaking yams. And a towel, and a trash bag, and other crap all on the buffet/dresser.
Remember that dresser I bought for a kitchen island? It is becoming a home to our utensils. Oh, and Matt's running hat.
Our dishwasher broke :( Lots of hand washing now.
Gross. I'm soooo tired, and it's only 8 am. Hence, I leave pans from breakfast alone. (and I don't want to hand wash)
Someone sign me up for Nate Berkaus puh-lease!!!! I need a makeover! (and an extra 8 hours a day)
Did you notice how I didn't attach my name or enlarge those boogers?
Can you see why I want to go all psycho on someone?
Sometimes, I just look at my son and I look at the mess, and I just watch him as my mind drifts off to la la land to escape. How does anyone keep up with this with more than one child??? How are all those cool home bloggers keeping their places so tidy and pretty?
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Update 4/12: I am happy to report that I have stayed on budget for everything! Mint.com has helped tremendously, and we have doubled our savings since Jan! GoMint me!
On a completely random side note, Matt and I are finally using a budget. I don't mind sharing with you our budget, but the real trick will be keeping it. You see, I'm a spender. I will buy, buy, buy. But I never spend more than we have. Though I was keeping ourselves out of debt, we weren't really saving much either. So that wasn't good. We decided this year to have a budget, and I have never really budgeted before. But to me, it ain't rocket science. It's just sticking to a budget that will be difficult. Since Christmas, I am proud to report that I have stayed within my grocery budget. Well, my home budget doesn't start until Feb 1st. And we only allotted 10% of our extra income (this is after all necessary bills are paid) to go to the home (think decorating, remodeling, appliances, and anything else pertaining to the home). I say "only" as if it were a bad thing, but really, it's quite generous. This is a BIG challenge for me because if you read my About page, you will know that a flaw of mine is I like expensive stuff, and sometimes, I just don't know how to be thrifty. I am hoping to gain a greater awareness for being thrifty.
How do you decorate your home on tight budget?
***********************************************************************************
Update: I got the laundry done, washed all the dishes, cleaned off the kitchen island and card table, picked up the crap out of Owen's bathroom, Matt made the bed, and I removed those freaking yams. The day is looking good. Looking good.
I am not an extreme clean freak, but I do like to have some order in my home (Matt probably just rolled his eyes right now, if he is reading this). At times, I let it slide. I get busy. I get tired. I get lazy. I get crazy. (Most likely in that order too)
Well, now I'm all crazy. I am feeling the stress from motherhood, wife, maid, and cook.
Why am I sharing this with you?
I admire beautiful, well-kept homes I see on the internet or in magazines, but my home is nowhere close to it. That's why I drool and fantasize over those pictures. In fact, I am hoping and wishing that this mess is actually "normal" for any woman in my situation. Just lie to me and tell me I am normal.
Let's take a look at the stuff that was literally driving me crazy over the weekend.
Hold on. I just need to scream for a moment.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Warning! The pictures you are about to see *may* cause an anxiety attack.
My bedroom dresser topped with construction paper, a quad, DVDs, and papers.
A stapler, box of colored pencils, my bag hanging high so Owen cannot get into it, and one lampshade on top of my library cabinet.
Those are freaking yams on my chair. Yams.
Owen's bathroom. Dirty clothes, dirty rug, shampoo bottle, and one towel.
Oh.My.Goodness. Piled laundry, everything piling on the back of the toilet, and some junk on the sink. Oh, and one Mac charger.
This my nightstand. Not very relaxing. Coupons and magazines.
A very ugly, messy, mismatched, unrelaxing bed. Still working on that bedspread.
Told ya I was eating on a card table. I moved our dining table into the craft/sewing room.
Oh my goodness. More freaking yams. And a towel, and a trash bag, and other crap all on the buffet/dresser.
Remember that dresser I bought for a kitchen island? It is becoming a home to our utensils. Oh, and Matt's running hat.
Our dishwasher broke :( Lots of hand washing now.
Gross. I'm soooo tired, and it's only 8 am. Hence, I leave pans from breakfast alone. (and I don't want to hand wash)
Someone sign me up for Nate Berkaus puh-lease!!!! I need a makeover! (and an extra 8 hours a day)
Did you notice how I didn't attach my name or enlarge those boogers?
Can you see why I want to go all psycho on someone?
Sometimes, I just look at my son and I look at the mess, and I just watch him as my mind drifts off to la la land to escape. How does anyone keep up with this with more than one child??? How are all those cool home bloggers keeping their places so tidy and pretty?
**********************************************************************************
Update 4/12: I am happy to report that I have stayed on budget for everything! Mint.com has helped tremendously, and we have doubled our savings since Jan! Go
On a completely random side note, Matt and I are finally using a budget. I don't mind sharing with you our budget, but the real trick will be keeping it. You see, I'm a spender. I will buy, buy, buy. But I never spend more than we have. Though I was keeping ourselves out of debt, we weren't really saving much either. So that wasn't good. We decided this year to have a budget, and I have never really budgeted before. But to me, it ain't rocket science. It's just sticking to a budget that will be difficult. Since Christmas, I am proud to report that I have stayed within my grocery budget. Well, my home budget doesn't start until Feb 1st. And we only allotted 10% of our extra income (this is after all necessary bills are paid) to go to the home (think decorating, remodeling, appliances, and anything else pertaining to the home). I say "only" as if it were a bad thing, but really, it's quite generous. This is a BIG challenge for me because if you read my About page, you will know that a flaw of mine is I like expensive stuff, and sometimes, I just don't know how to be thrifty. I am hoping to gain a greater awareness for being thrifty.
How do you decorate your home on tight budget?
***********************************************************************************
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Update: I got the laundry done, washed all the dishes, cleaned off the kitchen island and card table, picked up the crap out of Owen's bathroom, Matt made the bed, and I removed those freaking yams. The day is looking good. Looking good.
haha. I had that same feeling this weekend - but I took a nap... now my house is still a disaster.. I am pretty sure it's messier than your place! oh boy. I should clean... but laundry is washed...
ReplyDeleteI totally feel you. Sometimes I think, "how the hell did that get there???" when cleaning my house. Just breathe, drink a latte and take it one small chore at a time. It's the only way I can make it through without coming unhinged.
ReplyDeleteAs for the budget, any time you find something you want really bad, let me know what it is and maybe we can come up with a cheaper version for you!!! I'm the queen of cheap! I hate spending full price on anything!!
We use Mint.com for budgeting. It really helped us when we first started looking into budgeting.
Nancy! I am just laughing! You've seen my house, right? No, you are NOT normal! Your house is one of those magazine houses! All those photos we see do not show what is behind the camera!! My favorite blog post many years ago was of Posey Gets Cosy when I think Better Homes and Gardens (or some magazine) came over for a photo shoot. She showed on her blog all the stuff they removed from the room and stuck behind the photographer. It was a lot of crap! Everyone has a junk room, well except martha stewart, but that is just because she has the money and space (and magazine) to organize it all fancy smancy like (I cracked up at the January issue, there was a room just for was it paper? who does that?).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yes, we ought to keep it real. I personally think you are amazing. I think the more kids you add, the more you kind of turn a blind eye to.
Your house looks just like my house...except for the yams. I have to admit those puzzle me!
ReplyDeleteHa! This looks like my house on a GOOD day! Minus the yams of course:) I don't think anyone with a house full of kids ever has a perfect looking home, unless of course they have a live in maid. Heck if I had elf those I would be blogging every day!!
ReplyDeleteWait till you see mine. Mine is a total mess.
ReplyDeleteOkay, for a second there, I thought those yams on the chair were “something” else. XD Leaving those pans unwashed overnight would make the grease more difficult to remove. Better use a good brand of detergent cleaning those. By the way, Nancy, I think I’ve been to “la-la-land” more than a couple of times as well. Hihihi!
ReplyDeleteSkylar Cox