How I Started Loving My Home —Instead of Loathing It

One of the questions I ask my clients in their Pre-Work Assessment is, “What do you love most about your home?” A client admitted that she had never really thought about what she loved most about her home —she’d spent so much time focusing on the things she didn’t like.

I’m guilty of this too. I’ve spent enough time lamenting over the fact that we have old, brown carpet and too many brown pieces of furniture. 

But I’ve realized if I want to be happy inside my house, I have to look on the bright side of things.

That doesn’t mean I completely overlook and become blind to its flaws. But I’ll go crazy with discontentment if all I do is think about the things that need to be improved.

I spend more time at home than anywhere else. If I can’t be happy, content, and relaxed here, where else am I going to go to find that?

Here are the 4 mindset shifts I made to start loving my home instead of focusing on the flaws.

01. Great homes take time.

When we first moved into our house, we gave it a fresh coat of paint. Four months later, we had our kitchen remodeled.

But we had no plans to change out the white tile floors and carpet. It’s still something we haven’t gotten to. But it’s in what a friend of mine calls the “master plan.”

Making changes to our home slowly over time is more fun than having it all done at the beginning. (And it’s easier on our wallets!) It gives us things to dream about and smaller projects to DIY in the meantime.

02. DIY-ing means more pride in your home.

My grandfather built his home from a kit but he made plenty of his own modifications. The first time I took my husband to visit my grandparents in Niagara Falls, my Papa gave him a grand tour of the house.

I’d been going there all my life, so I’d never heard Papa talk about the house. He had such pride and tenderness in his voice as he described many of the small projects he’d done to make his home one-of-a-kind.

We’ve been walking in his footsteps to DIY some of our own projects. Matthew got into woodworking, which spurred a big fireplace remodel project (you can see it on Instagram and in my IG Stories Highlights).

That project showed us that we really can do it ourselves —and we’ve made our own mark on this house and we take pride in saying we did that.

03. Small changes make a big impact

Changing the master bathroom and closet lighting are small in the scheme of things, but they make a big impact.

But aside from installation projects, I’ve learned that switching around decor items can make a big impact as well.

Matthew complains that I change things too much. He isn’t a fan of change, but I get bored with the same stuff all the time!

I’ll move decor pieces to a different room to make things look different. I’ll change books, faux flowers, and talking pieces we’ve collected into different vignettes when I get bored. Then we have something new to look at and feel happy about.

I believe we should be making our homes beautiful, so add beauty wherever possible on the budget you have.

04. Sometimes a clean house is all you need

If I’m feeling discontent about my house because I don’t have the “right” furniture or I can’t figure out what to put on the walls, I’ll get to work getting it tidied up and clean.

Putting things back where they belong, vacuuming up crumbs, and wiping down counters does wonders to the way a house looks.

I have a full home management system that always has me ending the day with a clean and tidy house.

That’s enough to make me feel better about my house.

…

These mindset shifts have helped me to love my home instead of loathing it. And when I’m happy about it, the rest of the family is happy too.

After all, home is really about the people who live inside it.

Need help with mindset number 4? Download the free 10-Minute Tidy Checklist here to get your home cleaned up quickly.