Joys of Home

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hile I’m on a little break and suffering at the beach 🙂 I decided instead of leaving my blog all empty and alone, I’d invite a few blog friends over to share some of their wisdom and projects.  I’ve met SO many wonderful bloggers out there in the last 2 and 1/2 years and these ladies are just a sample of the talent and creativity that is out in the blogosphere.  So get ready to be inspired this week.  You’ll hardly miss me! 🙂

First up, welcome Joy, from Joys of Home, as she shares with us a little about her decorating philosophy, one that I adhere to myself.  Don’t wait until everything is just perfect to begin decorating your home and personalizing it for your family.

Get started now, it’s a journey and half the fun is in the process of that journey.  Welcome Joy….

Rhoda, I adore you and your blog! I truly appreciate this opportunity to do a guest post. Thank you!

What if you could have the HOUSE OF YOUR DREAMS in the home you’re living in.  How would it look?

Most of us have a list of things we’d like to do to improve our home. But, do you find yourself saying “If only…”

If only I had hardwood floors, then I would be happy with my home.

If only my appliances were new stainless steel, then I’d have my dream kitchen.

If only our furniture came from a high end furniture store instead of a thrift store and hand-me-downs, then I’d love to entertain.

If only my walls weren’t decorated with children’s hand prints and the floor with toys, then I could fill my home with beautiful things.

If only we had enough money to make home improvements, then. . .

The problem with the “If onlys” is that you choose to delay your happiness and miss out on JOY you could be having right now.  I think that every day we should do a little something to find the JOYS of our home. That’s my goal. Let me illustrate with photos of my own home.

Our main bathroom looks picture perfect. It’s not! The tile floor has cracks, the top drawer falls out if you pull it too far. The cabinets are low end wood laminate and the sinks have rust stains that cannot be removed.
I could have chosen to live with the “If only’s.” Instead, I painted the cabinets, replaced the hardware, and stocked the linen closet with fluffy white towels.

The flooring in our home was not pretty, at all. If I lived in “If only” land, I would not have torn out the ugly carpet and tile, painted the subflooring and personalized our stairs. Would I love to have beautiful hardwood? Of course! But look at the creative opportunities that I would have missed.

The kitchen has the same cheap cabinetry as the bathroom and the appliances are white. It had the ubiquitous U-shape of the 1970’s until we decided to tear it apart and make improvements on a budget of a thousand dollars. The “If only” attitude would have robbed us of wonderful memories of working together and of preparing our turkey on top of the washing machine because hubby was installing the sink on Thanksgiving morning.

Our beautiful fireplace is still not finished. It’s missing the surround on the firebox. No one notices because I painted the whole thing black and loaded it with pretty candles. Would I love to have a finished gas burning fireplace? YES, but I can enjoy it this way until our finances allow us to finish it.

With an “If only” attitude I would never have discovered the depth of my creativity. I would not have had the opportunity to help others design their homes, and I certainly would never have started to blog.

Don’t let the thief “If only” rob you from the JOYS of home that are at your finger tips. Please stop living with the “If onlys”and do what you can, with what you have, to find the JOY in your home.

Thank you, Joy!  If you’ve never visited Joy’s blog, go on over and take a look at all of her projects and you’ll be inspired too!