While there are probably many things that make up the ingredients of confidence in homemaking, here are two that you can easily do:
Make your living room or the room that is in view of the front door, presentable. If the rest of the house is in neglect, cleaning this one room can give you a lot of confidence and make you feel like doing more. The front room will be immediately seen by anyone who comes to see you. Whether it be someone delivering a package or a neighbor, the impression they leave with, is very important. It can depress them or give them a lift. A clean living room will give you a big boost of confidence, and bring on a feeling of contentment.
A logical way to do this is:
1. Remove all items that do not belong in the room: clothing items, toys, books and magazines left out, papers and pens, dishes, food, etc. and return them to their places. Instead of taking one item at a time to its place, collect everything in a laundry basket.
2. Straighten pictures, pillows, blankets and rugs.
3. Sweep and vacuume
4. wipe with a damp cloth all the dust from picture frames, table surfaces, lamps and tops of things, even books.
5. Add something bright and cheerful that gives you peace, to the room.
Having that one room sparkling clean and welcoming is is like getting a new lease on life.
In the Old House
by Childe Hassam American, 1859-1936
Pamper yourself by dressing up as if you were going to see someone important or go somewhere important. If you are a Christian, the Lord is ever present with you in your home, and your family is important enough to dress for. Those who may greet you at your door need to see you looking well dressed and happy. You will be amazed how dressing up and doing your hair will make you feel. It will change your attitude toward your housework, make you walk and act more dignified, and feel more elegant.
This can be accomplished by:
1. Getting up early enough to prepare yourself.
2. Taking a shower.
3.Dressing and taking some time with your hair and your appearance.
4. Having a cup of tea and making your list for the day, in the quiet before the rest of the household stirs.
Preparing yourself for the day is like getting ready to go on a vacation.
6 comments:
Hello,
Your words always so inspiring me.
Thank you
Sandra from France
Another lovely, encouraging post, Lydia!
I would love to have my front room be the first thing my guests see. The first thing mine see is the mud/laundry room. While it is mostly orderly it is full and gets a lot of dirt dragged into quickly. We have a barn, so the boots get pretty dirty. After that you are in the kitchen, which with 9 kids who are home schooled is a busy space. We do our best to clean after every meal, but there is always some meal in preparation on the counters(either bread or cheese making etc) and books all over the dining table(ours is in the kitchen).I have folks picking up milk and eggs during the week and always cringe when they come on a day that the kitchen looks chaos, but they are always gracious and compliment us on the good smells coming from the kitchen.
Thank you for your encouraging posts.
Kindly,
Natalie
Lady Lydia,Thank-you for this reminder. We need this especially with the holidays upon us.
Linda
Lady Lydia,
Wonderful post !! As always inspiring and uplifting and full of wisdom.
Thank you
Great post!!! I have a proble similar to Natalie's. My home (inherited from a parent) has an open floor plan. If you come to either the front OR the back door you can see the entire kitchen area! The front door opens into the living/dining area with the kitchen as an L-shape. The backdoor opens into the dining area with a full view of the kitchen. I cannot begin to describe how challenging it is to keep this space 'presentable' with all the cooking I do. I clean as I go, utilize the dishwasher, etc but I still always feel my kitchen is a distraction from the rest of that area (which is beautiful!). I've painted cabinets, hung a lovely valance, tried to minimize countertop clutter, replaced the faucet to make it more visually appealing. But it is hard...I don't think a tiny kitchen which gets LOTS of use is the ideal thing to see when you walk into a home. I have brainstormed ways to try to close it off!!! Even a wall is impossible because the kitchen is so tiny! I have considered some kind of large folding door system.
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