Let the home tour begin!
Because I practically live within the small confines of my kitchen (I cannot imagine how hungry these boys will be as teenagers!), I’ve noticed that I sometimes forget what it actually looks like. In my mind, this is how I THINK my kitchen looks:
And this is how it REALLY looks…
I know—you are trying to stifle your jealousy!
These two kitchens are about the same size, and I know I could fill both to the brim with counter-to-counter pizza creation, floor-hogging magnetic letters, and messy kid art projects. So I choose in my mind to ignore the fact that several of the drawers will fall out altogether if you pull them too far, half the cabinets are missing their pulls, and all of them are lined with terrible ’70s paper. Instead I stay grateful for new appliances and repeat this mantra in my mind: “Anything is worth free rent.” (To see why our rent is free, click here.)
I have become so accustomed to those stained yellow counters and terrible laminate cabinets that the last time we had some new friends (Ryan’s co-workers) over for a meal, I actually forgot to excuse the kitchen, like I used to. And I’ve decided to stop, permanently.
This kitchen—for a design lover like me—may be a sacrifice, but why apologize for one of the areas of our home that I love the most?
I love plopping both boys on the counter, on either side of the Kitchen Aid mixer, and making cookies when we’re just plain bored one afternoon. I love my never-ending quest to get Ryan to react with his signature “THIS IS GOOD” when I make something he likes. There’s just too much to like about this space to resent the very dated design. 🙂
Do you apologize for an area of your home?
More snippets of my home will be coming, so check back soon. Thanks for reading—you guys are the best!
My flooring is in desparate need of being replaced… both tile and carpet need to GO! But.. Talia got braces. And Tom switched jobs. And Landen needs dental/ortho work too. And Tom needs a root canal. And and and! So I just keep cleaning it (and try not to apologize if I see someone look at it!). 🙂
You're so cute. If it helps, I have never once given it a second glance! The feeling of your home far outshines the state of the floors! 🙂
I almost always apologize for my kitchen too! If it was my house, it would have been gutted 2 years ago. Yuck! For what it's worth though, I have never noticed that you have yellow countertops and laminate cabinets until I looked at the pictures. All I notice when I'm at your house is how CLEAN your kitchen always is!
Erica, I laughed out loud when I scrolled to the photo of your actual kitchen! Because mine is just as glamorous! Thank you for an honest evaluation of what really matters. I'm still laughing because I just finished writing a blog post for Time Out that touches on this same topic – apologizing for our hospitality flaws. If you catch it when I post it live, you can laugh along with me. Thank you for commenting on my blog as well – I'm so glad to have found you! Love your posts. Blessings to you and your family this week.
If you think that, you should see it right now! haha You're sweet, though!
Oh I am so relating to this post about your kitchen!!! My family lives in a rental for the time being and I feel the same way about it! I'm about to have friends over on Friday and have moved {in my heart} past apologizing for the lack of space but still am never sure where to put everyone!
SO glad you stopped by Dwell on Joy – you have a WONDERFUL blog and I LOVE your family motto! I have yet to post the words that hang by my front door but you've got me inspired to publish them!!!
I am fearing my hungry 3 year-old as a hungry teenager, too! What will we do?!?!?!?
makingitfeellikehome.blogspot.com