Humble Hollow

Recently I was inspired by a reel on Instagram about the importance of normalizing normal houses. You know the ones. The houses where the wood cabinets are all original. The ones where the furniture doesn’t match, and there’s a permanent stain on the carpet from when you dropped tacos all over it. Maybe there’s a painting of a hobbit door because it was there when you moved in and you just haven’t gotten around to painting over it yet (true story). 

If you enjoy scrolling through social media or streaming fixer-upper shows, it seems like everyone is able to create their dream home at the snap of their fingers. They’re white. They’re shiny. They’re open-concept, and all of the furniture is brand new. They are undeniably…gorgeous. The only thing they often lack is character.

While these houses may be the ones you see on a regular basis, rest assured, they are not the norm. Most homes are a constant work in progress. 

If you can afford to build your dream home straight away, then power to you! That’s a major blessing. However, most people have to identify dream projects and save up for them bit by bit. Then, when they do have the money to proceed with their vision, the real work begins. Unless they can afford to hire someone, it takes a whole lot of elbow grease to fix up anything.

We’ve been slowly flipping our whole house ourselves, and every step comes with a dozen more that we weren’t expecting. Even once our whole house is flipped, it won’t look like the shows on TV. It’ll take years to replace all the mismatched furniture we’re still using that we got for low cost or free from friends and family when we moved into our first apartment.

Instead of constantly comparing your home to those that are out of reach, consider all of the blessings that you already have right in front of you. If this isn’t enough to make you happy in your home, then make active progress towards the house of your dreams. Build a vision board. Establish a bank account or piggy bank where you can place savings just for that project. Read reviews for items you’d like to purchase. Educate yourself on proper practices from professionals (my father-in-law is a contractor and is appalled by many of the DIY trends which look pretty now, but will fall apart in a year or two). 

It’s normal to have a normal house just as it’s normal to strive for something more. Finding that healthy balance between loving what you have and acknowledging what you want can be tricky, but it is the only way to experience long-term contentment.