Creating a Meaningful Home: Just a Girl and Her Blog

Today’s guest post for Creating a Meaningful Home blog series: Year 3 is Abby of Just a Girl and Her Blog. Welcome Abby…

Hi there, friends! I’m Abby from Just a Girl and Her Blog, and I am so excited that Jenna has asked me to participate in her “Creating a Meaningful Home” series this year! This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart, particularly because my journey to creating a meaningful home hasn’t always been a smooth one. You see, when it comes to creating a home we love, I tend to be the queen of excuses…

This is just our starter house; when we move into our dream home, then I’ll make it meaningful. I have little kids, so there’s no use wasting time or money on decorating right now. Our house is functional; it doesn’t need to be beautiful. I’m not a professional decorator, so I don’t know how to create a home that’s meaningful.

But, after telling myself excuse after excuse, what I realized– and what I still have to remind myself of often– is that creating a meaningful home isn’t the same as creating a picture perfect home.

Now as a type-A perfectionist, it took me a while to come to grips with that distinction. I would see all of these gorgeous home pictures all over Pinterest and get frustrated, thinking, “My house will never look like that!” And you know what I finally figured out? That’s a good thing. Because the people who own those Pinterest houses aren’t me. They don’t have my family. They don’t have my exact style. And they aren’t in the exact phase of life that I’m in right now. So while that home may be meaningful for them, I could copy the look exactly, but it wouldn’t be meaningful for me or for my family.

That realization hit me like a ton of bricks. It also brought a lot of freedom. I was no longer on a mission to create this Pinterest perfect house. I was on a mission to create the perfect home for my family where we are at this moment– with two wild little boys running around, in a house that’s not our “forever” home, which has fixtures and finishes that may not have been my first choice, with my less-than-professional-level decorating skills. A meaningful home is so much more than the furniture or fabrics or finishes. It’s the people who you create that home with that matter. And I love that.

And all of those excuses, those reasons I was seeing as negatives? It turns out that there’s a lot of good that comes out of them too.

Since our house is on the smaller side, our boys share a room, and they wouldn’t have it any other way. Not only are they brothers, they’re best friends.

 

Since we don’t have an unlimited budget, we make things ourselves, which not only makes things more meaningful but is incredibly satisfying as well!

 

{our DIY headboard, board and batten wall treatment, and lampshades, all part of our master bedroom}

We also give new life to old, worn out pieces, like this $40 Craigslist dresser-turned-TV stand…

…or this dresser that was part of my childhood bedroom set…

Those builder-grade finishes that aren’t our favorite? Paint can go a long way with those, too.

And my little home office/craft room may never appear in a magazine, but it is the perfect getaway for this girly girl in my house full of boys!

So what makes a meaningful home? We do. It’s far from perfect, but it’s perfect for us. {Although don’t tell my husband that I said that. I still have a long list of DIY projects I need his help with… 😉 } Someday my boys will grow up and I won’t be stepping on toys every time I turn around. Someday we’ll move into our forever home and I might even get to pick all of the fixtures and finishes I want. Someday I might be satisfied with my decorating skills. But that won’t make me any happier. What truly brings me joy is sharing home with the people I love most, and there is nothing more meaningful than that!

Thank you so much to Jenna for having me, and thank YOU for reading! I’d love to catch up with you over at Just a Girl and Her Blog or on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter! Have a wonderful day!

“It’s far from perfect, but it’s perfect for us.”  What truly makes a home meaningful is what is meaningful to you! Thank you so much to Abby for sharing such a beautiful home story.  Abby has such a fresh, clean, and crisp style.  It’s effortlessly chic and reflects what she loves most + is important to her and her family!

One of Abby’s recent favorite projects are the beautiful coastal shelves she designed for the Summer season.  Filled with beachy pieces + natural elements, these shelves are the perfect warm-weather vignette.

Head on over to Just a Girl and Her Blog, and give Abby a BIG HELLO!

Check out all the Bloggers that have contributed to this series on
Creating a Meaningful Home

Plus don’t miss out on all the previous Bloggers who contributed to this series in 2013 and 2014!