Back to School with MSID- Week 2
Welcome back to Week 2 of Back to School with MSID where we will be spending the next four weeks focusing on you loving your home again in 30 days.
In week 1, we talked about being intentional with what you keep in your home.
Ideally you want to surround yourself with items that check the boxes of being beautiful and functional. If you missed week 1, you can check that out here.
This week we are going to dive in and talk about the importance of routines and rituals and how they can help us love our home. I talked a bit about routines and rituals in July’s blog series. You can check that out here.
Last week we purged, cleaned and organized. I hope this has enabled you to look at your home with fresh eyes. To keep the momentum going, this week I want us to focus on establishing some routines. I strongly believe by establishing some routines and rituals within our homes, it will help us feel more centered, more connected with our home.
I firmly believe that every single home out there can and should be beautiful.
You just need to get motivated to improve your home. In the midst of our crazy busy lives, I believe to the very core of my being that our homes should be our happy place. Our home should be the one place we would rather be than anywhere else. Why? Because it is where we start and end our crazy busy days.
Just before summer, I wrote about finding the motivation to improve our homes and this month, I want to take it one step further and show you how. I believe anybody can love where they live if they really want to, and one way to really love where you live is to spend some time doing things that bring you comfort and joy in it. I must confess, I am a homebody and so are both my kids and and I think that’s because I really try to make the mood in my home special. My kids have fond memories of routines and rituals that I did with them when they were very little. It’s not always about those big moments, special occasions or holidays but rather those smaller everyday moments that we often reflect upon with a sense of contentment.
What do you do to welcome in the evening, or morning?
How do you differentiate your work from your home (especially if you work from home like I do). Do you open all the window coverings, light a candle or turn on your diffuser, turn on music? Sunday mornings, I love to light a candle or turn on my diffuser and tidy and clean the house while my husband cooks the family brunch. When my husband is home, there is always music playing from the kitchen. It’s those rituals that allow you to elevate normal time or activities into something that brings happiness and comfort.
You might be thinking but you’re just cleaning or your husband is just cooking breakfast….may seem pretty mundane right? But, its the opening of the window blinds and the windows themselves if it’s summer, something refreshing diffusing, soft beats coming from the kitchen and the sound of feet on the stairs just as my husband is finalizing brunch that makes Sunday mornings sacred for us.
Another ritual for our family is Friday night movie and pizza night.
We have been doing this for a few years now and in recent months with two teenagers we have thoroughly enjoyed watching old 1980’s-1990’s action movies with them over homemade pizza. I love gathering in our living room on Friday night and hanging out with the kids and pets. Fun fact- our cat Tom loved all the Mission Impossible movies. I don’t think of our Friday nights as tradition as that is something that happens on a more annual basis but rather rituals are those things that happen frequently and can take an ordinary event and make it extraordinary!
How do you create a home to support those rituals?
Here’s a few things I do at home to help those routines become rituals that bring us comfort and joy.
I have my diffuser and a candle sitting out on my kitchen counter. This means I won’t forget about them and ensure I will use them daily. This also goes back to week 1 where we discussed using items that are beautiful and functional.
I love to read at night before lights out so I have a basket by the bed with my reader, any books I want to read along with a reading light and my reading glasses.
For Friday night move nights, I have a basket by our sofa filled with throw blankets so it makes it easy to get extra snuggly. I also make sure to have all ingredients on hand for home made pizza night. I love this time in our kitchen after a long work week with all four of us hanging out making pizzas.
I’m not a morning person but I do wake up early so I can have a slow start. For me that is a cup of tea in my favorite mug and a few minutes reading a book while I enjoy my tea before jumping in to my work day.
I love to escape to our bathroom on Sunday evenings for a quiet bath. It helps to have all the essentials ready- bath salts, essential oils, favorite loofah and a small table close by for a book or tablet ( if I’m binge watching a series).
We also try to spend time outside at least one evening a week. My kids love to sit around the fire and make smores. By our back door, I have our smores kit and sticks at the ready along with some cozy blankets for those impromptu evenings around the fire. Our fire-pit area was one of our first outdoor projects this summer.
Rituals and routines are about care; self care and home care.
It’s about creating meaningful moments out of the most mundane of activities. It’s about setting aside the time and something to look forward to. So tell me, what routines are you looking forward to practicing to love your home again?
xo,
