Photo by MaureenOlder
Would that the above were my house, but it is not. I do not yet own my dream house out in the woodlands. But it is my house that I've been thinking about more and more these days. For those of you that know me, you know that I do not yet have a job. It is a sad state of affairs really, as I am a good hard working person that really does enjoy doing a hard days labor. Thankfully my connections with my community, CAYA, and priestessing keep me from going entirely insane. But there are still many many hours that I really haven't the foggiest what to do with myself.
I will freely admit here and now that I never intended and still do not intend to be a housewife. Nothing against the profession, my mother makes a wonderful housewife, as does my not-in-law mother. I know many women who are happy contented and thriving. Not my cup of tea, I love cooking but I hate cleaning and my organization skills when it comes to anything other than office items is set at 0. Yet here I am, at home. Not a wife per say, but being supported by a wonderful hard working noble man. And with the not being able to add to the household with monetary means, I find myself in the position that many unemployed partners do, feeling a bit useless.
So how to change this? I have tried to just grit my teeth bugger down and force myself to clean and tidy anyways. It works for a while but I just don't value the work so it's proves difficult. I find myself sleeping in later and later, leaving the cleaning off till the last minute and other not good signals that I am just not engaged. Having people over while I clean helps to take the mind off the task, but it is hardly practical to expect friends to come over every time I need to do dishes.
An idea hit me while I was perusing my blog reader this morning. I don't read a lot of blogs. A few select pagan blogs such as The Forest of Witch Grove, The Wild Hunt, all my CAYA folk's blogs, then the trend changed to sewing and craft blogs, and then it changes further still to food/craft/home blogs. The latter being what takes up most my blog reader. Stuff like The Pioneer Woman ( I LOVE her), Simple Mom, The Nester, Pretty Handy Girl, the list goes on. All these blogs are really tips, insights, DIY, for housewives in varying degrees and manners. What the hell does that say about me? It tells me that I do have SOME interest in it. It's all in the angle.
See Pretty Handy Girl, and the Nester are amazing ladies that have amazing houses that they've crafted and decorated all on their own. I mean really their houses are beautiful and the projects they come up with are clever and useful. I would love to have a home that was all decorated and organized, I really really would. But I always felt like you had to own your own home to do it. And for a lot of their projects you would. I mean building built in storage in a rental just isn't practical, neither is painting every room, or redoing the floor and carpet. But surely there has to be a way to make even a rental be a statement home.
My house currently is still in a state of almost unpacked. A few boxes there, nothing really on the walls. What if I were to incorporate redesigning the rooms into the whole cleaning routine? Maybe making everything just the way I'd always dreamed of it would make me less resentful to cleaning it? Maybe? It's worth a try right? Tackling things as little projects seems more my style rather than the weight of clean the whole house.
So I'm starting today. I'm going to clean off my dinning room table and evaluate a better way to use the space. I'm going decide what I want in the kitchen and I'm going to make every room in my house a sanctuary. It will be done my way, rich in color and texture, old fashioned in design, and eclectic in purpose lol.
And to help motivate me to really do this, I'm going to document it here. Step by step, every little craft and every completed room. We will start in the Kitchen and Altar Nook, and move to the Living Room, then the Bathroom, and last the Bedroom and Laundry.
Alright let's start Project Sanctuary!
-Branwen
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