It’s ok if you don’t have your Dream House

Holy smokes long title, but there really is just no shorter way of saying it! It is ok if you don’t have your dream house and yes I believe that it makes you a better decorator! I think we all start off with a dream house in mind, at some point in our lives. Heck I still get visions what my dream house would look like. But I bet for most of us we aren’t living in those dream houses we imagined we’d have. And if you are, I am SO happy for you, and I bet there is still a little something you can get out of this post too! So why is it that not living in our dream homes makes us a better decorator?

Well for one, if we lived in those dream homes, with everything perfectly laid out like we have envisioned, we wouldn’t have to overcome the limitations we may face in our current living situation. Sometimes we miss the creative ingenuity that comes from not having our dream space, and everything not perfectly planned out. Learning to make the best of those obstacles we see as limitations.

When we bought our house eight years ago, it certainly was an answer to prayer. We had been searching off and on for two years, and nothing seemed to feel like the right fit. Even with our “potential” seeking eyes, nothing felt right, or even had potential for that matter! Then on a whim we found this updated farmhouse, recently flipped, in our first choice town. The colors were all wrong, but we didn’t mind painting. The size was just right for our growing family, sure I would love to have a sitting room and a bigger kitchen, but hey it’s our first house.

Even though it was an old house, it still lacked some of the details I had wanted, but those were mostly cosmetic, and we’ve been able to add over time, still adding!

But because our house didn’t have everything we wanted, and there are quirky parts to it we’ve had to work around. Insert – creative ingenuity.

Because we didn’t have our ultimate dream house, we worked with the house, setting up and tweaking along the way, listening to the subtle hints, and combining that with the needs of our family. If we had our dream house I don’t think I would have ever had a plate rack wall like this:

I shared here how the plate rack wall came about. It was primarily to disguise all the doors on that back wall, a creative solution for an awkward space in our kitchen, and it now serves as one of our main focal points.  Another area, also in our kitchen, that I wouldn’t have had in our dream house are my favorite open shelves. Yes I’m sure I would have had something, maybe, but again, our kitchen had everything all on one side of it, and then a big open space with big windows, and a lot of doors, and no room for furniture.

When we choose to view our obstacles in our homes as potential for some creative space, who knows what you can come up with. If we weren’t forced to creatively think of new ways or new ideas, we would never push ourselves to strive for more. We would be stuck in thinking this is the only way this room can be set up. But when your house throws you a curveball, there is always a chance to hit a home run. (Side note : my hubby would be thrilled at the fact that I incorporated baseball into the blog, just saying!)

What are some obstacles you have? Do you have a small living room? Or maybe a funky floor plan? Do you rent and feel limited by what you think you can do? All spaces have potential, but are you looking at it as limitations in your decorating, when really we just need some creative ingenuity thrown in the mix. It can be frustrating at times, friend I have been there. You may want to give up, but I encourage you to press in, you may surprise yourself with the solutions you come up with!

I love this quote by: Henri Matisse “Much of the beauty that arises in art comes from the struggle an artist wages with his limited medium”