A Healthy Perspective of an Imperfect Kitchen
It was over 7 years ago that we enjoyed a brand new kitchen at our old home that we lived in for 10 years. I remember the freshness of moving in, unpacking from the garage, having brand-new – and feeling on top of the world.
Then life became … reality.
The kitchen, that once was sparkling new, didn’t seem so new any more. The glitter of it all started to fade as I still had to do dishes and other messy work. Just when you think you have the kitchen clean, all the kids come home, food is left out, dishes are left in the sink. Reality meant stacks of “stuff” piled up on the counters, mail to be opened, reminders to be put onto the calendar. The kids make huge messes, the cupboards need wiping down because of the spaghetti sauce that ran over.
My busy life left my new kitchen looking not so pretty anymore. My happiness began to wane.
Those of you who have followed my blog know that we remodeled our kitchen in our present home 2 years ago. It was a long process to get it done, doing much of the work ourselves, working with a tight budget. We had to make decisions to cut things that we wanted, to keep in things that were important to us, to make it a place of comfort, rest, healing, and satisfaction to many bodies who would be congregating there in the years to come. And sure enough, we’ve had many entertaining moments in the last 2 years. More than I can count!
The taste of “newness” and “freshness,” and thinking life will be happier when my new kitchen is done … never really took place, partly because using “if” and “when” thinking never works.
It’s a robber of our time and thought process to “go there” with that kind of thinking.
I want to remember the lesson I learned with my old kitchen. I was just as happy then as I am now. My happiness didn’t lie in perfect or new. Because as perfect and new wears off, and becomes old rather quickly, life just finds its way of settling in again.
It’s then that I’m reminded that I must keep my priorities straight.
As the newness has already faded, I quickly stop and remind myself that it’s what goes on in our kitchen that really matters. It’s about the love that transpires, the bonding with friends and family that is inspired, the nourishment that will be provided and shared together.
It’s sitting back and relaxing; what I call sharing the common life.
Bringing our kids and their friends back into the “center of the home,” for last minute get-togethers, planned holiday events, buffet or sit-down dinners with our friends.
God blesses us all with exactly what we have each day. It’s perfect for the day, whether old or new, and He meets our needs, down to the finest details.
I want to daily create a place of love, in the heart of my home, called “the kitchen”, where food is served, and real sharing takes place.
How have you kept a healthy perspective of your imperfect kitchen?
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
So good Sandy! We have to come to a place that no matter where we are living, what our “kitchens” look like, we can find joy and love in them. We can have the most amazing kitchen and still be discontent and unhappy. I think it’s all a matter of our hearts. I love my “temporary” kitchen but find myself at times longing for my “real” kitchen in our next phase of building. But I have to realize that if my heart isn’t right, I will never be content no matter what Kitchen I’m functioning in.
I so enjoy reading your posts Sandy! You always seem to say what I need to hear at the moment. I can totally relate to this. There is always something bigger and better out there, we will never keep up, we need to be content with where we are and enjoy life rather than constantly pushing for something new. We have lived in our home for 20 years now, and we’ve made a lot of changes over the years. But, one thing remains constant…whether old or new we are truly blessed to have a place to call our own where we can enjoy our family and friends.
Wow – this is right on Sandy. Thanks for the reminder. I do have an imperfect kitchen, and I am serving Thanksgiving Dinner in it! It’ll be a blessing to have my parents here! Have a blessed Thanksgiving! ~Sally
Hi Sandy,
Just love this post. As I have shared with you in the past – we have an old house…and an old kitchen (remember my “unintentional vintage”! LOL!!!). Over the years, I have imagined how wonderful it would be to have a remodeled kitchen but the cost has always put such a project on the back burner – – – but I’m glad that it did because I have grown to love my kitchen so much and not worry about it’s dated style. It’s is really the heart of our home so all the nicks on the wall, stains in the tile grout, chips in the cabinets, and crumbs in the cracks hold the memories of many happy family times here.
Also – recently a friend of mine paid me a lovely compliment. I had posted a picture of a beautiful kitchen that I saw in an online add for a kitchen remodel. I stated that I loved the this kitchen. My friend posted back that she loved my kitchen! I was shocked. She commented on how she loved the colorful tile since it’s so rare to see tile anymore. That really put a smile on my face as it is my tile counters that are probably one of the most dated – err vintage – things in my kitchen. :-)
Have a great week.
Love,
Mary
I always get such a lift by visiting here. Your post rings so true.
Perfect or not- it is all about our attitudes- I think any kitchen is wonderful as long as I can fill it with family.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving with your family.
Thank you so much for this! It’s funny, I’ve been a little worried about people piling into my small apartment for Thanksgiving, and how I still have yet to hang things on the wall and make it cuter. I do know how much God meets are needs and I’m so thankful for that. I’m glad I stopped by your blog to read this heartfelt and meaningful post. God bless and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
thank you :)
We remodeled our kitchen three years ago, and as far as I’m concerned it is perfect! But my focus is on what I can do in it, not what it looks like, and I think that keeps my perspective right. Sure, there are minor things I would do differently if I could do it over again, but I love being able to bake dozens of Christmas cookies at a time, make cinnamon rolls with all four of my kids helping and cook with my husband.
Your post is very timely for me. We lost our home to fire in July and we are moving back to our “new” rebuilt home tomorrow or Wednesday. In the last couple of weeks people have said that it will be like getting a new house so that is positive and wonderful as if new equals wonderful. For me I loved our old house and would have preferred not to go through this ordeal. It is interesting people’s perspective on what new means. I even had someone ask me if in the end it was worth because I got a new house. The answer is a resounding NO.
Excellent observation. How often do we yearn for something, get it and then just get tired of it; sometimes there is no change in circumstance or nothing to warrent the change of heart. I am feeling that way about my whole house right now! And guilty because I do! GuessI need to rearrange or paint. :)
This new house of mine certainly has an imperfect kitchen and it will be a long time before I can replace it with my ideal space (not that THAT will ever really happen given space and budget restrictions). So for now, it’s about creating perfect memories of wonderful family meals, of small intimate breakfasts of making it work. Life isn’t about how many pot drawers you have, it’s what comes out of the pot drawers that matters. I’m just blessed to have a kitchen where my family can gather together when they are home as I cook up another batch of blueberry pancakes for the grandchildren. That’s what makes me happy about my kitchen, imperfections and all.
Your perspective on things is always so great Sandy. That said, we totally gutted and remodeled our kitchen a number of years ago. I still love it and if I ever get a wild idea that something needs to be changed I just remember the upheaval and am very thankful that I’m never going to do it again, LOL!
Fill the house with enough happy people having a good time an no one notices any flaws.
Darla
You know my kitchens change like the weather with our lifestyle, so I can look forward to experiencing any new challenges at the next house! ha! Our pastor preached on thanksgiving yesterday (I Thes.) and reminded us that we are able to give thanks no matter how hard the situation is if we have perspective. He listed a lot of examples such as, “I am thankful I have to pay taxes because it means I have a job.” I think we all can practice that with a plethora of topics- even kitchen imperfections!! :)