Of house and home.

My new obsession: I'm fascinated with keeping house.

For the first time since we were newly married, I'm at home and loving it. Though I have less time to spend on "the house" than I did back in 2002, I am enjoying it much more thoroughly this time around. I feel like I've missed out on so much these past five years. 

There's a certain cadence and security that I find in the daily inner workings of a home that's being "kept". I love routines, and now that I'm home, I'm finally able to instill daily routines to enrich our lives as a family and keep our home up and running. Well, I'm instilling the "idea" of some of these more than the actual "happenings", but we're taking them one at a time. I feel that these routines are something that bind women together across generations, social stratus, and location. Everyone has a dirty kitchen to clean up after the morning rush. Every woman at some point does laundry, dusts, changes sheets, goes grocery shopping (or marketing, as home comforts calls it, which I get a kick out of), cooks, sweeps, and wonders whether it's ok to hand wash the sweater with the "Dry clean" tag. I feel very connected and grounded when I'm intentionally adhering to routines for our home. 

These books have been a source of information and inspiration. House to a home is a British book I believe, and may be out of print. It's so lovely -  It makes me want to designate an art room in our new house, and have leisurely morning brunches outdoors with Sam while the girls run barefoot through a flower garden. Thanks Rachael for this book you gave us back in 2003! Though I perused it in the past, it's finally getting its due love.

And Home Comforts has a fabulous chapter on tidying, and the "broken window theory". So true in our house! 

Any suggestions or tips you've found to work really well at your house?

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