Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter

In Praise of the Homey Homes

If you follow me, you know I’ve been tweeting and posting daily, offering ideas for little organizing projects people can do around the house if they’re stir-crazy during this shelter-in-place time. But what I hope is that, rather than using use the time to purge, people will use all the things they have been hanging onto—the art projects, the puzzles, the books—and to enjoy their homes.

When you have to be home, for whatever reason, it’s nice if home is homey: comfortable, with good reading lights, not too fussy, and plenty of activities at hand.

Being stuck inside for a month makes me grateful for all my books. I’m grateful I didn’t throw out my “Washboard Abs” DVD. I’ve been using my Instapot and my KitchenAid mixer. The more time I’m at home, the more I appreciate the things that make my home homey—but not necessarily Instagrammable.

I won’t lie: Much of this sheltering in place has made me grumpy. Sometimes I hate my kids, my husband and the Department of Education. But sometimes there’s transcendence. One night I gave up on trying to get my daughter to go to bed, and when I woke in the morning she had painted a painting. I’m up to page 529 in The Power Broker, and last weekend all five of us sat together to watch the same movie on the same screen at the same time.

I’m still anti-clutter—you have to be able to find the paints, the book you want, a deck of cards—but I’ve always said, it’s not about making your house photo-ready, it’s about making it user friendly, and while we are all stuck at home, having a user-friendly home is a great thing.