How to embrace imperfection in your home
"To be perfect is to develop expanding imperfection." ~ Ethylios
Perfection is nearly impossible to reach. The ideal is wonderful to strive for and be inspired by, but it’s a dangerous trap to only be satisfied if things are perfect.
Because they never are.
Striving for perfection can more often than not leave us feeling like we've never succeeded - and that’s deflating and super depressing! What's even more depressing is that we've missed the beauty of imperfection along the way.
I love Pinterest -all those perfect spaces and beautiful DIYs. They’re definitely inspiring. But I'm drawn most to those that are imperfect and interesting. After all, people aren't perfect, so why would we try to make the homes we live in perfect? They should be a reflection of ourselves, with all of our beautiful and alluring imperfections.
Take, for example, this mirror that my brother made for me years ago. It's one of my most treasured things, because it's perfectly imperfect, and it was made with love. The barn boards are weathered, and there are flaws and cracks which make it even better. Isn’t it much more interesting than a store-bought perfect mirror?
Another example: I love using reclaimed or natural items as everyday utility pieces in my home. A worn, antique tin holds tea, a slab of maple becomes a cutting board, a piece of driftwood becomes a shelf. These things are far from perfect but they add interest and meaning.
The same goes for cleaning and organizing your home. I’m big on creating simplicity at home so that it’s easy to keep things tidy and in their place. It just makes life easier and less frustrating. But, that doesn’t mean that your home has to be perfectly clean every day. That’s not reality, especially if your whole family is living with you. A home should be lived in, and that gets messy. Set up organizational systems ahead of time, minimize the number of things in your home so it cuts down on cleaning time, and don’t sweat the rest of it. (Check out my LIVE SIMPLE course for all my organization, cleaning and simplifying tips)
Look, real life can be messy, hurried and stressful. So I'm of the opinion that aiming for a home that's simple, relaxing, calm and meaningful is the primary goal - not expensively designed spaces that are decorated to perfection.
Here are six easy ways you can create your own imperfectly beautiful home:
1. Use interesting salvage or natural pieces found outdoors or at flea markets or antique markets as art. They’re interesting and beautifully imperfect.
2. DIY your own art, or have your kids do it. You don't need to have expensive artwork in your home if you can't afford it or aren't drawn to it. Frame some DIY art (find inexpensive frames at yard sales and paint them out the same colour) for a personal and meaningful display.
3. Find old pieces of furniture online or at yard sales or markets and leave them unfinished. Sometimes the old chipped paint or patina is uniquely beautiful.
4. Keep old flooring instead of purchasing new. If you can, sand and re-stain wood flooring. Or paint the boards in white paint for a Nordic or country feel.
5. Find old mirrors at yard sales and paint the frames - or frame them yourself with barn boards or wood trim purchased at your local hardware store. It's so much more interesting than a typical big-box modern mirror.
6. Don't sweat your paint colour. Choose an off-white for your walls (cool for areas with lots of natural light and warm for those with low light) and don't stare at it for hours trying to decide if it's right. Once you get some things on the walls and your furniture and accessories in place, 9 times out of 10 it will work (see my post with a simple guide to white paint).
I did my own DIY artwork for my small entryway. Imperfect? Definitely. But also a conversation piece.
I salvaged the rotting end of an old barn beam and use it as a bookend and piece of interest on my desk.
My brother made this dining table out of salvaged bowling alley flooring, and the bench from barn boards. The light is also his DIY. The imperfectness of it all mirroring the imperfect beauty of the outdoors makes this space feel special but also live-able and real. To me, that’s perfect.
My former office-studio room didn't have doors on the closets. And closets are where I store real life clutter - they needed doors. But I didn't want the cheap closet doors from the big-box store, nor did I have the money for expensive beautiful doors. So I asked my dad and brother to make these ones from scrap lumber and painted them white. Their imperfection is stunning, functional and meaningful.
This bedroom was painted blue before I took it over - probably not a colour I would have chosen myself, but I embraced it and made it work with the furniture I already had. The vintage nightstand was a '60's lacquered mess that I painted and wallpapered (as seen here). There was no overhead light in the room, and I didn't have funds to purchase an expensive 'perfect' lamp, so I used a hanging socket and cord and hung it on a piece of old barnboard. The result is a beautifully imperfect room.
My Mom's guest room is certainly not perfect, with wonky walls, an old tile ceiling and no budget for a refresh. So we made do with what we had: salvaged barn boards from my grandparents' old farmhouse and an old dresser and iron bed of my Mom's that were left out in the garage for years. We brought them in, cleaned them up and added soft touches like pillows, a natural jute rug and a throw. Aged beauty indeed.
My previous small condo had just a tiny space in the living room to set up a little home office. Not the perfect scenario, but I made it work and found it beautifully inspiring. An old barn board provides a sunny spot for plants and collections. I kept the space simple with a white monocrhomatic look and bits of colour through plants, flowers and home-made art.
Barnboard came into play again in my living room to cover a cheater bathroom door that I didn't want to use. In a perfect situation, I would have removed the door and put up a new wall. Instead, I just covered it with barnboards that are imperfectly beautiful with all their knots and cracks and flaws.
Life takes balance, and so does building a home that lets you thrive. Trying to create the picture-perfect home is not sustainable - to our wallets, the planet or our mental health. Let's give up this idea of having perfectly styled homes and embrace beautiful imperfection and the unique and interesting life that comes with them. A home that's unique and meaningful will be one you're happy in for the long haul.
