Stop Thinking You Have an “Ugly” House
I know the feeling: that nagging thought that you can’t help but think your home is ugly and doesn’t measure up to other people’s home.
Although I’m a DIY blogger who does home improvement and furniture makeovers (check out my Project Gallery), I suffer from this “My house is ugly” syndrome, too.
In fact, whenever people come over to my home, I find myself apologizing about this project that sits unfinished….or that part of my house that has dirty walls because the kids drag their hands all over it when walking past.
Over the years since moving into our old 1973 home, it has taken a lot of time for me to finally get to the point where I feel comfortable with my home.
I’m comfortable with it because it’s finally started to feel warm and cozy (after years of living here). But I still find myself apologizing and making excuses and pointing out its faults before other people can.
In fact, in one of my YouTube videos, I did a house tour for readers and viewers and I apologized and tried to explain away all the little piles of clutter and the unfinished projects and mismatched furniture.
You can watch that video below.
(Keep reading for 3 tips to help you stop thinking your house is ugly).
It’s Not Just You: Lots of People Think Their Home is Ugly
Years ago I happened to get an email from a girl who stumbled upon one of my old posts and she wrote me something so poignant:
I just came across your blog a few weeks ago, while searching for photos of rooms painted in Rainwashed. I wanted to tell you how much I like your blog. It’s so refreshing to see a diy/decorating blog featuring a normal looking house, lol!
Seriously though! I live in a 1,700 square foot house, that was built in 1926. It’s easy to feel inadequate seeing blogs with 5,000+ square foot, brand new mini mansions, that look like something straight out of Better Homes and Gardens. I’d much rather read about someone fixing up an older, average home, on a budget!
Her email hit a nerve.
I decided to respond to her email and share why we shouldn’t be comparing our home to others’ homes.
There is still some part of me that feels like my home isn’t good enough, especially considering that working on my house as a blogger is my full-time job!
But her email ignited something inside of me–a desire for us all to STOP crapping on our houses and simply love it and decorate it for what it is: our place of comfort!
I was inspired to create that short video to inspire all of you beautiful homeowners who sometimes feel inadequate about your house, too. We are just the same: women are want to create a pretty, comfortable, yet affordable home for ourselves and our family.
(P.S. You can see how I’ve been working on turning my house into a home with these projects:
- BEFORE & AFTER: My Pretty Lavender Master Bathroom Makeover
- BEFORE & AFTER: My Colorful Half Bathroom Makeover With a Wall Stencil!
- BEFORE & AFTER: My Kid’s Bathroom Makeover
- BEFORE & AFTER: Boys Blue Accent Wall Bedroom
- BEFORE & AFTER: My Pretty Laundry Room Makeover
You Do NOT Have an “Ugly” House: 3 Tips to Stop Complaining About Your House
Okay…..but maybe you do have an outdated house and you want to do a makeover. Doesn’t that sound better? More positive?
“Outdated” sounds like something easily fixable.
“Ugly” just sounds….hopeless!
And we’re all doing such great jobs on making our houses look fabulous for very little money (and so little time, too!). So let’s stop comparing ourselves and our homes to people in the blogosphere okay?
Keep reading below for some tips we can do to change our attitude our house!
(RESOURCE: Check out this post on how to make an “ugly” home look good with easy decorating tips from the pros).
TIP #1: Be thankful you’ve got housing.
When the wind is whipping and I’m rushing up my walkway to get inside, I’m often struck with the thought, “Thank God I have a house!” More than 500,000 people in the U.S. are homeless, according to this report in 2015. Seriously. Why would we complain when we have money to pay for housing??? Thinking about this alarming fact makes me feel idiotic for even thinking my house is ugly.
TIP #2: Make a plan for decorating your home.
We’re all short on time.
I get it.
But if you plan for the projects and room makeovers you want to do, you’d be surprised how much easier it is to get those projects and makeovers done.
I had put together a free Room Makeover Journal packet that you can download by entering your name and email here:
When you create this DIY journal from scrapbook paper, you’ll have a way to track your progress, list your materials needed, and more.
Soon, your house will feel more put together and not quite as “ugly”!
TIP #3: Take “Before” and “After” pictures of your house along the way.
Homes evolve over time, don’t they?
How your home looked 3 years ago is likely nothing like what it looks like today. Maybe you’ve changed the furniture, had the floors done, changed the paint….
And sometimes we forget the evolution and where we started from!
I can tell you–when we started out in this house, we had wallpaper on nearly every vertical surface…outdated brown paneling…and more.
This is what my family room looked like when we moved in: a dreary 70’s brick fireplace, paneling, and wallpaper over the paneling!
BEFORE
I ended up painting my brick fireplace so that it still looked like brick (which lightened up the room tremendously!), removed the paneling, sewed a pair of cute lined DIY curtains, and decorated the house with affordable thrift store furniture.
Because I took pictures along the way and reviewed those old pictures from time to time, it helps to remind me of how far we’ve come in this house.
Suddenly, it doesn’t seem like such an ugly house. Instead, it feels like a home in transition and it helps me to see that we really have made progress!
So be sure to take lots of pictures of your home and your projects and store them on an external hard drive or on Google Drive (or email them to yourself) and every now and then, click through them to see your progress over time. You’ll be shocked and will feel much less likely to say “My house is ugly.”
AFTER
Again, I know how easy is to think “My house is ugly!” But the truth is that we’re blessed to have housing…we’re blessed to have affordable options for making it look good without spending a lot of money (check out these thrift store tips), and if we remind ourselves of how far we’ve come, we might even start loving our house. 🙂
So have you ever told yourself “My house is ugly”? How did you learn to start loving your house? Leave a comment and let’s talk about it!
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Thanks for a great post! We own an 1100 square foot condo and it is a work in progress. After buying it in 2006, we had to relocate in 2008 and rented it out. I have been back in it since 06/2012 and daily I think how much I used to love my home and now, not so much. Renters took a toll on it. We are slowly putting it back together (I have painters here right now, painting my 2 smallest bedrooms). New carpet for the bedrooms is on the agenda and fresh paint for the rest of the house. I am starting to see what I used to love and getting over my loathing of this place. Thanks for all of your inspiration! I am trying to go the DIY route when I can.
I think, like you said, you need to trust yourself. Have faith in what you like and who gives a care what the trends are?
I do have to say that you inspired me to paint all 3 bedrooms Seasalt! Thanks for taking the time to inspire us! Meghan
YAY!!! Seasalt!! One of *THE* best colors EVER, hands down! 🙂 Glad I could inspire you! 🙂
First of all I love your blog and I am often inspired by what you do!!
I also love pinterest and have found many ideas and inspiration on there too, many times I look at a picture of someone’s house or a room they have done and think, Oh that’s so beautiful but I don’t know if I could live in it. I don’t know about you but I think that my house reflects my life, like the mirror I have in my bathroom that was my Grandmothers or the knick knack that I picked up on a wonderful vacation…even that empty cereal bowl that someone left on the end table or all the shoes that are by the front door! Our homes, be it small or large, clean or unclean are our story, it’s where we come to live and get away from the world outside…our nests! So what if our living room doesn’t look like the ones in the pictures that we see, our homes are a reflection of our lives and how we live!!
Keep up the good work girl!!
So ironic that you mention the cereal bowl that on the table! I remember growing up we had some cereal bowls that we had for YEARSSSS. Isn’t it funny how those things become a part of your existence and memories, things you actually cherish, even if it’s simple plastic? Okay–I’m sounding corny, but you’re bringing up some nostalgia 🙂 Thanks so much for commenting!!!!
I just love your blog!! I have 5 kids, a husband and a full time job and my house never looks the way I wish it would. Thanks for the encouraging words and the permission to be real!!!
Thank you so much for the great comments. I think the most important thing you said was, “you have a house, whether it’s your own or a rental”. Does everyone know how many homeless families there are? Not single old men or teenagers out on the street, but homeless families? At one time I thought I was going to have to incorporate my sister’s family from several states away into my household, because they were close to being homeless. Fortunately, something broke and they were able to find a complex that would take them, with my co-signature. There are many families who are in much worse conditions than any of us.
My house is NOTHING like I want it to be, and I used to be one of those people who always apologized for my house when others came over, but I have stopped, too. Little by little, I’ve been able to get the living room at least looking decent, if not great. It will probably take years to get the rest to where I want it, but I do have a house. I do have a roof over my head. I do have great friends and family. I do have my health.
Thank you for your blog. I continue to be inspired to do better and do more! Victoria
Wow, I’m so glad that your sister and her family were able to find a complex that would take them! Thank you so much for putting all of this into even further perspective!
Personally I LOVE the older homes and am frustrated by the cookie cutter McMansions that all look the same. What REALLY matters is the LOVE inside of a home. I know families in 4000+ square foot homes that barely talk and a family (mom, dad and son) in a ONE bedroom apartment that love on one another 24/7. We should stop focusing on the outside and more on the inside.
I couldn’t agree more with the comments above. Serena, you are superwoman! I don’t know how you have time to get any DIYing done with family, work and blog on your plate. I admire you. I found your blog a while ago and have been an avid follower since. My house is a 1960’s GE home with lots of wallpaper and 4 kinds of blue carpet. Slowly but surely the wallpaper is coming down. I am happy to report that all wallpaper has been removed from the downstairs! That was my accomplishment this week and I felt like throwing a party. 🙂 My house will never look like those magazine shots on Pinterest. We live in our house so I just look at those pictures and get inspiration for colors and how to put rooms together. Your blog inspires my creative side!
Awww….Courtney, I’m so happy to hear from you! That means a lot that you’ve been following me for a while! I read your comment earlier today and thought it was super sweet. Way to go on getting that wallpaper down! I really wish people back in the 70’s would have reconsider when putting up wallpaper. HAHA. As for how I do it– sacrificing sleep and time with hubby! Bad, I know. I’m trying to find “balance.” 🙂 Thanks soooo much for taking time out of your day to ready my blog. I’m forever grateful for you! 🙂
You are my new hero!! Thank you sooo much for this funny, inspiring video!
Great video! Home is home, and despite clutter (husband likes to fill every horizontal surface!), we still love being at home. Your blog is great! Laughed about the wallpaper because we bought this house two years ago, moving from Wisconsin to TN to retire. The bathroom, with its wallpaper, was described as a flower garden that exploded. So we will paint. Slowly we are getting things done–even in retirement, life is busy. Keep up the great blog!!
OH, someone that can identify with me about the horrific wallpaper! Yours sounds….COLORFUL. LOL. Mine wasn’t BAD, as in, “bright” or crazy. Just DATED, very badly. Some rooms it was just a plane off-white vinyl, which wasn’t too bad, but still tough to remove. And the layers of glue–OMG! I should post a pic of that for you. LOL! Thanks for commenting today!
Gah, you are so empowering left and right Serena!! Loving your video!
Our home is over a hundred years old. We hand a huge ‘phase 1′ remodel-fest to get our home up to liveable standards. Are those temporary fixes drop dead gorgeous? No. But we were happy bringing out home out of the ’70’s’ when the last remodel was done. We’ve found some treasures along the way (think phone books from 1914) and memories to last a lifetime. We’re so happy we found our fixer upper and when people walk in because our original quicky paint job is wearing away (lesson learned there)– you know what? we don’t care if they pass judgement. We have BIG plans for this home, but we’re patient and like our slow updates to really allow us to think through major decisions.
Patience is key!! The thing I love about fixing up an old house is that you have the “before” pics to compare to YOURSELF and not anyone else. I know that my house isn’t super Pinterest-worthy, but when you see the before pics, it’s like, “WOW! Big improvement!” Good luck working on your house! I didn’t realize your house was over 100 years old! I bet you have some great features in there that people with more modern build homes don’t have! Like, my house was built in 1973 and it has a laundry chute! 🙂 HA! 🙂 Thanks for commenting, Trisha!
Love the post and the video! I too am glad I found your blog and you are right on point with this posting. Thanks!
Hi Laurie! I’m so glad you like the post and video! 🙂 You rock for leaving a comment, especially on a Saturday when most people won’t even see the post! LOL! 🙂
EXACTLY! Also I feel a house is your home…and your home is where they love you, its where you raise your family and create memories. Theres is NO place like HOME! Enjoy it and make lots of memories.