If living a slow and simple lifestyle is calling your name or you dream of having a home that runs smoothly because of the routines and traditions you’ve set in place, then you’ve came to the right place. Read on for an all in one guide to homemaking made simple.
What is homemaking?
To me, homemaking is finding beauty in the simple things in your life and home. A quiet cup of morning coffee on the porch or a from scratch meal around the table with your family.
It’s the practice of digging deeper into your home and creating a space that is fulfilling. Doing what you can, with what you have, while finding joy in your everyday tasks.
It is doing life the slower, simpler, more intentional way. Homemaking is cooking and baking, caring for your family, creating with your hands, decluttering and organizing, it is the joy of making your house a home for those that you love.
Homemaking is a ministry. When we cook a meal, organize a closet, or sew a curtain, we are serving our family. Even the humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them.
There is so much joy in the mundane, you just have to look for it.
How can I be a homemaker?
There is many ways to be a homemaker or to serve your family. This is just a short list of some simple homemaking tips to get you started.
- cooking from scratch recipes and preparing meals
- live simply and joyfully, have a serving heart
- seasonal living, decorating and preparing for each season
- shopping second hand, thrifting
- being organized, setting routines, keeping the home tidy
- Learn a new skill, sewing, gardening, canning and preserving.
Cooking and preparing homemade meals
My favorite way of serving my family as a homemaker is to cook wholesome, mostly from scratch meals.
Cooking and planning are such an important part of homemaking. Intentionally take the time to plan your meals for the week. For simple, homemade cooking ideas you can head over to my recipe page where I share some of our family’s favorite homemade meals!
To set us up for success, I start my week by planning out our meals Sunday to Sunday, then making a grocery list on a piece of paper.
To really save time and money (time management + being frugal are important roles in homemaking) I suggest using grocery pickup. This allows more time to spend with the kids, bake, or do other household chores while not scanning the isles for things you do not need. Try not to buy anything that isn’t on your original list. Remember, simplicity is the goal here! This may look different for your family and that is okay. Just be sure to make you a list, plan, and follow that list.
Stuck on what to cook? Start with a list of your family’s favorite meals and go from there. I keep a running list of meals in my notes section of my phone, each Sunday I look through the list and select 5-6 for the week, I am happy to share it with you, you can find my FREE list of 55 dinner ideas below. This process also goes hand in hand with organization.
Living a simple life
Less is more. Old fashioned homemaking is about living a more simple life. Ditch the fast-paced way of society. You don’t need jam packed schedules, and your kids don’t need the newest iPhone.
All you need to do is spend time creating a beautiful, fulfilling, handmade home. A home that brings you and the others around you joy.
Slow down and enjoy your time spent cooking and creating and make sure to be intentional about this-It takes reminding some days. Shop at thrift stores, these items have stories to be told (with a bargain price!) Go outside. Pull back your curtains and let some sunshine in. Get some chickens to add self sufficiency to your simple way of life.
Look for the joy, everyday. Declare this is what you want and go for it. It is truly a lifestyle and mindset change.
Keeping the home organized with simple routines
- Daily routines
- Weekly routines
- Monthly routines
- Seasonal routines
Daily Homemaking Routine:
This is simple once your home is reset and in manual mode (meaning you have decluttered, organized and everything has a “home”).
The secret: only clean what needs cleaned that day. Maybe the floor needs mopped or finger prints need to be cleaned off the windows. Tidy as you go. Remember, we are saving our precious time for making our house a beautiful, simple, loving home. Being stressed about keeping your home spotless, will take that away.
Tidy up daily, not deep clean. Don’t go scrubbing baseboards every day!
Do not go to bed with dishes in your sink. Make sure to put toys and other belongings back in their “homes” before you go to bed. You want to wake up to a fresh start, every morning. If you wake up and have to wash dirty dishes, Are you going to be ready to serve your family? Likely not. Help your future self by setting yourself up for success, each day.
Weekly Homemaking Routine:
This would include tasks such as laundry, sweeping floors, cleaning bathrooms and planning. Just digging a bit deeper than your daily task. You can assign certain days for certain task or do them as needed. On Wednesdays and Sundays I do laundry, wash dry and fold. On Mondays is when I pickup groceries. Saturdays or Sundays, I plan. I allow myself flexibility on all of these.
Monthly Homemaking Routine:
This is when your deep cleaning gets done. Baseboards, dusting ceiling fans, decluttering any clutter that has piled up, cleaning out your fridge. I like to keep my girls special artwork as they do it in a covered bread box in the kitchen then switch into their memory boxes (plan to share these soon) at the end of the month. Same with important mail. Only keep what you really need.
Seasonal Homemaking Routines :
I like to declutter our closets with the seasons or every 3 months, at least. Especially, the kids. The girls share a small closet so this can get cluttered and messy fast, if given the chance.
Another seasonal routine would be to carefully and thoughtfully plan the holidays and or for what the season brings. This includes decorating for the seasons, planning a garden, goals or home projects for that season, or which animals to add to your homestead, if you have one.
Learn a new homemaking skill
Skills that add to your homemaking capabilities are always a wise decison. These skills benefit not only you, but your family.
These do not have to be learned up front. I am still learning as I go and some skills are still on my learning list. Slow and simple learning is okay. That’s the joy in this.
Here is a list of homemaking skills that I have acquired or plan to acquire.
- Sewing
- Gardening
- Canning and preserving food
- Candle Making
- Baking bread
- Sourdough starter
- Soap making
- Making your own cleaning products
- Learning to cook from scratch meals
- DIY’ing all the projects
Are you ready to be a homemaker?
So now you have a simple glimpse of what a homemaker does but it is really so much more than that. If your heart is in it, being a homemaker is going to change your life, your family’s life.
It is easy to think that homemaking is about your home but it’s really about serving others and bringing joy.
Homemaking isn’t for us alone but rather becomes a means for furthering the love of Jesus.
A welcoming place for the lonely to belong, this is the heart of making a home.
Happy Homemaking!
With love,
Caitlyn
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