I have an imperfect home. Do you?It's no secret that I have a lot of work to do on my house. It is far, far, FAR from being perfect and magazine worthy, or even blog worthy most days. You may see snapshots of a few things here and there that may look somewhat put together, but the truth is, I am extremely critical of my home and very selective about what I share. Anyone out there with me?Having a blog forced me to be this way. I got used to sharing only the pretty, nice, and sometimes slightly staged pictures of my life - though I do try to keep it pretty real with you all, especially on Instagram! You have to learn love the imperfections, though, because they are a very important part of any home!My husband asked me not too long ago if I was unhappy with our home because he often finds me staring at things, thinking about how I need to change something or fix it or replace it... I was surprised he asked me that, but I understood where he was coming from because I do this a LOT! I'm not unhappy with my house. I love this little tiny home that we get to call ours, despite the fact that I constantly redesign it in my mind!The very next day I found myself staring at my kitchen and smiling with non-critical eyes. So that's where I'm going to focus today, because this is the most used and arguably most important room in our whole house! A lot happens in this kitchen - cooking, cleaning, working, dancing, serious conversations, entertaining, DIY projects, playing with Luther... We do a LOT of living in our kitchen!

BECAUSE YOU ONCE FELL IN LOVE WITH IT

Take some time to go back to what made you fall in love with your home. I thought about this kitchen the very first time I ever saw it, and remembered thinking it was small, but useful. It was peach and yellow, but it was warm (and not just because of the colours).I thought back to how we painted our cupboards, very imperfectly, and how happy it made me to see them white. For some reason, seeing the peach inside doesn't bother me. It never has. I kind of like having that memory of what was before.

BECAUSE IT'S WELL LIVED IN

It's impossible to have a perfect house. Paint will peel, things will get dirty, and you might even break stuff. It's just stuff. I mean, really... I can't even count the number of times I have to wipe this area of the kitchen because Luther's wet nose is constantly in the blinds. He occasionally spills dirt on the floor, too (which you can see in both pictures he's in, if you look closely). If I got upset about this every time he did it, we wouldn't be friends. Period.I always told myself I wouldn't have stuff on my fridge - I mean on the door and on the top of it. It turns out that having stuff on your fridge, like a grocery list and pen, is actually kind of convenient, and that dead space up top is great for stuff I don't want on the counter all the time. It's not pretty, but it makes my kitchen that much more useful to me.

BECAUSE IT'S YOURS, AND NO ONE ELSE'S

I could sit here and compare my kitchen to my neighbour's, or to a magazine, or to another blogger's... but that is a surefire way to make myself very unhappy. Remember the thing I told you about only showing the good stuff? And slightly staged settings? You can't compare your life to that. Even if you could, comparison will never bring you any satisfaction. Just trust me on this one. 

BECAUSE A LOT OF WORK LOVE HAS GONE INTO IT

From the little things to the big things, every time I do something for my home, I do it with love because I know it'll bring me joy every time I see it. Painting kitchen cupboards is something I hope never to do again, but sometimes I open these doors and mentally high-five myself for doing it. No lie. I do.

BECAUSE THE IMPERFECTIONS DON'T ACTUALLY MATTER

Seriously. Seriously. If something is bothering you so much - like that time I lived with a towel bar that moved every time I used a tea towel, but didn't do anything about it for 2 years - fix it! Otherwise, just don't sweat it. You're just gonna get more grey hairs and then you won't have all those warm and fuzzy feelings about your home anymore, and you need to go back to those. Often!Oh and if you're wondering if these pictures are staged, ummm no. They're not. I just told you there's dirt on the floor. The stainless steel top is all smudged. I literally just decided one morning that I needed to show you my real kitchen, so here it is! This is how it is. Right here. Except the stove top isn't always clean and sometimes there is a dog bone on the floor.Do I really need to give you more than 5 reasons? Wait, do I need to give myself more than 5 reasons? I'd be lying if I said I wrote this post solely for you. I wrote it mostly for me. Because I need to remember to love my home more, to appreciate it more, and to look at it with a smile on my face more often. My house is filled with imperfections. I don't love all of them, but I can whole heartedly say that I do love my home and I'm so very thankful for it each and every day. You with me?