What I Need in My Home

I may be all for snow to fall outside, but the truth of the matter is I need living things inside my home.

People, animals, and plants all fit that bill.

With a family of six our house is rarely without someone. Add to that anyone who would like to drop by and visit, and our house can easily be full of life. But, I like the extras, too. I like to see animals and plants. Since we live in a development with rules and regulations against farm animals, we have no cherished goats or chickens. However, there are no rules against plants, yet. So, our home houses as many as I can keep alive.

As I have not been blessed with my sister-in-laws green thumb {She grew a tree from a leaf - seriously!} we currently have eight, of which three are in the process of dying and two were bought as replacements. The dying plants sadden me. For, not only do I need living things in my home, I need life to flourish. I need to see growth occur. I need laughter to be heard and love to be spread.

~ Dorie


Huh, did you think this post was going to be about things? On a whim, I decided to add those things I consider very useful. Below you will find my top five home essentials which are tangible things. How about you? What do you need in your home?

My Top Five Home Essentials

Two Essentials in My Kitchen:

• Crock Pot - I love my crock pot so much, I have two! One is a smaller size and the other is jumbo. If I had to choose between a microwave and a crock pot, I'd choose the crock pot. Slow and steady wins my vote for tastier food. That, and the fact that I can put together an entire meal hours before it is needed and then go about the rest of my day, makes dinner prep time relaxing. Probably because all the work is already done.
• Kitchen Mats - I can make do without a lot of stuff in the kitchen (mainly because I don't know what I'm doing most of the time and ignorance can be bliss when cooking), but I cannot go for long on our hard kitchen floors without the soft padding of our kitchen mats.

Two Essentials in My Laundry Room:

• 3 Division Hamper - It is a bit of a splurge, I'll admit. However, with the ease of all the laundry being sorted as it is dropped into a particular hamper is worth every penny in my book. We use the three divisions to pre-sort darks, lights, and towels. 
• Drying Rack - Nothing beats a drying rack to lighten the load going into the dryer, especially on cold, rainy days when laundry cannot be hung on the line. All those pennies saved, er, I mean, all that electricity not being used is fabulous for my wallet the earth.

One Essential in My Bathroom:

• Pegs - We use pegs to hang the children's bath towels. When you only have one full bathroom for six people to bathe, towel hanging space is at a premium. Pegs do the trick, and do it well. Since the four pegs hang directly opposite the heating vent, dry towels are easily achieved.