Even though I have worked from home for the last 11 years, my daily/weekly schedule has changed drastically with the rest of the world’s over the last month. I’m deeply missing the hour to myself at the gym every morning and the 20 minutes before and after where I got caught up with friends on my way to and from. Or going out with Chris on the weekends and our girls’ favorite babysitter, Krystal, watching them. I miss seeing family every day.
But this week, we decided to try and shift our focus to the new bright spots in our daily routines. The welcomed changes that have come about amidst this challenging time. We’d love to hear what positive shift in your routine you have uncovered in the comments! Ours are below–
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Semihandmade
Our wood grain Shaker cabinet fronts were designed for busy, high-traffic homes like ours. Clad with durable textured thermofoils, this line is compatible with Sektion, Akurum, Godmorgon, and Besta cabinets from IKEA. It's the perfect, practical way to add the warmth of wood to all the rooms of your home.
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We have teamed up with Loloi to create a line of rugs that are as affordable as they are beautiful. This collection houses a great mix of traditional and modern rugs, in cottage-y colorways, as well as vintage-inspired beauties that you’ll want to roll out in every room.
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We partnered with Stuga on a line of hardwood floors — The Ingrid is really livable, and the color is very neutral. It doesn’t lean warm or cool, it’s that just right in-between. We have really loved putting it everywhere in our house. It’s the best jumping-off point for design, no matter your interior style. In addition to being beautiful, Ingrid is really durable — we have three kids, and we always have a home construction project going on. Ingrid stands up to it all.
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A reader recently asked me if I’m starting to fully embrace traditional style and whether we still consider our house to be a “modern Colonial” and why. It was a really great question and so timely — I had really just been thinking about my approach to this home and how my style has changed […]
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Sleeping in until 7:30, slow mornings, the quiet house. And being able to go to bed later gives my husband and I more time to spend together in the evenings, bingeing shows.
I’m a garden designer, arborist, and professional gardener. Every year, I bemoan that my 10 hour 7 day a week spring schedule means that I completely miss what’s happening in my own garden at the most beautiful time of the year. With my work schedule drastically cut down to only one person no contact jobs now, I’ve actually been able to sit and enjoy watching my garden burst into flower. I spent one day last week just watching the leaves on my fig tree uncurl and it was glorious!
And an added bonus has been our insane horrible Austin traffic has returned to pre-2004 levels. I don’t need to plan out my day around traffic any more!
We live in the heart of the Skagit Valley farmlands and every April over a hundred thousand visitors flock to our small town to see the tulip fields in bloom. My family has been planning and building our new home over the course of several years and had been dreading this Spring coming because we are in the thick of construction and assumed the usual horrible tulip festival traffic would slow everything down. Nope-not this year! Our daily drive has been absolutely breathtaking. Although it makes my heart ache to think of all of our farming families and small businesses that rely on the tourism industry this time of year (mine included) I can’t help but revel in the beauty of these fields of endless color and not a person in sight. It feels like millions of tulips were planted just for us.
We live in Skagit too! We can see the fields from our vantage up on the hill and I love getting to see the color slowly emerge. I know I’ve bought more tulips to plant and in cases this year. Gotta keep those farmers going!
Hi Erin – I still want to see the tulips, can I come to your driveway? We live in the most beautiful part of the county and I don’t want to miss the tulips this spring. I was thinking about buying hundreds of flowers and delivering to all my friends and people who aren’t going to see the displays. The tulips are so beautiful, and I want to know more about your house project! PS – I’m over on Fidalgo
I am a homebody through and through! Though I still travel to work daily I am soaking in the weekends. I love getting takeout on a Saturday night and staying in with my husband and pup! We are also loving our nightly walks (weather permitting) as spring slowly descends upon us!
I live in SoCal, the lack of traffic has brought back travel times that I haven’t seen since my youth( I’m 5 f-ing 8) last Friday I travelled the 91 freeway, the infamous freeway known as the #1 worst in the nation ???? what usually takes 2 hours, I sailed thru in 45 minutes Delirious ????
Kisses ???? to all this lovely Easter/Passover and soon Ramadan ????????????
While the past month home has had it’s fair share of challenges, we are learning to lean into the time at home. Take long walks, chase our two year old in the back yard, finally work on that project thats been sitting half done because we were “too busy”, loads and loads of Facetime calls with family, try that new elaborate receipe (or eat a frozen pizza). We will likely never have another two month period in our lives where we get to spend this much time as our trio.
We are also incredibly thankful for our health, financial stability and ability to work from home, and having a safe/sturdy home (with a yard!!!) to hunker down in. We’re trying very hard not to take those amazing blessings for granted, as so many are either on the front lines or in difficult/unsafe conditions at home. We are very lucky :)
I love this! My husband and I have been enjoying slow mornings together before ‘walking’ to work. The apartment is quiet and we can each do out bible study and drink coffee. Then we head to work in different rooms and come back together for lunch (which is so nice not to have to pack). The little moments that we know we will most likely never have together once life goes back to normal are what I am cherishing the most.
Love these reflections. A bright spot in my day is always trying to find the good that’s happening in the world right now, whether it’s the 90+ y/o man dancing to Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop The Feeling”, or seeing your drive-by birthday party for Faye, or the many incredible ways people are coming together right now to support our healthcare workers and essential employees. And also, this post! This has added to my bright spot in my daily routine too. Thank you, CLJ team!
Working from home now, I get to enjoy mornings with my family every day not just the weekends. I get to have lunch with my husband every afternoon. The weather has been so nice these past two weeks. We spend almost every evening now running in the front yard with our two year old as the sun goes down, and then I have her help me water all the new plants we’ve added to the yard. I love these new rythms to our day. It’s slow. It’s intentional. It’s memorable.
Watching the woods change from winter to spring outside my home office window… much better view than my work office. Even the occasional fox (with a new baby fox!!!) , deer, and owl trying to swoop down and catch some dinner. I used to miss all this excitement…
I downloaded the One Minute Pause app and stop for just a couple minutes of guided prayer, twice a day, to lay down the daily bustle and reconnect with God. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for over a year and even tried to form a habit with phone reminders, but this beautiful guided time during this stressful season is what made it stick.
Thanks for sharing! We are finding so many moments to enjoy,! My husband getting to participate in the kids’ schoolwork activities while they are distance learning….eating lunch together outside since the weather has been nice….me finally having the motivation to wake up extra early to get some quiet time to myself in the morning. We miss our friends/family and the kids’ school community terribly, but we are trying to savor what we can! And the LEGO creativity has been off the charts. ????