Homemaking is so much more than the obvious, mundane tasks often paired with the role of a homemaker. Serving as the role of a homemaker requires commitment, and the ability to adapt and grow with the seasons of nature and life alike. Honoring our homes in each of these seasons is the very essence of homemaking.
Join me in this post as I reflect on changing with the seasons as a homemaker.
Changing With The Seasons: Winter To Spring
Spring has come early here in New England, and it has me thinking about the fresh season, and how to shift my homemaking to fit the more lively days ahead. As homemaking naturally changes with the seasons, it also takes intention and a desire to embrace the priorities that come with each. With every new season comes new needs within the home. As winter slowly melts away, I have realized just how much my household served as a hibernation haven to my husband and me during this cold and cozy season. Being true homebodies, I morphed our home into a space that we could retreat to on cold days.
Now that the dark and cold months have passed us by, the Robins and Nuthatches are reminding me to, once again, shift my homemaking priorities to welcome a new, warmer season. As each season approaches, taking a closer look at our environment, routines, and cuisine is important as homemakers. It will allow us to recognize the needs of the season, and how best to fit our home into it.
Changing Our Home Environment
With four, very distinct seasons in New England, it is important for a homemaker to alter their home environment to best fit the time. Dark winter nights are paired best with drawn curtains, puzzles, books, cozy lighting, fluffy blankets, and good movies/tv shows. Having these things readily available is the job of a homemaker, and these changes in our home environment complements the season more than we may realize. Having a space on the inside to match the season on the outside allows us to better appreciate the time we are in, and provides a more enhanced and special feel in our homes and daily life.
Now that the birds are returning and the buds are growing, it is time to shift our home environment from winter to spring/summer. With warmer sunshine and more daylight, it is encouraging my inner homemaker to turn our home of hibernation into a home of liveliness and activity. All of those home projects that could “wait until spring” are underway, and the house is filled with the fresh air let in from the patio doors. Accomplishing projects that were pushed aside is creating a more fresh environment to welcome in the new season, and is an encouraging way to shift to more active and productive days. The gardening magazines are making an appearance, fresh flowers are scattered around the house, and the plans for how we want our backyard to be are being finalized. The house is filled with fresh ideas and plans.
Cleaning, Organization, & Home Improvement
As we transition from winter to spring, home organization and improvement is also on the forefront of this homemaker’s mind. Last summer, my husband and I purchased our first house together, and ever since, we have been working hard to make this 1,000 square foot bungalow feel like home. Through the winter, we chose to enjoy the cozy season and push our plans off until spring. Now, we are putting these plans into motion, and are once again on a mission to liven up our space just in time for spring. With all these projects comes incoming tools and supplies, which has reminded me that a good ole spring decluttering and cleaning is in order.
During the winter months, homemakers tend to focus more on the cozy factor of a home (or at least I do), and the organization of our home may get pushed to the wayside. As I open the door to our storage room, it has become evident that this is exactly what I have done this winter. Having a decluttered, clean and organized home going into spring and summer helps us homemakers better keep up with the faster paced season, and allows us to reset our minds with a clear space. Being able to declutter and let go of the old allows a more organized space to tend to. This will also make it easier to deep clean for spring! Having an organized and clean home will freshen up our environment to match the new, fresh season.
Decor
The last piece to this element of changing our environments with the seasons is decor. As a simple homemaker, I tend to gravitate toward decor pieces that can stay up year round. However, adding in bits and pieces here and there to match the seasons is a great way to make your environment shift with the seasons. Doing so does not have to be a huge undertaking, and can be as simple as fresh flowers in the spring, or some deep greenery in the winter months. The extent to how far this goes is in the hands of a homemaker, which is a beautiful part of our job. Home decor is a more obvious way to change our environment with the seasons, and can be a very fun part of approaching a new season.
Changing Our Routines
As the seasons change, our routines naturally do so as well. For the past five months, my husband and I have adopted a slow paced routine that included staying home the two of us on most weekends, and going to bed way too early. When it gets dark at 4PM, it is easy to conform to this routine on a cold, snowy evening. When my husband would come home from work at 5:30, we would eat dinner soon after, and cuddle on the couch until bedtime. As there is beauty and joy in this calmer routine, the arrival of spring has us craving a more energetic routine.
Recently, with the warmth and daylight until 7PM, it is easy to feel more energized and outgoing in the evenings. As a homemaker, I am slowly altering our routine for slightly later dinners, and plan to create a living space on our patio, including a garden. This will create a new routine for the spring and summer months that more prioritizes spending time outside. My homemaking priorities will shift to meet this as well. My gardening vision will come to fruition, and our home will reflect the more outgoing season.
Changing Our Cuisine
Ingredients
This past winter, I cooked the comfiest of comfort foods. I cooked soups, stews, sauces, and casseroles weekly. This served as a way to use homemaking to celebrate the season. Using food as a way to change with the seasons is a huge part of homemaking, and serves as a physical representation of the weather and temperatures outside. As we move into spring, I set my sights on a more fresh and fun menu that will incorporate produce from my garden, and that won’t warm our souls quite as much as my winter menu does. Rather, I aim to fuel our souls with more light and healthy foods that will incorporate the many different veggies of my garden.
Cooking Methods
This past winter, I used my Dutch oven to simmer soups, stews and sauces all day long. As this created a wonderful smell all throughout my house, it is time to take advantage of a different cooking method during spring and summer. Making use of our grill will be something I plan to do weekly, and this will also add a fun element to cooking supper, especially on the weekends.
Beverages
Another way to match food to the season is by changing available beverages in your home. In the winter, have hot coffee and hot cocoa readily available. In the spring/summer, make iced coffee, a fresh pitcher of lemonade, or some iced tea. Altering the food found within your home depending on the season is one of the main ways to complement the current season.
As homemakers, you can see that it is part of our role to change our home environment, routine, and cuisine with the arrival of every new season. Being in tune with each season and nurturing all the things that come with it is a very tender part of being a homemaker, and requires us to change and adapt to new homemaking routines and priorities.
This post was all about changing with the seasons in homemaking.