While I was in Boca, when I wasn’t shopping for ideas for my new house , I was reading this book.
If you watch HGTV endlessly ….read the “Hooked on Houses” blog faithfully…and are always hunting Homegoods for that perfect household accessory, then this book is not just for you…it is about you.
It wasn’t until I started writing this post that I learned that “Hooked on Houses” wrote about this book last year….http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/01/20/the-story-of-how-house-lust-got-me-here/. My brother in law took a class on this book so it was just sitting around their house. With a name like that, how could I not pick it up.
It is an easy read, but it gets to the heart of your fasination with houses…not just ours or people we know…but everyones’.
One of the things that really hit me was the fact that in 1950 less than 65% of the homes had indoor plumbing for bathrooms. Yet now we can’t imagine living in a house with less than two bathrooms. Not to mention our households are getting smaller, so we are sharing all these bathrooms with less people.
This is a picture of my brother, sister and dad outside our outhouse. See it back in the corner there? Now granted it was at our vacation cabin but still…there are not a lot of “decorating the outhouse” shows on HGTV these days. Did you know that the Spelling Manor has 27 bathrooms? Did you know that those 27 bathrooms are now owned by a 22 year old woman? She could use a different bathroom almost every day of the month!
The point is that our view of homes is much different than they have ever been. We will now move far away from our work …adding long commutes to our lives …for more space.
It was a very interesting book for me to read for this time in my life. As I am building the home of my dreams…how do I make sure that I am not falling into the materlism traps that are all around us? How do I keep needs and wants in check?
This book did not answer those questions, but it sure got a lot of questions rolling in my brain.
Have you read this book? I would love to hear your input on it.
inspiredwife
inspiredwife
inspiredwife
inspiredwife
inspiredwife
inspiredwife
inspiredwife
inspiredwife
I haven’t read the book, but I hear exactly where you’re coming from! My husband is an active duty soldier in the US Army, and at our last duty station we had a house that had 1800 square feet plus a full unfinished basement. We moved there from a 1300 square foot house, and the larger house was HUGE to us. At our current duty station, we have about 1400 square feet, and, while we wish we had an office space, it fits us much better. (2 kids, ages 3 & 7) I like having a smaller space because it limits the amount of STUFF we accumulate. Moving every 3 years, that’s important!! Plus, the older I get, the more “minimalist” I get… I just get weighed down by STUFF!
When I think about what could *really* be accomplished with the money used to build a 27-bathroom “house”, it kind of gets to me. So I try not to think about it too much. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48) I’m not saying that those who make more should live in poverty, but the *excess* gets to me….
I agree that we are letting our house lust get out of hand. I see my own sister falling into the trap. I am now 65 and each house is getting smaller and smaller. I remember my sweet grandmother giving away all her possessions as she got older until she had very few things left at 100 years old. Why do we keep collecting so many things we don’t need? I am moving soon to a 1500 sq ft house, will pretty it up and be satisfied that I have money in the back. It will be my third house with no mortgage and that is the way I like it. The Lord has blessed me with making profit on all of my houses, but why keep going bigger and bigger when I can save the money for the future? I thank God that I have always been happy with whatever I have. Yes, it has to be pretty, but does it have to be the biggest, best or most expensive?
Good luck with your move…may God bless your home with many happy moments with friends and family