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lazy_gardens

Great blog post on Trends and Tyranny

lazy_gardens
9 years ago

With a super before and after shot.

Here is a link that might be useful: Give me Gratitude, or Give me debt?

Comments (17)

  • debrak2008
    9 years ago

    Excellent! I love the refrigerator photo!

  • dcward89
    9 years ago

    Awesome...just awesome!!

  • greenhaven
    9 years ago

    Oh, funny, I just read this a few days ago! YES, such a great blog post!

  • palimpsest
    9 years ago

    Sure, but I hope she donates all her proceeds to charity.
    Making money by criticizing other methods of making money seems as if it should be against her philosophy.

  • Zoladub Dub
    9 years ago

    i think it just shows a different perspective. i just demo'd what some people would consider a great kitchen. but for me it just didn't work. i need more storage at a higher level so i don't have to bend as much. i have medical issues and it was really hard for me to function in the old kitchen. Her kitchen functions fine for her.

  • CEFreeman
    9 years ago

    I cried.

    I had an interesting lesson in gratitude, when I found the philosophies of yoga, tantra, Buddhism, and the Bible coming out of my mouth in a traumatic time. They all equaled gratitude. It was incredible to find I was walking the walk of 35 years of teaching, rather than just talking. Never though about it/myself either way until that moment.

    Since then, there isn't a day without gratitude. Because I am the luckiest person in the world. It's incredible to find someone else so grateful for the small things that make our life, well, incredible!

    This was a great blog post.

  • christina222_gw
    9 years ago

    I liked her post. It wasn't a reaction against people doing over their kitchens, it was prompted by total strangers telling her she should redo hers. Pretty rude IMO.

  • greenhaven
    9 years ago

    And haven't we discussed this before on this forum, about feeling inadequate if our kitchens weren't Houzz-worthy? I think it is the same thought/feeling. I fall slave to it alll the time. The "shoulds" should not rule our lives. To learn the difference between a TRUE want and a TRUE need can be difficult, but once mastered can offer perspective on all kinds of things in our lives.

    Technically I did not "need" any one single thing I have done to my kitchen, and that helps me be all the more grateful for what I have when it is all done rather than disappointed in what I don't have. And I think that is the point of her blog post, not to criticize what others have.

  • blfenton
    9 years ago

    Her comments, while valid in some respects, left me cold. I thought she was rather condescending and a little "holier than thou". I'm not a regular reader of blogs so I don't know what the general tone of them is and whether this is typical of hers.

    I did learn long ago that trying to keep up with the Joneses does not and will not bring one happiness.

    I'm glad that her kitchen works for her and she is good with it but trying to make those of us who needed to or wanted to redo our kitchens feel bad for that decision is immature. I appreciate my non-leaking taps that bring me fresh water, my fridge with a working freezer, my bigger windows that bring in more daylight more and more everyday.

  • PRO
    Joseph Corlett, LLC
    9 years ago

    This article is awful if you're in fashion, oops, I mean the countertop business.

    You haven't worn padded shoulders since the 80s, why would you let anyone see those mauve plastic laminate countertops in your kitchen? Pullleasssse.

  • breezygirl
    9 years ago

    I hadn't read that post. I am also grateful everyday for my new kitchen. I couldn't, however, wait to get rid of the old one even though it performed the same basic functions as the new. Sometimes prettier and more functional is better. I'll link one of my favorites from her blog below.

    Blfenton--it seems to me in the little blog reading i do (not much) that this type of attitude and tone is considered funny and witty, and therefore more subscriber-getting.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Beautiful post

  • ainelane
    9 years ago

    I think her post raises some interesting things for me.
    Firstly, yes, I am grateful for my kitchen. Although it is very dated, I appreciate that at the time it must have been very high end and it was someone's dream kitchen. It is nicer than the kitchen in my previous home by a mile and it's only in the last 2 years that I've started down the path to reno-land.

    But, here's where I'm stuck with her post. I don't NEED to reno my kitchen at ALL. Unlike many of you who sound as though you reno'd for utility reasons, there is nothing non-functional about my kitchen. It works for me perfectly. It's 30 years old and I think it could go on for another 30. It's not falling apart, everything works (ok, except for the auto-light on the gas cooktop. But, I'm blessed that I have a lighter, right?)

    My only desire to reno my kitchen is because I like design and I am excited that I can use my creativity and research skills to change it into something I will love more. I guess I feel her post is telling me that I'm a non-grateful person, or I've been suckered by "the system". Hmm.

    Anyway, just random thoughts....

  • Vertise
    9 years ago

    "My only desire to reno my kitchen is because I like design and I am excited that I can use my creativity and research skills to change it into something I will love more. I guess I feel her post is telling me that I'm a non-grateful person, or I've been suckered by "the system". Hmm"

    No, see her "beautiful" post link directly above yours. Your love of design and surroundings fills your spirit, comes from within. Its pleasure is something that contributes to your individual and inner beauty.

    Excerpt: "Beautiful women are women who spend time discovering what they love, what sings to them, what their idea of beauty on this Earth is. Then they make time each day to fill themselves up with that beauty. They know themselves well enough to know what they love, and they love themselves enough to fill up with a little of their particular kind of beauty each day "

    Whether soaking up the natural beauty of the beach or creating a personal sanctuary at home, either can fill you with joy, peace and life. (The latter would be *after the reno is complete!)

  • ainelane
    9 years ago

    Oh, thank you so much for your post snookums2! I hadn't read that link and I'm so happy you pointed it out to me. I love the idea of "filling up with a little bit of beauty everyday". That thought is a keeper :)

  • LE
    9 years ago

    I read this just today, and was thinking of posting it here. I would not have anticipated some of the more defensive responses I've read. (And I'm building an entire house that I don't "need," because I have a roof over my head already.) I found it a helpful perspective, something to think about when I obsess over something small. Yeah, we have a magic box to keep our food cold and water that comes right out of a pipe in the wall. Damn, that is something! The rest is all frosting... Now back to freaking out slightly about whether my grout is the right color... But slightly less obsessively...

  • greenhaven
    9 years ago

    I think the point of her blog post is obvious right from the beginnings.. Some random people saw pictures of her kitchen and criticized it, which made her feel like the kitchen sshe loved was maybe somehow inadequate. The rest of the post iss defending her kitchen, warts nd all, no taking to task those who reno their kitchens.

    If someone I didn't even know criticized my figure I would feel bad. My self-esteem would take a hit even if I acknowledged carrying a few more pounds than are considered healthy. But then I would look back on how hard this past year had been for me and the toll stress has taken on my body and know that where I am now is okay.

    That doesn' t mean at all that I discredit or look down on those people who are diehard about their fitness and weight, just defending myself against those who criticize with no knowledge or misunderstand the true source of innate happiness.
    It is not the same thing but the same general concept as the blogger. I don't begrudge anyone here their beautiful, expensive kitchens. As a matter of fact I enjoy sharing in their triumphs and admiring excellent design work. But I would not expect anyone here to look down on those who are doing renos on a tight budget or make decisions on behalf of function over form.

  • Kiwigem
    9 years ago

    I loved it. I forwarded it to all my bible study friends (and other friends, too :-) but I thought they'd be a particularly interested audience). I will now be using the word "perspectacles"on a daily basis. (Hadn't heard that one before.) And I love the sentence "our entire economy is based on distracting women [people] from their blessings." I will remind myself of that phrase whenever I consider a purchase. Thanks for a great- and, for me, timely- blog post.

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