Grace Notes

a blog about life’s everyday magic

March 3, 2017

10 Messes I Not-so-Secretly Love

10 Messes I Not-so-Secretly Love

Words: Christen Hammons
Photo credit: Markus Spiske

 

Certain sights send my heart soaring, but they’re not ones you’d expect.

 

I like clutter. I’m not talking the “I should be on an episode of Hoarders” clutter, but the kind that is proof of a life being lived. Whenever I look around a home – whether it is mine or a dear friend’s – these messes always call out to me and fill me with warmth and joy.

 

 

  • A sofa overloaded with throw pillows and blankets

 

  • A cupboard filled with mugs and glasses that don’t match at all

 

  • An unmade bed

 

  • A nightstand piled high with books

 

  • A few pairs of shoes scattered near the door

 

  • A coat rack stuffed with jackets and scarves

 

  • The remains of a dinner party after the last guest left

 

  • Board games shoved into a cabinet any way they’ll fit

 

  • Baskets overflowing with children’s toys

 

  • Flour scattered around the kitchen after a day of baking

 

 

What are some sights most people would see as clutter that send you over the moon? I’d love to hear them!

 

 

Discover more imperfections worth embracing in Issue 7 of Bella Grace where our readers share 58 Beautiful Messes We Secretly Love.

 

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Comments ( 8 )

  1. Cathy

    April 19, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    YES!! I enjoy and live in my home and the evidence I leave lying around is just fine with me! Clutter I like: a table covered with craft supplies, books beside me on the couch, a bookshelf crammed with children’s books, and a basket overflowing with fabrics and fibers.

  2. Sharon Goemaere

    April 19, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    I love my haphazard pile of “Victoria”,”English Home” and “Traditional Home”magazines . 🙂

  3. Nancy

    April 19, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    I am in the midst of a big writing project, and my small desk is stacked with folders and papers and pens and paper clips and little pieces of papers with scrawled notes on them and a half-finished bottle of Diet Coke and my thesaurus and the Bible and the Chicago Manual of Style. All of it pleases me and makes me feel like a real writer. My kind of clutter in a house normally neat and orderly.

  4. Patricia L Cook

    April 19, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    In my home you will find the clutter of my writing. There are stacks of decorative pads and containers of pens in every style and color imaginable. The pads are stacked cockeyed and I love it that way! The pens, which you will find all over my home, are in cans, cups, jars, every type of container you can imagine! It makes me feel inspired to sit down anywhere and express myself in my writing!

  5. Linda Q.

    April 19, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    When my dauhgters were younger, I loved the “messes” made by painting or playing with clay. Also, when they would make forts out of blankets and all the dishes and leftover goodies from little tea parties. Sand on the floor and piles of shells and smooth rocks collected from a walk on the beach in the summer and the homemade fairy wands and crowns from dress-up play would warm my heart on the coldest of winter days!

  6. Suzanne

    April 19, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    I love seeing all the “big boy shoes”
    piled up in our mudroom when my
    high school son’s friends are over : )
    It’s been amazing to see how that
    pile has changed, from little sneakers
    that light up to Crocs and athletic
    shoes, to boat shoes, Vans and all
    the other “in styles” as they have
    grown. All seniors now, so I am
    savoring this little joy as the months
    fly toward graduation.

    xo Suzanne

  7. Diana

    April 19, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    In our bedroom we have a bookcase filled with not only books, but small treasures I have found through the years. Photos in various frames and sizes (sometimes just a sparkly frame with no picture in it), pretty rocks and seashells, the smallest piled into glass apothecary jars, tiny vases, a small slab of stone with a leaf fossil, an eagle tail feather we found, and journals. I love how each and every item holds a special memory. And it never bothers us that we have move things before taking out an actual book!

  8. Kassie

    April 19, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    I take pleasure in, cause I discovered just what I used to be looking
    for. You’ve ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day.
    Bye

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