A Command Center: What improves your marriage?
On Friday night, Matt and I checked into The Westin while his mom and brother watched our three children. We didn’t leave our room. We uncorked a bottle of wine and snuggled under our comforter.
And as we laughed, I realized neither of us is crazy. Just at times the busyness of three children under 6 makes us appear that way.
But it’s not just your children that put stress on your marriage; sometimes it’s your home, too. How you live in a shared space.
Because with our home’s open floor plan, as soon as Matt returns from work, he sees more work to be done: the mail, papers our children brought home from school, keys, and our phones charging. I can’t escape the sight of work either: dvds to return, my computer with unpaid bills next to it.
Which got me thinking: can you build a home that makes your marriage better? It’s not that we want a bigger home with spaces we never use; we want a home that brings us comfort.
So we love the idea of a command center, where everything that doesn’t have a place is given one. And we’ve designed ours with a pocket door to slide shut when it’s not in use. Out of sight, out of mind.
What do you think: can a home improve your relationship? Or worsen it?
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Oh how I wish we had this! Our main floor is an open floor plan and yes, all the “TO DO” stuff smacks you right in the face when you walk in. We have a lot of counterspace and the one corner of it is now our de-facto command center. And I hate it. We just converted the front room to an office and we are slowly transitioning our command center but it’s still not there yet. You guys are going to have an amazing house!
Love this idea!
Yes, I absolutely think a house can hurt or help a marriage and a family. We used to have a home office with a door and it became a dumping ground. Now we don’t have any kind of command center and our kitchen has become an office AND dumping ground. I love your idea of having an area that is tucked away but not so big that it can become little more than a storage area.
All of the things you are taking into consideration when building are so great! When you are done, I want to build an exact copy of your house.
My entire home is “Command Central” and if could devise a way to have a place for everything – I would. In fact – that’s my goal for the coming autumn. Everything in its place. Even I need to create new places. it is especially problematical because I freelance and have many projects sitting in piles around the home. I’m as bad as the kids and their school work.
I’m sure certain floor plans encourage togetherness (or not) or create extra stress (or not.). But ultimately I think it’s up to the couple to just connect no matter what. Sounds like you and your nubby did that which is great – gotta love those Heavenly beds!
I think a house can definitely set a tone. We lived in a 12×20 “Shack” last winter (there are just two of us) and while it worked, it wasn’t always the best time in the world. You do need to be able to distance yourself from all your “stuff” and projects that need doing.
I definitely believe that close quarters can cause more stress. My husband and I are newlyweds and are definitely affected by it in our 1 bedroom apartment! We cannot wait to get a bigger space in January!
Ha! Funny that you posted this. I was just stressing over the state of our giant kitchen table covered in mail, newspapers, bills, magazines, catalogs. It’s out of control.
Personally, I don’t like those built in desks in kitchens. They become dumping grounds. I’ve never seen anyone sit at one.
Maybe it would work if it has some kind of organizing system. (cubbies, baskets, hooks for keys, plugs for phones,??)
Love the doors to close it up, though. GREAT idea.
So great that you were able to get away!
Great post
*Stopping by from Blog Frog
Jen
http://www.fabulousfinds.ca
http://morningcoffeeconfessions.blogspot.com
Sounds like a wonderful time! I don’t even have kids yet but sometimes we get so busy with life, jobs and school we don’t make time to spend quality time together. Thanks for the great reminder! I think the command center is a great idea!