Our Slow Home: Why I’m Only Designing Two Rooms in Our New House (Right Now)

I recently realized that one of the reasons I’ve felt so overwhelmed with home design is because I’ve been trying to work on every space at the same time. My mind felt pulled in too many directions, and instead of making progress, I found myself spinning in circles.

So I finally said to my husband: What if we just pushed pause on most of the spaces in our house and focused on just two that we use every day?

He was immediately on board. My husband really enjoys the design process—he has opinions, preferences, and ideas that I truly value and welcome. But at the end of the day, I’m the one who pieces the spaces together. Somewhere along the way, I had taken on this invisible weight of trying to design the whole house while also keeping his preferences in mind. He never meant for me to feel that pressure (and I didn’t even realize I felt it until we talked about it). But once I put words to it, I knew I needed to slow down and give myself permission to move more intentionally.

Asking God for Guidance

When I thought about narrowing our focus, I decided to pray. Not because there’s a right or wrong spiritual choice about which rooms to work on first, but because I want to put my limited energy where God would have me give my attention in this season.

And as I prayed and thought it through, two rooms came into focus: our playroom and our dining room.

Why the Playroom

We’ve recently stepped into a new rhythm as a family: our oldest is in a collaborative kindergarten, which means she’s in school three days a week and homeschooled two days a week. On those homeschool days, the playroom is where the work happens. It’s also the room where our kids relax and recharge. So making it a space that feels both functional and joyful felt like the right place to start.

Why the Dining Room

We’ve also felt the Lord calling us to recommit ourselves to hospitality. To be clear: you do not need a perfectly designed dining room to host. Hospitality is never about polished spaces—it’s about open hearts. But if I’m honest, this unfinished room has left me unmotivated to invite people in. I know that by making it more complete—even if not perfect—I’ll be in a better headspace to extend more invitations, gather around the table, and practice the kind of hospitality God has called us to.

So that’s where we’re starting. Not the whole house, not even half the house—just two spaces. Slowing down has lifted a weight I didn’t even realize I was carrying. And my prayer is that by focusing on these rooms with intention, they’ll become places where both our family and our guests experience the joy of the Lord.

I can’t wait to share more of this journey with you as these spaces begin to take shape.