Tools and appliances make life easier at work and at home. Today’s nesting experiences include appliances in nearly every room of our homes. Large appliances in the kitchen and laundry room are followed by small electronic appliances such as toothbrushes and shavers in the bathroom. Some furniture is equipped with motors for moving, lifting and massaging – which makes that movie-watching chair or sofa an appliance. Electronics create “appliance” status for garden tools and snowblowers too.
I’ve said many times that I choose not to live without a dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer in my home. In the past, these were optional appliances. Several summers ago, I added an outdoor clothesline for air-drying. In the longstanding category of standard appliances are stove/ovens, refrigerator/freezers, and garage door openers. I also choose to have a garage door opener, that when last replaced now includes a battery backup so that I can still enter/exit when there is a power outage.
Home remodels often include getting new kitchen appliances. Some of the newest appliances are more complicated technologically than the home computers of the last century. However, the appliances we select during a remodel or new construction tell us about what we find important and what we want others to see when they are in our homes. The very act of remodeling is a form of nesting!
Your appliance inventory may tell you how you feel about being at home. For instance, is your dishwasher broken and you are avoiding home-made meals because you don’t want to wash the dishes by hand? Is your water-saving washing machine causing you to wash clothes twice in order to get them clean? And, is your kitchen so full of small appliances (mixers, coffee makers, toasters, grinders, crockpots, Insta-pots, and the like) that you have no counter-top room left for making meals? Or, are all of your rooms equipped with working appliances that make being at home a pleasant experience?
Take stock of your appliances. Are they serving you well? Is it time to replace them? Do you have the right number, or too many appliances?
Nesting is about the objects and experiences that create a sense of home. Without home, it is difficult to maintain health, find joy, or to be productive. Enjoy the Nesting series of blogs on your search for and creation of a deep sense of home. –Jana
Jana Kemp
