About My Values

These are my values for making a home. Some are lifted directly from my general list of values; others are specific to the process of buying, decorating, and maintaining a home. The bullets explain what they mean in real life.

 

To bring myself joy

•  Not stressing too much
•  Having a house I like to be in

To bring my guests and loved ones joy

•  Making my guests feel welcome and comfortable
•  Having enough room to make sure I feel comfortable when guests are there

To minimize my negative impact on the earth’s biological and environmental systems

•   To buy as few new-made goods as possible, focusing on what I already own and what I can buy second-hand
•   When I do buy new-made goods, to buy them out of sustainable materials
•   To buy local when possible

To avoid causing pain when possible

•   To buy American-made goods or goods I know were not made in a sweatshop

To live my life without reference to what other people want from me or think I should be

•  To have a home that is pleasing to me, even if what pleases me is out-of-fashion

To have things I can move and care for myself

•  To buy small furniture instead of big, bulky items that require movers

To live within my means financially

These values do not contradict themselves on paper. But in real life, it’s a balancing act. I can often balance two but not three.

For example, I will need to buy furniture and appliances for my new house, and this means I will have to balance my values about money (living within my means), ethics (buying sustainably and humanely produced goods), and happiness (bringing myself joy). I can save money to buy great pieces, but in the meantime I’ll be living in a stark space that does not make me happy. I can buy great pieces now, but then I’ll be in debt to a credit card company. Finally, I could buy cheap pieces for instant gratification, but then I might be buying goods made in sweatshops.

I don’t believe there’s one right answer. And even if there is, I don’t believe it’s important for me to get the perfect answer every time. I do believe it’s important for me to think about each decision and to make my choices consciously and deliberately. That is what this blog is about. It’s a space to share the balancing act with you.

It’s not important that we be perfect. It’s important that we recognize we are all in this together.

About this Blog

“Crunchy” is a word we use in California to describe a sort of hippie-environmentalist-liberal. It derives from the similar term “granola.” I describe myself in this blog as a little bit crunchy (and a little bit rock and roll). I work to reduce my carbon footprint, but I know there are millions who work harder than I do. Fortunately, it’s not a competition (or if it is, it’s a very silly competition where we’re all rooting for each other). I know that whatever steps we take will help ourselves, our country, and our planet. If you are daunted by a huge lifestyle change like going vegan or getting rid of your car, that’s no reason to stop yourself from making small changes like Meatless Mondays, Vegan Thursdays, or carpooling.

This blog is the tale of me buying my first home as a single, 36-year-old woman, and how I’m going to create a home in a thoughtful way that balances my values. It will be a little bit crunchy, and a little bit rock and roll.