Homemaking Skills for Beginners: Small Steps to Big Changes

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Today, I’d like to share the practical advice and tips that have significantly helped me develop essential homemaking skills. Join me on my journey from a city apartment to a cosy country cottage, where I’m learning to create a warm, organized, and joyful home.

Three years ago, I became a mother. Shortly before that, I moved to the country to a humble three-bedroom cottage on a third of an acre of land. I had big dreams and a clear vision of what I wanted this new chapter of my life to look and feel like.

But when my son was born, I found myself adjusting not only to life in the country but also to the different homemaking skills required to manage a home. Previously, I had spent a decade living in share houses or a small one-bedroom apartment in the inner city of Sydney with my husband. My heart knew exactly what it wanted, but the actual homemaking skills to make that vision a reality were a bit fuzzy and, to be honest, overwhelming.

As I began learning more about homemaking, I realised just how multifaceted it is. It’s not just about keeping a home tidy and organised; it’s about creating a warm, cozy, and loving environment that nurtures everyone within its walls and all who visit.

The constant, cyclical nature of household tasks, combined with the unrealistic portrayals of perfect homes on social media, can easily make one feel guilty, envious, and even a little hopeless about where to begin.

Nowadays, I have weeks where everything flows smoothly — everyone has clean clothes, home-cooked meals grace our table, the pantry is well-stocked, and I have time for fun projects and gardening. There are also times when chaos reigns (because, life!), but now I have the structures, systems, and routines to bring everything back to order relatively quickly.  Step by step, I’m beginning to become an effective homemaker, and I’d love to share with you what I’ve learned.

Create a Vision for Your Home

Creating a vision for your home is about more than just assembling Pinterest boards of beautiful interiors — those images often depict an unrealistic ideal. Instead, focus on how you want your home to feel and the emotions you want to experience as you move through it each day. Consider who lives there and how you want them to feel.

For me, I envision a simple country home on a bush block that is a cosy, welcoming haven.  I picture the warmth of home-cooked meals lovingly prepared and served on our timeworn, cherished dinner table, where every scratch and dent tells a story of family gatherings and messy afternoon art projects. Our home is a collection of upcycled treasures and handmade creations, each piece adding a touch of history. There are brimming bookshelves, which are home to beloved stories waiting to be discovered.

I imagine couches adorned with snuggly, handmade rugs and quilts, perfect for curling up with a steaming cup of tea and getting lost in a good book. Outside, the garden thrives with vibrant produce, a testament to the nurturing care we pour into our little patch of earth. The aroma of freshly baked bread, fresh coffee and Japanese incense wafts through the air. Each morning, my children skip to the chicken coop, basket in hand, their faces alight with the simple delight of gathering fresh eggs.

Write it Down

Regularly reconnecting with this vision helps me stay focused on what truly matters, preventing me from getting caught up in unrealistic portrayals of a perfect home or feeling overwhelmed by trying to do everything at once.

You might find it helpful to write this vision down in your journal or simply hold it as a feeling you can conjure up at any moment. Remember, it’s about the atmosphere and emotional essence of your home, not just its appearance.  Then the homemaking skills required to bring that vision to life will naturally present themselves.

The First Homemaking Skill to Establish is Rhythm

Before launching into making my own bread or learning to sew my children’s clothes, I’ve found that the most important homemaking skills starts with building small, manageable routines for the beginning and end of each day. I’ve discussed this in detail in my post on the FlyLady system, a homekeeping system that works best for me in this season of life.

A good evening routine sets you up for a smoother morning, and the morning routine prepares you for a smoother day. They feed into each other, creating a virtuous cycle and sets out a daily schedule for yourself.

On days when I’ve been up all night tending to a teething baby and my brain feels like mush, knowing that I just need to put one foot in front of the other and follow my morning and evening routines keeps everything ticking over in a somewhat organised fashion on a daily basis.

Morning Routine

A good morning routine can include tasks like:

• Making the bed
• Loading the dishwasher
• Putting on a load of laundry
• Doing a quick clean-up of surfaces after breakfast
• Getting everyone dressed for the day

Once you have these basics down, it can be enjoyable to add some extra habits. For me at the moment, this includes:

• Getting up earlier than the rest of my family
• Lighting a candle
• Making a cup of tea
• Writing in my journal
• Meditating or praying
• Writing for the blog
• Reading
• Keeping a book stack next to the breakfast table to read a few books to the children and sing a few seasonal songs.

Evening Routine

A good evening routine, which I start thinking about after naptime, includes:

• Prepping dinner
• Tidying up toys and other clutter hotspots
• Making sure the morning’s laundry is dry, folded, and put away
• Cleaning the kitchen after dinner
• Running the dishwasher

After “putting the house to bed” I try to:

• Putting on some cozy socks
• Making a pot of sleepy time tea
• Sharing a few biscuits and tea with my husband
• Retiring to bed with a good novel

Once you have these routines down, you might add a few more tasks, such as laying out clothes or items needed for the next day.  These repeated tasks will soon become automatic, helping to keep your home running smoothly without overwhelming your mind. You may like to gather these rhythms together into one place, which is where a homemaking journal or binder can be very handy. Especially in the beginning when you’re building out your scaffolding. I’ve written about how I use mine over on this blog post.

Developing Your Weekly Rhythm

Adopting another FlyLady concept, themed days, or the daily focus can significantly help in organising your homemaking tasks. This involves assigning specific tasks to particular days of the week. Here’s how I structure my week:

• Monday: House Reset
  • Start the week with a good house reset. Tidy up, declutter and get the home in order after the weekend.
• Tuesday: Admin Day
  • This is a great day for meal planning, paying bills, catching up on emails, and doing any financial management tasks such as reviewing our household budget, and bookkeeping for our business or tax-related tasks.
• Wednesday: Deep Cleaning & Home Maintenance
  • Focus on deeper cleaning in a rotating area of the house. This keeps all areas of the home well-maintained without overwhelming yourself.
• Thursday: Errands
  • Run errands like grocery shopping, dropping off donations at the op shop, going to the library, and picking out new books.
• Friday: Car Care and Date Night
  • Declutter the car, fill it with fuel, and enjoy a date night.
• Saturday: Family Fun Day
  • Spend time together as a family. Often, this is a day for out-of-town visitors or catching up with friends, doing something fun with the kids.
• Sunday: Rest and Renew
  • For some, this might be a day for church. For us, it’s a day of yoga, coffee with friends, and personal relaxation. My husband and I take turns to fill our cups, setting ourselves up for the week ahead.

This rhythm helps you stay organised and ensures that all necessary tasks are covered without the need to tackle everything at once.

“I enjoy doing housework, ironing, washing, cooking, dishwashing. Whenever I get one of those questionaires and they ask what is your profession, I always put down housewife. It’s an admirable profession, why apologize for it. You aren’t stupid because you’re a housewife. When you’re stirring the jam you can read Shakespeare.”

Tasha Tudor

Flexibility is Key

One of the great things about themed days is their flexibility. You don’t have to stick rigidly to this schedule. You can mix and match, swap out days to suit your agenda, or even combine tasks from different days if needed. For instance, if a Monday is better suited for errands, swap it with Thursday’s house reset. On busier weeks, you might need to handle admin tasks in the morning and run errands in the afternoon.

Having this basic framework is invaluable. It’s like an invisible scaffolding that supports all your other homemaking skills.  Once you have these rhythms in place, pockets of time and mental space will open up to start working on other homemaking skills.

Start Building Out Your Homemaking Skill Set

Developing your homemaking skills can seem daunting at first, but breaking it down into manageable steps can make it more achievable and enjoyable. Here’s how you can start:

Make a List of Skills

Begin by making a list of all the homemaking skills you want to develop. When you envision a simple life, what does that look like? Reflect on your vision for your home and identify any skills you need to develop to achieve that vision. This could include:

• Baking sourdough bread
• Nutritious meals
• Sewing
• Knitting or crochet
• Gardening
• Keeping chickens
• Fermenting foods
• Preserving and canning
• Homemade cleaning products

Focus on One Homemaking Skill at a Time

Choose one skill at a time to focus on. Dedicate time each week to practice and learn about it. Take a practical approach by starting with simple tasks and gradually moving on to more complex ones. For example:

• Baking: Start with a basic bread recipe and some fun, easy treats like Anzac biscuits, banana bread, or a simple chocolate cake. Once you’ve mastered these basics, you can move on to more complex bakes (like my favourite bread, Danish rugbrot!)
• Herb and Vegetable Garden: Begin with easy-to-grow herbs or vegetables. Once you’re comfortable, expand to more challenging plants. Learn about seasonal tasks like pruning, weeding, laying compost, and harvesting. I’ve written about how we love and use the no-dig approach to our herb and vegetable garden over here.

Integrate Skills into Your Daily Routine

Before moving on to the next skill, find a way to incorporate the skill you’ve just learned into your daily or weekly routine. This helps reinforce the skill and makes it a natural part of your homemaking.

• Baking: I love making our own bread. On Mondays, when I’m resetting the home, I feed my sourdough starter the night before and start a double batch of bread. One loaf is baked immediately, and the other goes into the fridge for later in the week. I repeat this on Fridays so we have fresh bread for the weekend.
• Vegetable and Herb Garden: During the growing season of spring and summer, incorporate simple daily tasks like watering and light weeding. Schedule more significant tasks like laying down compost and mulch, planting, and harvesting into your calendar. Plan how you’ll preserve and use your garden’s bounty.

Focused Approach to Prevent Overwhelm

This focused approach prevents you from feeling overwhelmed and helps build your confidence and proficiency in each area. By integrating new skills into your routines, you create a sustainable way to develop your homemaking skills over time.

Remember, it’s an organic process! Give yourself the mental task of focusing on one skill at a time and bringing it into the rhythm of your days. This way, you’ll find yourself continuously developing your skill set.

My Favourite Homemaking Resources

Here are some of my favourite resources that have helped me along the way. These books, blogs, and YouTube channels are fantastic for anyone looking to develop essential homemaking skills.

Home Management and Organisation

• FlyLady System:The FlyLady system is my go-to for maintaining a tidy and organized home. My favourite resources for making this system approachable are:
  • Diane in Denmark: Diane’s zany and delightful nature makes her videos enjoyable. She has been using the FlyLady system for years and shares her passion for it beautifully. Following her videos is a great way to learn basic homemaking skills.
  • The Secret Slob: Although she no longer makes videos, her extensive collection is perfect for busy mums. Her practical advice is incredibly relevant to my current season of life and is a great way to learn good habits and homemaking routines.
• The Organised Mum: While FlyLady has my heart, I also love The Organised Mum’s “Rock the Housework” cleans. Her app and Patreon feel like having a friend guiding you through housework tasks, making it easier and more fun. This is one of the best ways to stay on top of your cleaning schedule.

Natural Cleaning Products

• Clean Mama: Becky’s simple and effective recipes for homemade cleaners are fantastic. Her blog is a treasure trove of natural cleaning solutions and a super simple way to incorporate eco-friendly practices into your daily routines.  And it was her book “Simply Clean: The Proven Method for Keeping Your Home Organized, Clean, and Beautiful in Just 10 Minutes a Day” that first introduced me to the concept of systems and rhythms in the home.  

Cooking Simple, Delicious & Nutritious Meals

• Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig.  Based on the principles of Weston A. Price, this epic of a nutrition guide and cookbook is the style of eating that most influences my cooking and how I tend to my family’s health.  Being a naturopath, I’ve experimented with many different approaches to food, and this is a resource that I constantly keep coming back to. This style of cooking emphasises nourishing foods like bone broth, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and fermented foods.  Knowing how to cook from scratch and transform food into medicine are essential homemaking skills for any modern homemaker who values health and wellness.
• Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols: Lily’s approach to food is based on Weston A. Price principles, but has a specific focus on pregnancy,  It’s been an incredibly valuable resource throughout my pregnancies. 
• Farmhouse on Boone: This blog by Lisa Bass has wonderful recipes for sourdough, food preservation, fermented veggies, and hearty, simple meals that are family-friendly. Cooking from scratch using basic ingredients is such a great skill to have, and Lisa demonstrates this so beautifully through her blog and YouTube channel.  She also has a great beginners series on using your sewing machine which would be excellent if making some of your own clothes is a new skill you’d like to master.

Gardening and Self-Sufficiency

• Charles Dowding’s No-Dig Gardening: Charles Dowding is my go-to guru for no-dig gardening methods. His techniques are simple and effective, making it a great way to grow your own vegetables.
• Herbal Medicine Growing and Making: For growing medicinal herbs and creating herbal remedies, I recommend the books  “Making Plant Medicine” by Richo Cech and “Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use” by Rosemary Gladstar.

Crafts and DIY

• Knitting, Crochet, and Mending: Learning from older women in your community can be invaluable. I’ve enjoyed attending local crochet and knitting groups. These domestic skills are both practical and a creative way to personalize your home.
• Miss Mustard Seed: Her book “Feels Like Home” and her blog offer beautiful inspiration for home decor and DIY projects. Engaging in these crafts is a great skill that adds a unique touch to your homemaking.

Frugality and Thrift

• Rhonda Hetzel: Rhonda’s blog “Down to Earth” and her books “The Simple Home” (the inspiration for this blog in fact!) and “Down to Earth” are excellent resources for old-fashioned homemaking skills, living frugally and managing household finances. They teach you how to save money and live simply, which are important aspects of home economics.
• The Simple Path to Wealth by J L Collins and The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape: These books offer great advice for financial management and independence. Managing your finances effectively is one of the most important skills for any homemaker.

Family and Community Building

• The Life-Giving Home by Sally and Sarah Clarkson: This book is wonderful for creating and maintaining family traditions and fostering a hospitable home. It highlights the art of homemaking as a way to build strong family bonds and community connections.

Mindfulness and Wellbeing

• Korean Homemaking Vloggers: I love watching Korean vloggers who focus on the meditative aspects of homemaking tasks. Their videos are a gentle reminder to practice mindfulness and presence in daily chores. This approach can make even the hard work of homemaking feel fulfilling and serene.  Haegreendal and HamiMommy are my favourites for relaxing viewing!

These resources have been instrumental in my journey of homemaking over these past 3 years. I hope they inspire and support you as you develop your homemaker skills and create a home filled with warmth, creativity, love, and care.

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