Old Fashioned Homemaking for the Modern Woman

Old-fashioned homemaking thrills my soul! Things like canning, making things by hand, decorating with fresh flowers, wearing dresses, making your own food from scratch,…to name a few.

Since you are here, then you must love all the old fashioned homemaking things, too!

Perhaps you are new to this whole old fashioned living thing and simply want to explore this idea and see if it is for you.

Either way, I’m glad you are here so that we can go on this adventure of old fashioned homemaking together!

Let’s start at the beginning.

What is old fashioned homemaking?

Old fashioned homemaking is choosing to create your home and your lifestyle by pursuing the goodness, beauty, and wisdom that our parents, grandparents, and all the previous generations lived out.

There is nothing wrong with a modern lifestyle, but so much wisdom concerning how to live a good and flourishing life has been forgotten. For the sake of convenience and new things, we have sacrificed goodness and beauty.

Perhaps you are like me and you long to create a place that you and your family can flourish in. It can be done in a more modern lifestyle, but the more I learn about old fashioned living, the more I see that modern living cannot offer the wisdom, beauty, and goodness that I want for my home.

Having grown up overseas, I lived somewhat of an old fashioned life. We made almost all our food from scratch, we wore things out, we ran around barefoot and climbed trees, and we loved it.

Perhaps some of my love for old fashioned homemaking stems from this, but it also comes from the fact that living and eating in a modern lifestyle has caused health concerns. This raised questions in my mind and I did not start finding answers until I started looking into old fashioned nutrition and how life used to be lived.

As I embrace old fashioned living more and more, it doesn’t mean that I cannot have convenience, or that I cannot ever eat fast food. For me, living old fashioned means gleaning wisdom from the past generations in order to live well today.

The beautiful thing about being a homemaker is that you have the freedom to choose exactly how this looks for your family. You get to decide how old fashioned your decor is or how much food you cook from scratch or whether or not you even grow a garden.

There is no one clear cut definition of what old fashioned homemaking is for everyone. It depends a lot on what you are pursuing in life.

I have chosen old fashioned homemaking because it is a sustainable way to live that is filled with the goodness and wisdom of previous generations.

How to be old fashioned

There are a million things you could do to be old fashioned, but I have selected my favorites and what my family is doing in this season of life to share with you.

Cook from Scratch

There is nothing like homemade food! A slice of hot bread straight from the oven with butter slathered on it, a breakfast of fried eggs and toast or fried potatoes, a piece of pie that you made and baked yourself,….

Cooking from scratch is the best way to make delicious food for your family. It saves money and is the best way to have good old fashioned nutrition.

I used to be gluten free and I have also explored different diets. One thing they all have in common is that they all have some weird tasting food. Nothing beats the real thing. Some substitutes come close. The only thing I found to taste just as good as the real thing was name brand gluten free oreos, but there is no way that you can survive off of those!

Getting back to old fashioned cooking from scratch has answered so many questions concerning nutrition for me and my family. It’s healthy, wholesome, and very affordable even on a budget.

Also, old fashioned cooking essentials are very inexpensive and are really good quality. Things like cast iron skillets are very versatile and can be used for frying, simmering soup, and even baking in the oven. What a win especially if you are looking to minimize your possessions

A few other old fashioned things to have in your vintage inspired kitchen are…

Wooden Cooking Utensils
Aprons( like this super cute one!)
Tablecloths
Cloth Napkins
Mason Jar Glasses
Chinaware
Mortar and Pestle
Beeswax Candles

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Not only are they practical, but they are pretty, too!

Hey Friend!

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Are you struggling to manage your time at home?

Check out my new eBook Systems & Routines: Simple Time Management for Homemakers! It includes all that I have learned about systems and routines and how they have helped me manage my time and home well!

Hand Make things

Another old fashioned thing to do for your home is to make things instead of just buying them. There are a lot of benefits to hand making things. You save a lot of money over time and you get the satisfaction of creating something. It feels really good to have something homemade and your simple creations are something to be proud of!

Some things that previous generations made for their homes were …

Hand soap
Dish soap
Decor
Dresses
Blankets
Cleaning Solutions
Hair Products
Lotions
Curtains
Napkins
Tablecloths
Shampoo
Bath Soap
Clothing

It’s pretty in-expensive to do most of these things. Yes, it does take some time to learn a few skills, but what better way to spend your time!

Creating things with your hands is a great hobby to get into and adds a beautiful old-fashioned touch.

Slow down.

There’s too much rushing around nowadays. We go from here and there trying to get wherever as soon as possible, we try to get things done as fast as possible, and we try to do things as easily as possible.

The convenience of transportation, grocery stores, and modern appliances have greatly simplified our lives, but at what cost?

What have we lost because we have added these things into our life? There’s nothing wrong with convenience itself. It can be a blessing, but with everything we choose to include in our life, we sacrifice something else.

It is a blessing to be able to get dinner on the table in 15 minutes, but does it really taste as good as it could? Did we lose nutritional value because we skirt the old-fashioned techniques of food preparation in order to save time?

Stopping and looking back to the past how people have lived for generations has a great deal of benefit. Sure, we may sacrifice a lot of time in order to do things the hard way, but it just might be better for us.

We might find ourselves to be healthier, happier, fulfilled, and simply less stressed if we lived the old fashion way in many areas of our life.

Some ways we can slow down and enjoy old fashioned living are…

Cooking from scratch
Getting away from screens and out in the sunshine
Growing our own food
Choosing to walk to a close destination if it is safe and close by
Going to bed when the sun goes down (when time change allows. Maybe someday, we will be rid of it and we will enjoy the summer lighting in the evening year round)
Simplifying our possessions and life
Simplifying our to-do lists
Learning the old way of doing something to better understand it

Final Thoughts!

If you find your modern life leaving you unsatisfied and with a lot of unanswered questions, consider the way of living that has stood the test of time. Perhaps looking into the past and understanding how people have done certain things even if it is unnecessary and perhaps harder can open doors and be extremely insightful into how we can live more fully today.

Old fashioned homemaking is a way to direct your homemaking towards something good and beautiful, something that has stood the test of time. It’s a way to pursue the virtuous things of life, to understand what instilled women of previous generations the strength of character, fortitude, and generosity they had. It is to glean wisdom and understand so much of what our generation has forgotten.

In choosing to be old fashioned homemakers and traditional wives, we do choose to be different from the popular trends. Our homes will look different. Our lives will most likely feel out of place, but so has Christianity for ages.

The good things do not always fit in with everything, but that does not make them any less good. There is so much goodness to be had in old fashioned homemaking and if you would like to read more, check out the following posts!