Member-only story

A Millennial’s Guide to Homemaking

Rachel Wayne
7 min readApr 26, 2020

--

Today, I accepted the reality that I would never be able to buy a house. Despite what people say about millennials, it’s not that I don’t have that dream. Quite the contrary. As a child, I even played architect and sketched out my ideal house. It had three floors, a big kitchen, a movie theater, and a waterslide that went out the bedroom window into the pool.

Except for the last part, my dream hasn’t changed much. I not only want to own a house, I want it to be custom-built.

But at age 34, I’m still renting. I’ve struggled for years to get even a modest amount of savings. I graduated during the Great Recession, and I’ve simply never earned enough to afford a home. And before you start wondering about my spending habits, I don’t even like avocado toast.

Just because I can’t buy a house doesn’t mean I can’t have a home. In lieu of my custom-built open-air kitchen with a tiki bar, I’ve spent a lot of time cultivating a sense of home in whatever dump I happen to be renting. I’ve learned the basics of homemaking even when I can’t have my dedicated theater room or hardwood floors.

Looking to turn your rental into a home? Here are a few pointers.

Quality Towels

My first post-college boyfriend had a nice house, and he’d converted the spare bedroom into a…

--

--

Rachel Wayne
Rachel Wayne

Written by Rachel Wayne

Artist/anthropologist/activist writing about art, media, culture, health, science, enterprise, and where they all meet. Join my list: http://eepurl.com/gD53QP

Responses (3)