10 Simple Ways to Romanticize Your Everyday Life

Last Updated on March 18, 2025 by Stacy Averette

Life can be hard on a woman’s tender heart. Regardless of our job-by-day, at heart, we’re nurturers, creators, and homemakers, painfully aware of the bossy hustle culture demanding we do more, do it faster, and do it perfectly. In this post, I’m sharing simple ways to romanticize your everyday life.

I have a tenacious work ethic. I’m very task-oriented, so being productive and checking things off my list makes me extremely happy. But my soul needs more than “being useful and productive,” and yours does, too. After all, we’re not robots. We are, in fact, the Creator’s highest form of creation, made in His image.

Romanticize: to make glamorous, embellish, sentimentalize.

Romanticize Your Life!

“Romanticize my life?  What is this woman even talking about? She’s clueless about what I’m going through and how stressed out I am right now! I’d love to romanticize my life, but real life is no fairy tale!”

I hear you, friend! This is a common sentiment I hear often. We vent and complain about work, church, relationships, the government, Walmart, social media, getting old, and the restaurant we ate at last night.

Regardless of age or season of life, many things are beyond our control. People are misbehaving, have health issues, financial troubles, job woes, and political unrest. Did I miss anything? Life is full of trouble and heartache, and often, there’s not much we can do to fix or change it. Sometimes we have to say, “It is what it is.”

But if we aren’t careful, we’ll allow what we can’t control to control us. We get so focused on the bad people and circumstances that we deem life as bad. And the more “bad” we focus on the more bad we see. Are we destined to just white-knuckle our way through this “miserable life” and wait for Jesus to come back and rescue us? I don’t think so.

Inspired to Thrive

In case you’re wondering, I’m a romantic idealist with some practical realism thrown in for good measure. Since I was a little girl I’ve romanticized my life. I choose to see life as better, more beautiful, and more adventurous than it appears on the surface. Call me Pollyanna (blindly or foolishly optimistic) if you wish, but my choice to romanticize my everyday life doesn’t come naturally or easily. I have to be intentional and work at it every day. 

My brain loves to awfulize and prepare for the worst. I’m hesitant to get my hopes up for fear of being disappointed yet again. A scarcity mentality (fear of a lack of resources) is my default setting, even though I wasn’t raised to think that way.

From my perspective, my parents and grandparents exercised great faith and lived bold, adventurous lives. To others, I’m sure their lives seemed simple, ordinary, and unglamorous, but I can tell you that the way they lived—hopeful and expectant—was quite lovely and continues to inspire me even though they’ve all been gone for years.

3 Reasons Why I Choose to Romanticize My Life

1. Life is short

I don’t want to squander a single day worrying about what might happen (or might not happen) and miss the beauty and abundance of what’s right in front of me. Life is short. I’ll prepare for the future as best I can, but I will romanticize my everyday life.

2. God is good

Life is hard, but God is near. He’s nearer to us than the trouble we face. (I wrote a book about it!) Romanticizing my everyday life is one way I acknowledge God’s goodness and live with gratitude for His work in me, in you, and in the world around us.  

3. It’s the pathway to peace

At times, I’ve crumbled under the dark cloud of circumstance, negativity, and skepticism, but I’m choosing a better way. There’s no denying that life is hard, but we have the power to focus on whatever we want. God’s Word exhorts us to be intentional with our thoughts as a pathway to peace.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think on these things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9

(What we think about determines how we feel and how we act! Read this post:)

10 Simple Ways to Romanticize Your Everyday Life

1. Get Dressed

Get dressed every day. By “dressed” I mean, get out of your PJs, shower, put on an outfit that makes you feel comfortable and happy.

I do this every day, whether I’m going out or staying at home, and I do it for me! Getting dressed every day makes me feel better, and when I feel better, I act better. Getting dressed isn’t about impressing anyone; rather, it’s about honoring the life I’ve been given and showing up in the world as a blessed heir of the King.

This year one of my goals is:

• I wear everything in my closet at least once. (Does anyone else tend to wear the same things over and over?)
• Buy fewer “new” things (98% of my clothing and accessories are thrifted)
• Donate anything I don’t love to wear.

It’s a simple way to clean out my closet one day at a time.

You might be interested in reading these posts to see my “thrifted style” and what “getting dressed every day” looks like for me.

How to Look Cute and Stay Warm This Winter The Thrifty Way

5 Lessons I Learned from Not Buying Anything New

Boho Style: How Layering Makes an Outfit Fun and Interesting

2. Use Your Good Dishes

Paper plates are for picnics and perhaps large family gatherings, and I firmly believe the cup from which you drink your coffee or tea matters. I inherited my mom’s Fiesta dishes and I use them almost every day. I also have a set of vintage Starglow dishes that I’ve thrifted over the years, and I use them regularly. Our collection of unique coffee mugs makes our morning coffee more interesting and fun.

We use our good dishes every day, whether just the two of us having a sandwich or our kids at home for a weekend visit. And you’ll be surprised to learn that we haven’t had a dishwasher in years. Yep! We hand wash all our dishes and truly enjoy it.

3. Buy Yourself Flowers

Years ago, when we lived in the big city, I developed a habit of buying myself a big bouquet of roses a couple of times a month. A local business sold home décor items and fresh flowers at hugely discounted prices. Having a big bouquet of roses on my desk was one way I romanticized my very stressful life at the time.

I’m in a different season of life now, but I still regularly buy flowers and usually add blooms or branches from my yard. This yellow enamel-ware pitcher is a recently thrifted treasure perfect for these tulips I bought at Aldi.

4. Light Candles

Everyone loves a deliciously scented candle, but nothing romanticizes your life like flickering taper candles. Taper candles are relatively inexpensive. We bought these dripless, smokeless, unscented ones for a wedding reception a few years ago. However, taper candles are always on my thrift list. A bag full of taper candles (I mix and match colors) might only cost a few dollars at your local thrift store. I consider this a worthy investment and not one to be saved for special occasions.

My thrifted brass candelabras are splattered with colorful wax drippings as a testament to the many nights we sit, listen to music, and talk by candlelight.

5. Play Music

Music is an easy way to set the mood and romanticize your everyday life, so you’ll always hear music playing in the background if you come to my house. Our music tastes range from New Orleans Jazz to 70s counter,y and we choose the genre/artist based on our mood or the mood we want to create.

Turn on music when driving, cooking and cleaning, getting dressed in the morning, or relaxing after a long day.

6. Take photos, have them printed, and display them in your home or office

In a digital age where viewing everything on a screen is the norm, having an actual photo to display is a lovely way to romanticize your life. I have boxes of photographs documenting our childhoods and our life together. Sorting through old photos brings back sweet memories that might never be remembered.

Printing a few photos monthly is one of my favorite and most rewarding habits. I have a system for organizing and printing monthly photos, which I explained here.

7. Paint your nails

My mom always painted our nails on Saturday night in preparation for Sunday church (Only pink, even though I begged for red). Even as a skinned-knee tomboy who loved to climb trees and play ball, this ritual was comforting.

The photos above were probably taken on the same day. Softball during the day. Olan Mills photos at the local motel in the evening (with pink painted nails!). My mom made the blue calico dress I was wearing.

I still love the ritual of painting my nails, often in the evenings, while listening to music and talking with Eric. When I’m done, he’s eager to see which color I chose, and I’m proud to show off my perfectly imperfect handiwork. (Blue, purple, red, and black are my favorites. Sorry, Mom!)

Of course, with all the DIY projects, dishwashing, and gardening I do, my at-home manicure doesn’t last long. Seeing me with paint-splattered hands and chipped nail polish is not unusual, but I don’t mind.

8. Create an inspiration board or notebook

Does anyone else remember clipping pictures and words from magazines to create a collage board? I’ve always had a corkboard on my wall filled with magazine clippings, ticket stubs, a ribbon from a corsage, a pretty leaf I’ve found, and a few photos of friends.

Pinterest is the digital version (sort of) of the inspiration boards I create and my favorite creative search engine. (Let’s connect our creative selves on Pinterest!)

These days, my home is an inspiration board of sorts filled with all the things I love. However, I still have an inspiration board and notebook full of paint, fabric swatches, and anything that inspires me.

9. Keep a calendar/planner

I need a pen and paper. Thank you very much. I can’t imagine NOT having a planner, writing down everything, and always having it with me. Over the years, I’ve bought fancy planners with refillable pages and color-coded stickers. I don’t do that anymore. A simple month-at-a-glance with some space for daily notes is all I need. Here’s the one I prefer

Seeing what matters most written down on the pages of my planner reminds me of the brevity of life and helps me count my days. A written record significantly reduces the nagging fear that “I’m forgetting something.”

10. Send snail mail

In our fast-paced email-texting world, is there anything lovelier than opening the mailbox to find a hand-written card addressed to you? I think not, and to prove it, I have a file folder of handwritten cards I’ve received dating back fifty years. Reading through some recently flooded my mind with memories of people and experiences lost in life’s busyness.

As I read through them, I vowed to pay it forward and bless others in the same simple way. Using pretty stationary or simply buying a card at Walmart for a friend and handwriting a few sincere words of encouragement is an easy way to romanticize your everyday life.

What a Wonderful World

While writing this post, I realized that tragic things have happened recently. I’ve second-guessed every word I’ve written and considered abandoning this post to the ever-growing pile of unpublished drafts. But I was reminded of the woman God called me to be in a world full of trouble, and I remembered why I had started.

Life is a gift, and every day is meant to be enjoyed in a way that honors the Life-Giver. How I romanticize my everyday life may not work for you, but I encourage you to find what does and begin today.

“But YOU, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory; the one who holds my head high.”

Psalm 3:3