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I say that not to brag, but because it makes what happened next a little harder to explain.
Brian’s favorite dessert is apple crisp. And since I already make a pretty good cheesecake, I had what seemed like a brilliant idea: Why not combine the two?
Apple crisp cheesecake. Creamy cheesecake, thinly sliced apples, and that buttery, cinnamon-sugar crisp topping.
In my head, this dessert was going to be fantastic.
And honestly, from the outside, it looked pretty fantastic, too.
A Dessert That Looked Like It Had Its Life Together
I made my usual cheesecake recipe and added the apples and a crisp topping made with butter, flour, oats, and brown sugar.
Everything went into the oven, and I waited for the magic to happen.
When it came out, the top looked good. The apples and crisp topping looked like they belonged there. Nothing about the outside suggested that I was about to have a baking problem.
Then I cut into it.
The middle was basically soup.
Not a little softer than expected. Not a little underdone. Soup.
The edges were done enough that we tried to salvage a few pieces, because wasting dessert is a hard thing to accept when you’ve put the time and ingredients into making it. But the center wasn’t going to cooperate, and eventually, the whole thing had to go.
So much for my brilliant idea.
I still don’t know exactly what went wrong. Maybe the added apples and topping affected how the cheesecake baked. Maybe the combination needed a different approach. Whatever the reason, my usual cheesecake recipe wasn’t enough to make this particular experiment work.
And that happens sometimes.
When Things Don’t Turn Out the Way You Planned
It’s funny how a failed dessert can remind you of something bigger.
We make plans. We put in the time. We gather the ingredients, follow the steps, and picture how everything is going to turn out.
Sometimes it works beautifully.
And sometimes you cut into the cheesecake and discover that the middle is soup.
Life does that, too.
You can make a thoughtful plan, do what you believe are all the right things, and still end up with a result you didn’t expect. A project doesn’t work out. A plan changes. Something you were excited about turns into a disappointment.
It doesn’t necessarily mean you did everything wrong. Sometimes the plan needs adjusting. Sometimes you learn something you didn’t know before. And sometimes, despite your best efforts, the thing simply doesn’t work.
That’s frustrating, especially when you’ve invested time, money, energy, or hope into the outcome.
But a disappointing result doesn’t automatically make the effort a waste.
Knowing When to Salvage It—and When to Let It Go
With the cheesecake, we tried to save what we could. The parts that were cooked through were worth trying, but there was no point pretending the rest was going to turn into something it wasn’t.
Eventually, we threw it away.
There is probably a life lesson in there somewhere about knowing what to hold on to and what to let go of. I’ll leave the deep philosophical interpretation to someone who hasn’t just lost an entire cheesecake.
But I do think there’s something useful in remembering that you don’t have to keep forcing something to work just because you’ve already invested in it.
Sometimes you can salvage part of the plan. Sometimes you can make a change and try again. And sometimes the best thing you can do is acknowledge that it didn’t work and move on.
You can be disappointed without deciding the whole experience was pointless.
You can learn something without turning every mistake into a major personal-growth exercise.
And you can decide that next time, you might approach things a little differently.
Would I Try It Again?
Maybe!
I still like cheesecake. Brian still likes apple crisp. And I’m not ready to declare the combination a lost cause just because my first attempt ended in dessert soup.
I would need to rethink the approach rather than simply repeat the same recipe and hope for a different result.
For now, though, I have accepted that this particular cheesecake was not meant to be.
Not every idea is a winner. Not every experiment deserves a second attempt right away. And not every kitchen mishap needs to become a new family favorite.
Sometimes it’s just a story you get to laugh about later.
The Worth It Test
Was the apple crisp cheesecake worth it?
The dessert itself: One star. It looked promising, but the center never set properly, and we ultimately had to throw it away.
The experience: Still worth something. I tried an idea, learned that my usual recipe didn’t work for this combination, and got a story out of it.
Would I count it as a successful recipe? Absolutely not.
Would I count it as a complete waste? Not entirely.
Because life is going to hand us a few cheesecake-soup moments along the way. Sometimes things won’t turn out the way we planned, even when we’re pretty sure we know what we’re doing.
And that’s okay.
Not everything has to turn out the way we planned for the experience to be worth something.
When we moved into our current home, we knew we wanted to approach furnishing it differently.
In our previous home, we bought furniture piece by piece as we needed it. There was nothing necessarily wrong with that, but over time, the rooms didn’t feel as cohesive as we wanted them to. Each purchase made sense on its own, but the house never quite came together the way we’d pictured.
This time, we decided to be more intentional.
As we prepared to move, we sold our previous furniture and planned for new furnishings as part of our moving expenses. We wanted a warm, comfortable, organic-modern feel, with pieces that worked together instead of making each room feel like a separate project.
Our living room, dining area, and kitchen island all connect in one open floor plan, so the decisions we made in one area affected the others.
We also wanted a home that felt like us. A place where people could gather, where our meaningful family pieces had a place, and where we could relax without worrying about everything looking perfect.
So, what did we actually spend?
The purchases included in this breakdown totaled approximately $5,086. That’s real money, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. But the more interesting part is how we decided where to spend, where we found deals, and what we learned along the way.
Why We Approached It Differently This Time
Our biggest lesson from the last house was that buying furniture one piece at a time doesn’t always create the overall look you’re hoping for.
This time, we thought about the connected spaces as a whole. We considered colors, textures, comfort, and how we wanted the rooms to feel when we were spending time together.
That didn’t mean buying everything from one store or choosing the most expensive option. It meant having a general vision and trying to make thoughtful decisions within our budget.
Some things were worth spending more on. Other purchases were opportunities to save. And some things we already owned were worth keeping.
That balance became the foundation for furnishing the space.
The Living Room: Comfort Was Worth Prioritizing
The living room was one of the biggest parts of the investment because we wanted it to feel comfortable and welcoming, not just look good in a photograph.
The West Elm Swivel Chairs
Our two West Elm Imogene swivel chairs in bouclé were one of the bigger purchases: $2,115 for both chairs.
We decided to splurge a little here because comfort mattered to us. We wanted chairs that felt good to sit in and that we’d genuinely enjoy using—not just chairs that looked nice in the room.
But that decision didn’t happen in a vacuum. We found such a good deal on our sleeper sofa that it gave us more flexibility to spend on the chairs. If we’d paid more for the couch, we might have made a different decision.
That’s something I’ve learned about furnishing a home: sometimes one good deal gives you room to spend a little more somewhere else. It’s not about making every purchase the cheapest option. It’s about deciding what matters most to you and making the overall budget work.
The Sleeper Sofa
We found an Ashley Larimer queen sleeper sofa in stone for about $350.
Finding a sofa at that price made a real difference in how we could allocate our budget. It also gave us a practical option for accommodating overnight guests without dedicating an entire room to a guest bed.
This was a good reminder that a lower price doesn’t automatically mean you have to settle for something that doesn’t work for your home.
The Coffee Table
We spent approximately $500 on an Ashley Korestone lift-top coffee table with casters.
We wanted something that fit the room while also serving a purpose. The lift-top design adds functionality, and the casters make it easier to move around when we need to adjust the space.
When you’re furnishing a home, practical features matter just as much as appearance. A piece can look good, but if it doesn’t work for the way you live, you’re probably not going to love it for long.
The Living Room Rug
We also spent about $500 on a large rug from Homemakers.
The living room is connected to the rest of the open floor plan, so the rug helps define that area without putting up a wall or visually separating it from the dining room and kitchen.
In an open space, each area needs to feel distinct enough to serve its purpose while still working with everything around it. The rug helped us accomplish that.
The Kitchen Island: Finding the Right Bar Stools
The bar stools were surprisingly one of the hardest things to find.
Because our kitchen island opens into the living and dining area, they couldn’t feel like an afterthought. We wanted something that worked with the rest of the furniture and helped the whole space feel connected.
We ended up with four Armen Living Amelia beige bar stools at $225.99 each, for a total of $903.96.
That was a meaningful part of the budget, but finding pieces that worked together was important to us.
I think this is one of the challenges of an open floor plan that people don’t always consider. You aren’t furnishing three completely separate rooms. You’re choosing pieces that will all be visible together, so the wrong color, shape, or style can stand out more than you expect.
Sometimes finding the right piece takes longer than you think it should. We learned that it was worth being patient instead of buying something just to get the room finished.
The Dining Area: Keeping What We Already Loved
One of the ways we avoided spending even more was by keeping our existing round dining table and chairs.
They still worked for our family, and there was no reason to replace them simply because we were buying other new furniture.
We did purchase a smaller rug from HomeGoods for about $120 to help define the dining area.
We also bought a walnut dining buffet for $224. It gave us additional storage and a place to display some of the things that make our home personal.
On top of the buffet are Brian’s family Bible, a gameboard that belonged to his grandma, and family photographs. Those aren’t things we’d replace just because a different accessory might look better in a decorating magazine.
They have a history, and they mean something to us.
That’s part of what I want our home to be: a space that looks pulled together but still reflects the people who live here. I don’t want it to look like a furniture showroom. I want it to feel like home.
The Entryway: Small Details That Make a Difference
We also furnished the entryway with two pieces.
The entryway table from Amazon cost $133, and the Elden wood bench with a loose cushion from Target cost $240.
These weren’t the biggest purchases on our list, but they helped make the entrance feel more finished and functional.
It’s easy to focus on the large pieces when you’re furnishing a home, but smaller areas matter too. The entryway is one of the first places you see when you come inside, and having a place to sit or set things down can make everyday life a little easier.
We didn’t need elaborate decor or a lot of accessories. We wanted the space to feel welcoming and useful.
What We Actually Spent
Here’s the breakdown of the purchases discussed in this article.
Item
Cost
Two West Elm Imogene swivel chairs
$2,115.00
Ashley Larimer queen sleeper sofa
About $350.00
Ashley Korestone lift-top coffee table
About $500.00
Four Armen Living Amelia bar stools
$903.96
Large living room rug from Homemakers
About $500.00
Smaller dining-area rug from HomeGoods
About $120.00
Walnut dining buffet
$224.00
Entryway table from Amazon
$133.00
Elden wood bench from Target
$240.00
Total for listed purchases
About $5,085.96
Some of these amounts are approximate, so it’s best to think of the total as roughly $5,086.
This is the total for the purchases listed above, not necessarily every dollar spent furnishing the entire home. We also kept our existing dining table and chairs, which meant we didn’t have to buy replacements.
Looking at the total, I can see how quickly furnishing a home adds up. But I can also see where our money went and why we made the choices we did.
We spent more on the chairs because comfort was important to us. We benefited from a great deal on the sofa. We kept furniture that still worked. And we took our time looking for bar stools that fit the overall space.
None of those decisions was especially complicated on its own, but together they helped us create a home that feels more intentional.
What We Learned Along the Way
Looking back, there are a few things I’d do again.
1. Think about connected spaces as a whole.
If you have an open floor plan, consider how furniture, colors, and textures will look together. You don’t have to buy everything at once, but having a general vision can help you avoid purchases that don’t work with the rest of the space.
2. Decide where comfort matters most.
For us, the swivel chairs were worth spending more on. We use our living room, and we wanted those chairs to be comfortable. Your priorities might be different. The important thing is knowing what matters to you before you start shopping.
3. Let a good deal create flexibility.
The sofa deal gave us more room in the budget for the chairs. We didn’t save money on every single item, but we considered the purchases together rather than treating each one as an isolated decision.
4. Be patient when you’re looking for the right piece.
The bar stools took more effort to find than we expected. It would have been easy to buy something that was simply available, but we wanted the pieces in our open space to work together. Waiting helped us stay closer to the vision we had for our home.
5. Keep what still works—and what means something.
Our dining table and chairs didn’t need to be replaced. The family Bible and grandma’s gameboard weren’t just decorative objects to us. Keeping useful and meaningful things helped our home feel personal instead of starting from scratch with everything.
6. Remember that a finished home doesn’t have to be perfect.
We wanted our home to feel warm, comfortable, and cohesive. That doesn’t mean every corner has to be styled or every purchase has to be expensive. The goal was to create a space that works for our family and feels good to live in.
The Worth It Test
Was spending approximately $5,086 on these furnishings worth it?
For us, I think so.
We made a conscious decision to budget for new furniture when we moved. We prioritized the pieces that mattered most, took advantage of a good deal, and kept items we already owned when they still worked.
We didn’t spend the same amount on every part of the room, and we didn’t buy things just to fill space. We wanted furniture that worked together, felt comfortable, and would serve us well over time.
Would everyone need to spend this much to create a home they love? Absolutely not. Your budget, your home, and your priorities may look completely different from ours.
But for us, the investment was about more than the furniture itself. It was about creating a home where we could relax, spend time together, welcome family and friends, and surround ourselves with things that have meaning.
And that, to us, is what makes it worth it.
Our Worth It Test: 5 out of 5 stars — Absolutely worth it.
Not because we bought the most expensive furniture, or because every purchase was perfect, but because we made choices that fit the way we wanted to live.
That’s what we’re trying to do with Worth the Making: figure out what’s worth the time, money, and effort—and be honest about what isn’t.
Creating a home that feels stylish, comfortable, and unmistakably you.
I want people to walk into our home and think two things: This is stylish. And I could get comfortable here.
I love when someone notices a piece of decor and says, “Oh, that’s cute. I want that at my house.” But I also want them to feel at home—to relax, pull up a chair, grab something to eat, and stay awhile.
For me, those things go together. A home can be thoughtfully decorated without feeling untouchable. It can look put together without feeling like nobody is allowed to live in it.
And creating that feeling doesn’t always require buying something new.
Sometimes, it comes down to understanding what you want your home to feel like and making intentional choices that support it.
Start With the Feeling, Not the Shopping
Before thinking about furniture, throw pillows, seasonal decor, or the latest home trend, I think it’s worth asking a different question:
How do I want people to feel when they walk through my door?
For me, the answer is comfortable, peaceful, and welcome—with a little style mixed in.
I want our home to feel like us. I want the spaces to look cohesive, but I also want people to see pieces that have meaning and tell a little of our story.
That means our home isn’t built around one particular trend. Our style leans organic modern, with clean lines and nostalgic pieces that mean something to us.
Other people might love antique country, dark traditional rooms, bold colors, or something completely different. None of those styles is automatically more welcoming than another.
The point is knowing yourself well enough to create a space that feels authentic.
When your home reflects who you are, it feels less like a room you’ve decorated for other people and more like an invitation into your life.
Light Can Change the Entire Mood of a Room
During the day, we have big windows that let natural light into the house. I love having that sunshine fill the space.
At night, I take a different approach. Instead of relying on bright overhead lighting everywhere, I prefer soft lighting from lamps and side lights. It creates a calmer feeling and makes the space feel more relaxed.
It’s a small distinction, but it changes how a room feels.
You don’t necessarily need new fixtures or an expensive lighting makeover to try it yourself. Start with what you already have. Open the curtains during the day. Turn on a lamp in the evening. Notice how the room feels when you change the lighting.
Sometimes, the simplest adjustment makes a space feel more inviting.
Don’t Underestimate the Little Things You Notice With Your Senses
A welcoming home isn’t only about what you see.
I use a diffuser with essential oils to bring seasonal scents into our home. It’s one of the ways I like to make the atmosphere feel right for the time of year.
Music is another part of it. We change things up depending on the mood, but our usual mix includes country, music from the ’80s and ’90s, and soft rock.
These aren’t complicated design decisions. They’re simply things that make the house feel like ours.
You might prefer a favorite candle, a playlist you always have on in the background, fresh flowers, or the smell of something cooking in the kitchen. You might prefer a quiet house with no added fragrance or music at all.
There isn’t one right answer.
The idea is to pay attention to the details that make you and the people around you feel comfortable.
Make Room for People to Actually Live There
For us, food has always been an important part of bringing people together. Some of my favorite parts of having people over happen around a meal, whether we’re sitting at the dining table, gathering around the big kitchen island, or settling into the living room.
That’s one reason the layout of our home matters to me.
Our main living area has an open floor plan connecting the living room, dining area, and kitchen. It gives people room to spread out while still feeling like they’re part of the same gathering.
We also have a large living room in the basement, and we’re renovating it to include a bar area. That will give us another place to gather and more room when we have people over.
The common thread isn’t a particular floor plan or a certain amount of square footage. It’s thinking about how you actually use your home.
Do people have somewhere comfortable to sit? Can they join a conversation without feeling separated from everyone else? Is there room to share a meal, watch a game, or simply spend time together?
A beautiful room is one thing. A room that makes it easy to enjoy being together is something else entirely.
When you’re deciding what your home needs, consider the experiences you want to create before deciding what to buy.
Sometimes, Buying the Right Thing Is Worth It
The idea of creating a welcoming home without buying more stuff doesn’t mean never spending money on your home.
Sometimes, the right purchase makes a meaningful difference.
One thing we’ve learned is how much it matters to choose furniture with the whole space in mind.
In our previous home, we purchased furniture in a more fragmented way. We chose individual pieces, but they didn’t always work together as one cohesive area.
When we chose furniture for our current space, we spent more time considering how everything would fit together. Because our main living area is open, we wanted the furniture to feel connected rather than like separate rooms that happened to sit next to one another.
That planning helped us create the feeling we wanted.
For us, that was worth the extra thought and effort. Instead of simply buying something because we liked it on its own, we considered how it would work with everything around it.
That’s an approach you can use whether you’re furnishing an entire room or adding one small piece.
Before making a purchase, ask yourself:
Does this work with what I already own?
Does it support the way I use this space?
Do I genuinely love it, or do I just like the idea of having it?
Will it help create the feeling I’m trying to achieve?
Sometimes, the answer will be yes, and the purchase will be worth it. Other times, you may realize that what you already have is enough.
Both are good outcomes.
The Pieces That Make a House Feel Like Yours
Some of the most meaningful things in our home aren’t things we bought to decorate a room. They’re things that were already part of our story.
On our buffet, we have Brian’s family Bible, which has been passed down through his family, and a gameboard that belonged to his grandma. We paired them with a modern buffet, a lamp, and a small Sonos stereo. The furniture gives the space a clean, modern look, while those family pieces bring history and meaning into the room.
When we chose what would sit on that buffet, we didn’t just look for things that matched. We chose things that meant something to us.
Those pieces bring a sense of history into a room that might otherwise feel entirely new. They remind us that a home can reflect both the style we love today and the people and traditions that came before us.
I love that combination. The modern pieces reflect the style we enjoy, while the nostalgic ones connect our home to the people and memories that helped shape our lives.
And I think that’s an important part of making a home feel welcoming. It doesn’t have to look like everything came from the same store or was chosen to match a particular trend. Sometimes, the pieces that mean the most are the ones that have been with your family for years.
You can have clean lines and modern furniture alongside family heirlooms, collected treasures, and things that might not fit a traditional decorating formula. When those pieces have meaning, they help tell your story.
Your home should look like you, but it should also hold a little of where you’ve come from.
That’s what makes it personal. And to me, that’s worth keeping.
A Few Ways to Make Your Home Feel More Welcoming Today
You don’t need a renovation budget or a shopping trip to start making your home feel more inviting.
Here are a few things worth trying:
Let in the natural light. Open the curtains and see how the room feels with more daylight.
Change the lighting after dark. Try lamps or side lights for a softer, more relaxed atmosphere.
Put on music you enjoy. Let your home sound like you, whether that’s country, classic rock, jazz, or something else entirely.
Clear space for people. Move things around if needed so there’s room to sit, talk, eat, or gather comfortably.
Bring out something meaningful. A sentimental object, a family photograph, or a piece you’ve had for years can add more personality than another trendy accessory.
Think about how you use the room. If everyone gathers in the kitchen, make that space comfortable. If you love hosting movie nights or watching the game, make room for that.
Pause before buying something new. Ask whether it solves a real problem or supports the feeling you’re trying to create.
None of these ideas requires a perfect home. They’re simply ways to be more intentional with the space you already have.
The Worth It Test
Does making your home more welcoming require buying more things?
Not necessarily.
Sometimes, a purchase is worth it because it improves how a room functions or helps bring a space together. Sometimes, the better choice is to rearrange what you own, change the lighting, make a meal, or create more room for people to gather.
For me, the goal isn’t to have a home that looks perfect. It’s to have a home that feels like us—and where the people we care about feel comfortable being themselves, too.
If a new purchase helps you create that feeling, it may be worth it. If you’re buying something simply because you think your home needs to look like everyone else’s, it may be worth reconsidering.
The best home isn’t necessarily the one with the most stuff. It’s the one that feels right for the life you’re living.
Because a welcoming home isn’t just something you decorate.
Worth it doesn’t mean cheap. It doesn’t mean expensive. And it definitely doesn’t mean everyone else thinks it’s worth it.
For us, worth it is a much simpler question:
Did it make the time, money or effort we put into it feel worthwhile?
Sometimes the answer is yes.
Sometimes it’s absolutely not.
And sometimes something costs more than we planned, takes longer than we expected or requires more work than we thought it would—but when we’re finished, we’re still glad we did it.
That’s worth it, too.
We started Worth the Making because we think there are a lot of decisions in everyday life that deserve a little more thought than “Is this the cheapest option?” or “Is this what everyone else is doing?”
What should we make for dinner?
Is that purchase actually worth the money?
Is this project worth the time?
Is a weekend trip worth the expense?
Is hosting people at home worth the work?
Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes it’s no. And sometimes the answer is it depends.
That’s what we’re here to figure out.
Worth It Isn’t the Same as Cheap
To us, something is worth it when we can look back and say, “I’m glad we did that.”
Maybe it created a memory we’ll talk about for years. Maybe it gave us a feeling we didn’t know we needed. Maybe it brought people together around a table. Maybe it was a trip we’ll still talk about ten years from now.
And sometimes, it’s something as simple as the way a room feels when people walk through the door.
We want our home to feel like a place where people can walk in, take their shoes off, open the refrigerator and make themselves at home. A place where nobody feels like they’re imposing or that everything has to be perfect before they arrive.
Our home is where friends turn into family, where ordinary moments become memories that last lifetimes.
That’s also what we want the things we bring into our home to create.
The decorations we choose aren’t just about making a room look pretty. We want them to create a feeling—peace, calm, warmth and welcome.
The food we make isn’t just about putting dinner on the table. It’s about what happens when people sit down together.
The trips we take aren’t just about seeing somewhere new. They’re about the stories we’ll tell when we get home.
And the celebrations we create aren’t about making everything look perfect. They’re about giving people a reason to gather and making the day feel special.
That’s what worth it means to us.
It’s not necessarily about what something costs. It’s about what it creates.
It’s About Knowing What Matters Most
We don’t think something is a waste of money just because it costs more than the cheapest option. And we don’t think something is automatically worth buying just because it’s beautiful, popular or on sale.
We think it depends on what you’re trying to create.
Take Brian’s birthday party, for example.
We didn’t go out and buy a bunch of decorations or spend money on an elaborate theme. Not because we don’t enjoy decorating—we absolutely do. There are parties where we’ll go all out with the decorations and theme because creating that atmosphere is part of what makes the occasion special.
But for this particular birthday, that wasn’t where we wanted to spend our money.
We wanted good food, a relaxed gathering and time with the people we love. So we put most of our budget toward the food and kept everything else simple.
And it worked.
We didn’t feel like anything was missing because we hadn’t spent money on decorations. We had what we wanted: a house full of people, plenty of food and a reason to spend the day together.
That’s the difference between simply spending less and spending intentionally.
It’s not about asking, “How can we make this cheaper?” It’s about asking, “What matters most to us this time?”
Sometimes the answer will be beautiful decorations. Sometimes it will be a really good meal, a weekend away or a little extra money spent to make someone feel special.
The answer can change from one occasion to the next. That’s okay.
The goal isn’t to spend as little as possible. It’s to spend our time, money and effort on the things that actually make a difference to the experience we want to create.
How We Decide If Something Is Worth It
We don’t have a complicated formula for deciding whether something is worth it. And we don’t think there is one right answer for everyone.
What feels worthwhile to us might look completely different from what matters to someone else.
But there are a few questions we come back to when we’re deciding where to spend our time, money and effort.
1. What Are We Really Trying to Create?
Before we spend money, we try to think about what we actually want from the experience.
If we’re hosting a birthday party, do we want an elaborate theme and beautiful decorations? Or do we want a relaxed afternoon with good food and people we love?
If we’re decorating a room, are we trying to make it look a certain way, or are we trying to create a space that feels peaceful, comfortable and welcoming?
Those aren’t always the same thing.
When we know what we’re trying to create, it’s easier to decide where our money and effort will make the biggest difference.
2. Will It Make the Experience Better?
Not everything that looks good on paper actually makes an experience better.
A more expensive ingredient might make a meal memorable. A thoughtful decoration might completely change the feeling of a room. A carefully planned trip might give us memories we’ll talk about for years.
But sometimes the extra expense doesn’t add much at all.
We try to ask ourselves whether the additional cost, time or effort will genuinely improve the experience—or whether we’re doing it simply because we think we’re supposed to.
3. How Will We Feel About It Later?
This is one of the biggest questions for us.
Will we remember the experience? Will it make someone feel loved or welcome? Will we be glad we made the effort?
Not everything has to create a lifetime memory to be worthwhile. Sometimes the value is in an ordinary Tuesday dinner, a comfortable room at the end of a long day, or a slow morning spent together.
But we want the things we put our resources into to contribute something meaningful to our lives.
4. Is There a Better Place for That Money or Effort?
Every decision involves a trade-off.
Spending more on one thing usually means spending less—or giving up something else—somewhere along the way.
For Brian’s birthday, we chose to spend most of our budget on food instead of decorations. That made sense for the kind of gathering we wanted.
For another celebration, we might make a completely different choice.
The point isn’t to find the cheapest option. It’s to decide what deserves our resources most in that particular moment.
5. Would We Do It Again?
Sometimes we don’t know whether something is worth it until we’ve tried it.
Maybe a purchase doesn’t live up to expectations. Maybe a project takes twice as long as we planned. Maybe a trip costs more than we thought but gives us an experience we’d never trade.
Looking back honestly helps us make better decisions the next time.
Would we do it again? Would we spend the money again? Was the result worth the effort?
And if the answer is no, that’s useful information, too.
Being honest about what wasn’t worth it helps us recognize what is.
The Worth It Test
We don’t think every decision needs a spreadsheet, a pros-and-cons list or hours of research. Sometimes you just need to step back and ask whether something delivered what you hoped it would.
That’s why we created The Worth It Test—a simple way to look honestly at the things we try, buy, make and experience.
Here’s how we rate them:
★★★★★ Absolutely worth it
It delivered what we hoped for, created something meaningful, or made the experience better in a way we’d gladly choose again.
★★★★☆ Worth it, with caveats
We’re glad we did it, but there are a few things we’d change next time.
★★★☆☆ It depends
There were good parts, but whether we’d recommend it depends on your priorities, budget or circumstances.
★★☆☆☆ Probably wouldn’t do it again
The cost, effort or result didn’t quite justify the experience for us.
★☆☆☆☆ Save your money
It didn’t deliver enough value to justify what we spent. We’d choose differently next time.
These ratings aren’t about telling everyone what they should value. They’re about sharing what we learned so you can decide what’s worth it for you.
Because what works for our family, our home and our budget might not be the right choice for yours.
And that’s perfectly fine.
A Good Life Is Made Up of More Than Things
When we think about the things that matter most to us, they usually aren’t the things we spent the most money on.
They’re the meals we shared. The people who felt comfortable enough to open our refrigerator without asking. The birthdays spent in our backyard. The quiet mornings together. The rooms that make us exhale when we walk through the door.
Sometimes creating those moments takes money. Sometimes it takes time, planning and a little extra effort. And sometimes it means knowing what not to spend money on.
We’re not trying to make every day extraordinary or turn every ordinary moment into a production. We’re simply trying to be more intentional about how we spend our resources and what we want our lives to feel like.
That’s what Worth the Making is all about.
We’ll share the recipes we make, the spaces we’re creating, the celebrations we host, the purchases we’re glad we made, the experiences we try and the things we probably wouldn’t do again.
We’ll talk about what things cost, what they took to pull off, what we learned and whether we’d do them again.
Not because we have everything figured out. We don’t.
But because we believe a good life isn’t built by buying everything, doing everything or making everything look perfect.
It’s built by choosing the things that matter to us and making room for more of them.
Because it’s not necessarily about what something costs. It’s about what it creates.
