Homemaking is a service of love, bringing warmth and joy that turns a house into a home. In this beginner’s guide to homemaking, you will learn everything you need to know to start your journey. 

Working as a homemaker is not a paid job but a service of love for yourself and your family that sparks joy within. You are working hard in your home to create a haven, a place of comfort and love, warmth, and safety. It’s not easy work but it’s rewarding, to say the least. 

Roses and flowers from the garden on kitchen table

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About two years ago, I found a book in an op shop that said something along the lines of “You have the choice to choose what type of life you want to live.” It encouraged me to leave my ‘dream’, a 9-5 job, that took 3 years of hard work to get. 

Homemaking was something that I was beginning to do without realising it. We had moved into a little cottage rental on a lifestyle block. It was peaceful, charming, and surrounded by farm animals and trees. My goals rapidly started to change. 

I began teaching myself new skills like cooking, cleaning, gardening, and crafts like knitting – fair to say it’s not my area of expertise but it’s very relaxing. 

I felt sparks of joy going off, knowing this was where I wanted to be. 

This is when I started looking into homemaking, frugal, and simple living and discovered a world that makes my heart sing. It confirmed that there is more to life than a 9-5 job or a stressful career path to feel successful. Don’t get me wrong, you can still work and be a homemaker, but you have the choice to ensure it’s right for you. 

I work every day as a homemaker. Plus, 4-5 days as a content creator and pattern designer. The difference is that it doesn’t feel like work to me, and I get to choose my own schedule. It’s my passion and makes me feel fulfilled at the end of each day.

What Is the Meaning of Homemaking? 

Homemaking is the art of turning a house into a home. It sparks joy and brings warmth and love to your family.

Homemaking has been labelled many things before, and it can be frowned upon by society as being lazy and unemployed. 

It’s neither of these things, especially if you’re still working while being a homemaker. If anything, it’s hard but mostly fulfilling work. 

Makyla in her kitchen holding a fresh baking loaf

What Do Homemakers Do? 

Homemakers turn a house into a home for loved ones or self-love. This can involve A LOT of work, yes! You should also be realistic; remember that it might not always be a home filled with freshly baked bread, white linen, and the perfect cottage kind of vibe you expect it to be.

Below are some tasks homemakers do:

  • Cooking
  • Meal planning
  • Grocery shopping
  • Cleaning
  • Decorating
  • Sewing
  • Budgeting
  • Baking
  • Gardening
  • DIY Crafts 
  • Thrift shopping
  • Home Renovations
  • Maintenance

If you have children, you may include homeschooling as part of your duties. It’s also important to note that you may choose to become a homemaker who still works, like myself. You could also be a full-time homemaker. 

Don’t feel like you need to know everything before you start; be excited to learn as you go.

THERE’S NO RULE BOOK. IT’S ABOUT DOING WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY, LOOKING AFTER YOUR HOME AND FEELING HAPPY AND ACHIEVED BY THE SIMPLER THINGS IN LIFE.

What Is the Difference Between Homemaking and Simple Living?

Homemaking is the art of turning a house into a warm, welcoming home. Simple living would involve homemaking but it’s not quite the same thing. 

If you want to live a simple living lifestyle, you may aim to reduce your spending, get rid of debts, and discover how to live frugally. 

A lot of people who are pre-retirement choose to start living simply to feel free from work commitments, have more time and start to enjoy the little things.

It is also common for younger people to start living simply by not getting into debt by buying many things they don’t need. Living in ways that are low cost or free. 

What are Homemaking skills?

Homemakers wear many hats, from cooking healthy meals for their families to mending garments to growing crops. 

This will differ for everyone, subject to your location, house size, family, interests, and goals. 

I would consider myself a young, new homemaker passionate about learning about gardening, from-scratch cooking and natural cleaning. 

Maybe you are a new homemaker with years of cooking skills, but sewing, not so much. If sewing is a skill that will bring your home value, why not learn how to sew?

Vintage sewing patterns in a rattan basket

Just remember that this isn’t your normal job description. This role is based on many different skills and you will most likely be like me, learning as I go! And that’s totally fine! 

Homemaking Guide for Beginners

So, now that you understand what it means to be a homemaker. Let’s look at the skills you may want to focus on as a beginner homemaker. Once you get into a routine and feel comfortable in your role, you can add other things to your task list.  

Cafe Dahlias at Makylas home

Cooking from Scratch

Cooking will be the biggest, most time-consuming job you will do as a homemaker. 

You may enjoy cooking and choose to do this on your own. Or you may get some of your family involved, helping to prepare meals or with the cleaning up.

Sean and I usually cook meals together for dinner, but I plan the meals and pick up the groceries from the store. 

A freshly baked loaf of bread

I will admit it’s very easy to buy takeout and premade foods rather than making your own food from scratch. 

When time is a pinch, these options are great, but learning to make food from scratch is a great skill to have and pass down to your children. 

If you have no idea how to start cooking from scratch, begin by looking in cookbooks online or asking your family for their favourite meal ideas. 

It’s also beneficial to research food that will nourish your family. Below are just some of the books I refer back to all the time.

Some foods that we enjoy cooking from scratch with:

  • In-season fruits and vegetables or frozen
  • Olive Oil, Coconut Oil
  • Free-range chicken, Beef, Lamb, and Fish
  • Honey, Maple Syrup, Dates
  • Popcorn, Corn Chips, Tortillas
  • Canned goods – Tomatoes, Corn, Beans, Tuna
  • Cheese, A2 Milk, Yoghurt
  • Pasta, Rice, Bread

Cooking from scratch is a great way to save money and feed your family wholesome, nourishing food.

Here are some of my favourite recipes to help you get started:

Meal Planning

To be prepared to cook from scratch, it’s important to plan out what meals you want to cook. This will help you save money and reduce stress because you are prepared.

Here are my top tips for meal planning as a beginner homemaker:

  • Start by taking inventory of what ingredients you already have on hand. If you have a few packets of pasta in the cupboard, create a dish around this.
  • Don’t be afraid of leftovers. This is the best way to save energy and time, especially when you don’t feel up to cooking. This happens to the best of us! 
  • Variety = money. Making larger quantities of the same thing will save you time and money.  
  • Set a time each week to make your meal planner for the week, fortnight, or month. 
  • Create a place to house all your favourite recipes so you can plan meals you already know how to cook and that your family enjoys. A good place to do this is online with a free tool like Notion. It’s super easy to save any online link, file, or image, plus you can organise your recipes into any group – you’re welcome!
  • Don’t try to make elaborate meals. Keep it simple, like making my easy crustless quiche, which can be adapted to whatever you have.
Makyla Creates meal planner download

You can download my free meal planner & grocery list sheets.

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping is just as important as meal planning because you can’t cook meals without the ingredients, right? 

  • Write a grocery list while planning your meals for the week. Double-check what ingredients you already have. You can find the download in my resource library after you sign up.
  • Buy in-season ingredients or frozen.
  • Shop online, then collect your order when it’s ready to go. 
  • Learn how to save money on your groceries every month.
Makyla Creates Grocery list download

Budgeting

It’s always good to have a budget regardless of whether you are a homemaker. It’s the best way to know you’re not spending more than you earn. 

Keep this simple by using your phone notes or a notebook and write down how much money your family earns a month. Then, begin tracking how much you spend. Add every little thing to make sure you are seeing the full picture. 

You can get a clearer idea of how the money is spent, where you can reduce costs and how to start being thriftier with your spending. 

Freshly picked rhubarb and sage in a basket

Cleaning

I will admit I love a clean house, and I enjoy cleaning. You may or may not relate but as a homemaker, cleaning will be part of your life.

I think it’s important to keep a clean and tidy house. Messy spaces could cause stress and anxiety and it’s always nice to sit down in a tidy space at the end of a busy day. 

Makyla cleaning her kitchen as a homemaker

Cleaning can be broken down into 2 different sections:

Daily Tidy

Daily tidying up is a good way to keep your home from getting messy. 

Most people don’t enjoy being overwhelmed with large tasks like hours of cleaning, so try taking 5 minutes to tidy up any mess around your home. Then, you can move on to your other homemaking tasks with peace of mind. These are common tasks for any household.

  • Put on a load of laundry.
  • Make the beds.
  • Clear dirty dishes from around the house and wash them. 
  • Place items back in their homes, like blankets, cushions on the couch or books. 
  • Sweep or vacuum the floors. 
  • Clear clutter from around the house.
  • Wipe down the counters, fridge door or cabinets quickly.
  • Take out the compost, trash, and recycling. 

Spring Cleaning

A spring clean once every few months is a lovely way to reset your home.

This could be once at the end of every season, making it a great time to change up the decor in your house for the season ahead. 

Clean kitchen table in Makylas home as a homemaker

If you’re heading into Winter, you may enjoy placing cosy blankets on the couches or candles around, ready to be lit on those cooler mornings. 

Don’t overwhelm yourself. Try addressing one room a day at a time. 

Here are a few Spring-cleaning ideas to get you started:

  • Give the oven and hob a deep clean. 
  • Clean out the fridge/freezer and wipe it down. 
  • Give the walls a quick wipe-down. 
  • Mop all the tile or wood floors.
  • Washing and airing out bed linens.
  • Dust around the house.

I love to make my own homemade cleaning products, here are my favourites:

If you want to learn more about natural cleaning, check out my post Natural Cleaning 101 Guide.

Organising 

Being organised is a good skill to learn as a beginner homemaker. 

Organising has a lot of meanings, and it can mean decluttering and tidying spaces, making plans like doctor’s appointments, and creating routines for the household. 

To get your home organised, start going around each room and decluttering anything you don’t need or use. Pass these on to charity shops or friends. 

To organise your home routine, think about the tasks that need to be done and write a quick, simple list each morning. 

Sewing

Sewing is one of many useful skills to have as a homemaker because you can make and mend clothing and homeware so much cheaper than buying new things.

If you understand a few sewing basics, you can sew and mend clothing, curtains, and homewares.

I have plenty of useful sewing tutorials here on the blog, including my free beginner’s sewing series course to help you get started. 

Here are some beginner-friendly sewing tutorials:

Close up of a sewing machine

Homemaking Guide for Beginners

I hope this homemaking guide for beginners has inspired you to get started on your own homemaking path. There are so many skills to learn as a homemaker but remember that this is a lifestyle and a journey, not a sprint. Just start off small and build your skills up as you can. Get help when you need it and be thankful for the wonderful life you get to live.

Let me know if you have any helpful tips in the comments below!   

More Homemaking Inspiration

6 Comments

  1. I love how genuine this is. You can tell this came from the bottom of your heart and man is it helpful AND inspiring!

  2. Such a great post! Little tidbits of knowledge and wisdom for homemakers at every stage of life, love that. BUT especially helpful for young women who are new to homemaking. Thanks for sharing 😉

  3. It’s sad they don’t teach Home Economics in school any more. These are all useful skills for girls and boys. I hope at some point, they bring it back. Shop Class, too, as a matter of fact. Loved the article.

    1. Hi Angela, it is very sad! We live in a different world now where paying someone to do a job for us is the norm. It is nice to see more people wanting to learn these skills again and gain some independence back in their lives. Thank you for your wonderful comment xx

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