Motherhood and Chaos — The Start of Beautiful Chaos

An excerpt from an upcoming release: She Found Beauty in the Chaos, written by owner and lead interior designer of Beautiful Chaos, Sarah Martin:

“The start of Beautiful Chaos

straight from this momma’s heart…

Five years ago…

The reality of motherhood then & before we renovated our farmhouse ?

“I was sitting on my sofa, nursing my fourth baby as the rest of the house was in complete chaos. The scene that so many of us mommas know all too well: littles running around half dressed, laundry heaped in several mounting piles and a ‘somewhat’ healthy dinner cooking on the stove. There had not been one quiet moment in the day and my internal momma clock was ticking away towards bedtime. Although overwhelming chaos surrounded me, something opened my eyes in that moment to just how amazingly beautiful the scene was. I had never really looked at the chaos quite like this before. I took it all in, the warm babe nestled in my arms and the complete mayhem that was my home. It wasn’t exactly an Instagram-worthy moment, but I remember feeling like this was the most beautiful my home had ever looked.

“Funny, it wasn’t anything like the perfect home I used to strive for and in fact, the exact opposite of what it looked like before children. Rather than sitting on a sofa with perfectly poofed pillows, they were strewn about being used as weapons and fort foundations. The carpeting did not have perfectly straight vacuum lines, rather trails of cereal leading to a naked toddler. The days of spending hours ironing my husband’s dress shirts, well those were certainly over! Now, he was lucky if he could find a shirt in one of the laundry baskets scattered around the house. Oh yeah, a lot had changed. Our home had changed. I had changed. The things that my ‘type A’ self considered to be beautiful before, did not compare to the beauty that was here in the chaos. My journey through motherhood, it had given me a different lens.

“And, my season as a stay-at-home momma had put that lens into focus.

“A few months prior to this moment on the sofa, something started stirring in my heart. I was feeling like this season as a stay-at-home momma was going to soon be coming to an end. I was feeling anxious, nervous and excited. A dream had been brewing and it was putting a peppy skip into my step. Although I loved being with my babes and loved making our house into a home, it felt time to return to the inclusion of my creative passion. Making houses into homes for other people too.

Beautiful Chaos Interior Designer Sarah Martin from Independence, MN

“Prior to the last four years of being a stay-at-home mom, I had worked for my family’s construction company doing the interior design & styling for all their projects. Ironically, I had actually gone to college to become a marriage and family counselor but out of happenstance, fell in love with the creative process of making homes beautiful. With our family business, I had the opportunity to become a self-taught designer and pretty much learn everything about construction from my dad and brother. I LOVED it. I was so lucky to work with them both for five years, all while raising babies #1 and #2. It was a good groove, balancing raising our two beautiful boys and fulfilling my need to be creative and serve others. Then, came babies #3 and #4 and the needs of our family changed, requiring my full attention at home.

Beautiful Chaos Owner Sarah Martin Survival Guide for Back to school Season

“After 4 years at home and finding an all new groove, I was once again craving that creative outlet that I had fallen in love with. Now that things were settling down and our chaotic family rhythm felt manageable, I was feeling at ease with spending time away from home. I had a dream of starting an interior design & styling business. It was so funny, in that moment on the sofa, the idea for my business was dropped on my heart plain as day, ‘Beautiful Chaos.’ That was it! I was going to start an interior design & styling company that made homes beautiful, but also very livable. My target client would be other mommas who wanted to walk through the doors of their homes and feel like it beautifully reflected them AND was comfortable enough for their family to live real life in. Yes! I could do this for them! My heart was swelling, I was so dang excited.

“Gosh, I don’t think I could have ever imagined what Beautiful Chaos™ would grow into today. However, the epiphany I had back then on the sofa, is STILL the heart and soul of our family & our companies. It all started with a momma’s heart, that was opened up to see the true beauty in life, amidst the chaos. It is everything to us & our heartbeat in how we design, renovate & build for other precious families ❤️