This is the time of year I used to dread. For many, many years, the “back-to-school” season meant to go back to my sad reality of living in a too-tiny house where I didn’t want to be homeschooling my large brood. Summer was a break from being cramped because we went on trips and played outside a lot.

Things have changed a lot since then. I’ve moved twice, and 5 out of the 7 kids have fled the nest. So, I no longer have those feelings. I live in a different home that is still small, but with so many gone, it fits us OK. It has a lot nicer features than the old one that I love, including a set of French doors.

If I were still in my old situation, I would perk myself up a bit with something that is noncaloric and inexpensive. Picture books do that for me, but I’ve already blogged about those a lot. Here’s another delightful perk-me-up: cute kitchen towels.

They are inexpensive and can be oh so cute! I’m talking about both kitchen hand towels (the fluffier the better) and dish towels with the flatter weave. They dress up your kitchen and brighten any day.

See the variety here and here. I love the Pioneer Woman line designed by Ree Drummond. Susan Branch has a fun blog here about them. Oh the power of cute kitchen towels! Somehow just looking at them makes me feel happy! Hint: I also use the hand towel ones in the bathroom as bathroom hand towels, just because they are ohhh so cute and I can’t find regular bathroom hand towels as cute AND soft. Getting new towels don’t solve any major problems but some how they make life a little easier.