It doesn't matter if you live in an old runned down condemned building like my parents lived in when they were first married or a large suburban home with all the new and updated appliances; it is our job to make our homes beautiful for a good wife is a good housekeeper. When the Bible commands older women to teach younger women, one of the components is to teach them to be keepers at home. This doesn't mean they spend their time at home lounging around watching soap operas, reading romantic novels or spending a lot of time on the Internet or smart phone. It means taking good care of the home the Lord has blessed you with.
"The wife who would be happy, and make her home happy and permanently beautiful, must work with her hands at the housewifely tasks which the days in turn bring to her...In other words, good breakfasts, lunches and dinners, a well-kept house, order, system, promptness, punctuality, good cheer...There certainly have been cases in which very tender love has lost its tenderness and when the cause lay in the disorder, the negligence and the mismanagement of the housewifery" {J. R. Miller}.
Yes, it's a tall order to keep a home running smoothly, plus being clean and tidy. However, if women would stop doing those things to entertain themselves and instead do those things that the Lord has called them to do, their homes would be beautiful. The Lord commands that we be lovers of God rather than lovers of pleasure. This includes keeping our homes beautiful, even if you have very little money. It is not gorgeous window coverings and expensive furniture and appliances that make a home beautiful; it is cleanliness and order. Clutter and dirt make even a perfectly decorated home ugly.
Therefore, it matters not how much money you have for even women in the olden days who had very little money, like my mother, could keep their homes beautiful by keeping it clean and uncluttered. This is your job from the Lord, women, so don't take it casually. Take it seriously and do your work as unto the Lord; being thankful and praising him that you have a home to beautify.
When you have small children, it is almost impossible to keep it orderly all of the time but teach your children from a young age to put back their toys right after they play with them. Teaching them to be clean and tidy will be a discipline that they will appreciate all of their life. Teach them to put their dishes in the dishwasher as soon as they are able. Don't buy a lot of toys and plastic junk for them. All children really need are balls, games, puzzles, crayons, coloring and reading books and a special doll for the girls. These things would keep them plenty occupied, plus a lot of time outside when possible.
Everyone loves going into a clean and tidy home, a beautiful home. As I have written in the past, a sedentary life is bad for your health. God created us to move. Use your moving to keep a beautiful home and a home of order. We weren't created to sit all day as many do today. We were created to move. If you are moving, you will create a beautiful home. This isn't optional, women. Keeping your home means to work hard in your home. If you work hard in your home, it will be beautiful.
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily,
as to the Lord, and not unto men.
