Why do we still follow these obscure fashion and lifestyle magazines looking for inspiration for designer homes that obviously don’t have toddlers, teenagers – or husbands running around? Who said that obscure concrete slabs make you Avante Garde and Depeche mode?
We think it’s time for a change, Time to reclaim our intimate spaces in ways that make the most sense for us, while still looking cutting edge and super cool – but without the random pieces of silver balls in bowls that are ultimately going to lead to a visit to the emergency room.
It isn’t just that the calendar says that it is a new year, there is something more about this period and without courting the esoteric too much, our ancestors believed that this time of the year was the time we sowed and planned for the future, or harvested the plans we had already honored if we’re in the southern hemisphere.
So that means, that that unmistakable feeling you get to shed the old and embrace the new is more than just a psychological trick to put your ‘bad’ decisions behind you (although that wouldn’t hurt), and it’s our sleep sanctuaries that get a lot of the attention – well deserved.
OK, but let’s take it back a few thousand years. Our desire for beautiful spaces isn’t new. Not even a little bit, for the earliest caveman drawings that have been discovered in countries as far afield as South Africa and the Caucasus, man has been capturing his life story on his surroundings. An attempt to educate the next generation about food that was safe and animals that were dangerous.
This evolved to the Egyptians where clear instructions were left in elaborate tombs decorated with gold and jewels and intricate Hieroglyphics. Now it is true that our methods may have changed somewhat, but the ritual of expanding ourselves in our homes is more than just lying on the couch with our feet on the sofa. Au contraire mon chèr, we behave vastly different at home than we do at work because our homes remain the one place where we are not bound by the rules of convention and etiquette that exist in the ‘real world’.
Look at the Romans, my gosh they knew something about decorating a vila. (We could probably do without the blood of the gladiators on the walls – but tell me you have not thought about a milk bath at least once?)
SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US NOW?
Now, for those of us who can at least, we create sanctuaries at home that most reflect who we are as families and as individuals. We look for service providers that can install luxury flooring near me, we install dramatic chandeliers and elaborate dining rooms, and we dress with fine china, crystal glassware, and silver cutlery.
All of this we do, as a throwback to a time where family time breaking bread, was sacred, where television in the background was not a thing and mobile telephones hadn’t even been thought of.
Sure, for our kids (and for some of us now) this may seem about as foreign as a vacation in Fiji, but think about it. The most important rooms in our homes – bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and dining rooms – all the spaces we heal ourselves meditate, and find an escape from the world outside.
WHAT ABOUT RENTED HOMES?
There are so many ideas that you can make your rented home as personal as possible, you don’t have to have the 5th avenue apartment or the expensive silk table cloth – that’s not what it’s about. This post has been about why we have this obsession with beautifying our homes – after all, it’s just where we live, right?
We know that’s not true, in the homes we dream, we cry, our hearts get broken and our new beginnings take hold – and so how we decorate our temples of the soul are important and while it is nice to have not concerned to money or budget, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Sentimental quilts, pictures that can be reframed, old photographs, and your mother’s kitchenware all go some way to creating that same feeling of something special, a space that’s special.
GO AHEAD AND CREATE OPEN SPACES IN YOUR HOME
Surveys have revealed that floor space is a good indicator of how much interest you’re going to get into your home when you’re buying or selling it. Homeowners what an open space and floor plan where the energy of the home can flow effortlessly between the open spaces of your home. Formal dining rooms seem to be making it out of style, but don’t write them off completely – if you have additional space in your home to create more than one dining venue, you can have a casual every day ‘breaking bread’ space and then receive your formal room for Sundays or whatever days hold some significance to your family – ban phones! No devices – at least not in your formal rooms and you’ll be amazed at the new sense of connection you share with your tribe.
If this post seems a little spiritual, that’s because it probably is – but we don’t want you to think that any one religion or spirituality can benefit from this more than any other, what is important at the end of the day, is the time you spend with your family, and the quality time you’re spending at that.
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Don’t be surprised if you can’t figure out why you’re suddenly drawn to creating divine Roman spaces in your home (or whatever ancestry grabs you), we’re almost predisposed that way. Eating and drinking and spending time with our families has been a ritual for a very, very long time – and perhaps, it’s time we brought it back.
Changing our intimate spaces at home is a work in progress and don’t be pressured into thinking that it has to be done overnight, after all, Rome wasn’t built in a day – but she was built!
Have fun.
