Whaaaaa?! It’s Friday?! Yep. It’s one of those weeks! We are on the precipice of one of our biggest projects yet and I just got butterflies from writing that! There are dreams… and then there are fantasies and this one definitely falls under the latter. The wildest moments of our lives- those are the ones we cannot help but take just a moment for!
In the midst of prepping for this project I’ve been challenged to create a space that “feels” welcoming and warm and cozy. I use quotations because most designers focus on the way things LOOK but I have never done that. With a background in styling, everything to me was the emotion of the room and the way it relates to the way one felt when entering and enjoying the space…. And all these years later nothing has changed for me.
Having lived abroad and traveled quite a bit, I’ve always felt wildly lucky to have been into so many different style homes over the years. Everything from a mud hut built by Berber hands in the ancient methods in the remote Atlas Mountains to a luxury estate on the shore of the Kattegat where you could just about see Sweden from the window of the living room in Denmark. We’ve visited in humble Parisian apartments and luxurious penthouses in New York. I loved every single one of them and the lovely people who invited us in. I had a book when I was younger called, “The Way They Live” and it was page after page of people in countries all around the world, sharing their homes and their lives.
I’ve always been fascinated by people and their homes! A home is like a window into one’s soul! It says so much about its occupants, doesn’t it?
Having worked in design for many years now, I have met a great many designers who obsess over perfection… and as a perfectionist on a very slow recovery…. I get it. We feel it is not only our job, but our duty to create perfection!
But, if I may convey one of the greatest secrets… the true treasure… come to think of it, I probably should have mentioned this sooner…. Yes. I’m delaying for dramatic effect… 🙂
The real secret is that it’s always the imperfections that make a home truly feel welcoming. It’s why you see me throwing blankets down and opening up pages of books that have candle wax dripped all over them… why there’s always a mess to be cleaned up and I hope there always will be! It’s the signs of life that are the very soul of a home… the imperfections a sign of a life well lived.
But we really aren’t just talking about messiness because out of all the imperfections it is the one I try to avoid the most! What we are really talking about is age and patina- a designer’s ultimate tool to helping a space come to life. We just know that it will make a space feel approachable, cozy, livable, and loved. It will help the eye to appreciate the glossy and soul to unwind.
So, as I give you a little send off into the weekend, I hope that I can give you a word of encouragement- your true beauty and that in your home will always be more beautiful and seasoned with a dose of time and patina. It’s the reminder of a life well lived- the true currency of life!
Now, I’m off to bed, but not before wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead, full of love and laughter, and even a bit of decorating, too! A big hug and a kiss for each cheek! xxV
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