Home as Sanctuary (continued)
As I examine my own home and how it speaks to me I want to continue to share this concept of a sanctuary as home with all of you, room by room and then by sharing ideas about home. As most of you who know me my home resonates me all over and in each room there are things that mean somehting to me. My deep love for my home will hopefully bring your conciousness and awareness a level up and that you will examine your home as well. Where you situate your furniture and the vase you use for your flowers are all items that need to be taken to heart. And I mean that with all my heart. When your home is not aligned with certain basic things it is only a house and remains a lifeless object and a place where you just go to sleep rather than to hold reverence and retreat in peace and harmony with your home. There are even reasons for placing furniture where you place it, making your living are for example situated to have conversations in it and placing the table close enough so guest can use it.
I have a story about a women's home that I want to share. There is never a time for me when I dislike everything about a living area for example. Perhaps the sofa is not the color I would pick or the rug is not situated well. In this lovely room the rug was in the middle of the room and did not touch any part of the two sofas that were set away from the rug in an L-shape. Then the cocktail table was so far from the sofas that it would be difficult if not impossible to place your glass on it if she served you a drink. Way across the room were the two pretty sofa chairs that were so far as to make it hard to hear anyone sitting that far from you if you were sitting at the sofa at the end of the room. All of th major peices were in the wrong place for inviting conversation. Nothing "married anything in the room. I call it this because the rug should have been in part under the sofas or at least one of them and the chairs could have been "married" by bringing them closer to the sofa and onto the area rug. Then the blue on the sofa and the blue in the rug did not make for any sort of contrast making the room look dull and lifeless. One Chirstmas when I was invited to her home I made her some pillowsout of French floral blue and white fabric hoping to make the sofas pop out a little and look more elegant and interesting. She took it as an insult I believe and to be honest I just thought the worn out pillows she had on the sofa were lifeless and discolored. She was right in thinking that I found her decor lifeless but it was such an easy fix I never understood why she did not marry the peices in the room, at the very least. Then after getting to know her I sensed that her house was just s house and had never been blessed to become a home where there was connection, even in the furniture, least of all between the house and her. Ironically she was an artist and a good one at that. People just don't care enough about the impact that their home has on them and how harmonizing with their home will bring joy and spiritual connection to their daily life. For them a house is a house is a house.
In my living room the first thing I thought about was how to marry the furniture and what accessories would be most appealing. Where the table is situated every seat in the room has access to it, so that wherever you sit you can place your glass on the table. The table is a Nagucci which is a vintage modern design from the 1950's and the sofa is a replica of a vintage modern sofa from Room and Board. It is a true tan and has U-shaped legs made out of an beautiful dark wood. The sofa chairs are armless (which I would not recommend today) and are green with blue and chocolate threaded lines in it. The end table has a circular motif and the lamp on top of it mimics the circles in the end table with a glass top. The repetition is purposeful and makes the lamp look like an extension of the table. I love circles that interact with eaach other as one of my favorite design ideas. On the other side is floor lamp that has a shape that provides light going downward. This too is purposeful for reading and for drama. To me lighting in a room is everything. In fact I recall one of my good friends having twelve lamps in an open space in his living area and dining room area. When you walked in it looked beautiful becausee everything from crystal eggs to exquisite paintings on the walls. On the other side of the room there is a small accessory table with a base that looks like arrows in a tripod shape with a small glass top. On top of it I decided on a red urn that looks Chinese in color and shape. On the cocktail table I carefully placed a book called "Advanced Style" about fashion because as most know of me I love fashion and this book is about women in New York who were randomly photographed due to their original sense of fashion. The entire book is filled with women who are 60-95 years of age and some of the fashon is whimsicle and fun. The message is that we can be fashionable and look great all our life and there is not a cut off age. I love that and it is definately my thought as well. When you decorate a table a pretty table book is a must. Something you love is preferable of course.
to be continued...
I have a story about a women's home that I want to share. There is never a time for me when I dislike everything about a living area for example. Perhaps the sofa is not the color I would pick or the rug is not situated well. In this lovely room the rug was in the middle of the room and did not touch any part of the two sofas that were set away from the rug in an L-shape. Then the cocktail table was so far from the sofas that it would be difficult if not impossible to place your glass on it if she served you a drink. Way across the room were the two pretty sofa chairs that were so far as to make it hard to hear anyone sitting that far from you if you were sitting at the sofa at the end of the room. All of th major peices were in the wrong place for inviting conversation. Nothing "married anything in the room. I call it this because the rug should have been in part under the sofas or at least one of them and the chairs could have been "married" by bringing them closer to the sofa and onto the area rug. Then the blue on the sofa and the blue in the rug did not make for any sort of contrast making the room look dull and lifeless. One Chirstmas when I was invited to her home I made her some pillowsout of French floral blue and white fabric hoping to make the sofas pop out a little and look more elegant and interesting. She took it as an insult I believe and to be honest I just thought the worn out pillows she had on the sofa were lifeless and discolored. She was right in thinking that I found her decor lifeless but it was such an easy fix I never understood why she did not marry the peices in the room, at the very least. Then after getting to know her I sensed that her house was just s house and had never been blessed to become a home where there was connection, even in the furniture, least of all between the house and her. Ironically she was an artist and a good one at that. People just don't care enough about the impact that their home has on them and how harmonizing with their home will bring joy and spiritual connection to their daily life. For them a house is a house is a house.
In my living room the first thing I thought about was how to marry the furniture and what accessories would be most appealing. Where the table is situated every seat in the room has access to it, so that wherever you sit you can place your glass on the table. The table is a Nagucci which is a vintage modern design from the 1950's and the sofa is a replica of a vintage modern sofa from Room and Board. It is a true tan and has U-shaped legs made out of an beautiful dark wood. The sofa chairs are armless (which I would not recommend today) and are green with blue and chocolate threaded lines in it. The end table has a circular motif and the lamp on top of it mimics the circles in the end table with a glass top. The repetition is purposeful and makes the lamp look like an extension of the table. I love circles that interact with eaach other as one of my favorite design ideas. On the other side is floor lamp that has a shape that provides light going downward. This too is purposeful for reading and for drama. To me lighting in a room is everything. In fact I recall one of my good friends having twelve lamps in an open space in his living area and dining room area. When you walked in it looked beautiful becausee everything from crystal eggs to exquisite paintings on the walls. On the other side of the room there is a small accessory table with a base that looks like arrows in a tripod shape with a small glass top. On top of it I decided on a red urn that looks Chinese in color and shape. On the cocktail table I carefully placed a book called "Advanced Style" about fashion because as most know of me I love fashion and this book is about women in New York who were randomly photographed due to their original sense of fashion. The entire book is filled with women who are 60-95 years of age and some of the fashon is whimsicle and fun. The message is that we can be fashionable and look great all our life and there is not a cut off age. I love that and it is definately my thought as well. When you decorate a table a pretty table book is a must. Something you love is preferable of course.
to be continued...
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