(Newspaper Article published in The HighTimber Times, Conifer, Colorado) A Sacred Place by Deborah Nansel
Does your home speak to your soul? Are you happy in your space? Do you feel comfortable or is your energy being drained? Just by following some basic design principles, you will feel that your home is your sacred haven, a place that speaks to your senses and says you are really home. After all, interior design isn’t always all about having a ‘show’ home, it’s about creating a space that you are comfortable in and reflects your personality. As quoted by interior designer, Alexandra Stoddard, who has written several books on design, “Houses are alive; they breathe the life & health of their inhabitants.” Let your house lift your psyche and emotional well being.
Glance around your home right now. If you sense that something isn’t quite right, maybe you should change it. Could it be a picture on the wall that is small in proportion to the wall? Maybe the picture would be best suited on a different wall. Is there a place to sit your drink by your favorite chair? Is the chair too far away from the table? Sometimes all you need to do is rearrange the furniture to make the room function for you.
Your home should reflect who you are. Are your favorite possessions out so that you can see them, touch them? Does your framed art speak to you? When you see your favorite-framed watercolor by your granddaughter when she was little, does it bring you absolute joy? Is there ultra violet (UV) glass on the picture? Even if the picture is not in direct sunlight, any light artificial or otherwise will fade your art.
Is your favorite art rolled up and hidden away and you keep thinking that someday you will bring it out and get it framed? Put out your treasures. Maybe there’s the postcard that your daughter sent you that brings back those happy memories of good times shared. You could display the postcard on your tack board or take the postcard and other mementos to a picture framer to create a shadowbox of your precious memories.
Sofas don’t have to hug the wall, give a sofa some breathing room by pulling it out a few inches. Make sure a table is nearby for your drinks. A coffee table isn’t necessary if you have tables on each side of the sofa. In place of a coffee table, consider a large ottoman with storage inside for newspapers and magazines. Is there enough seating in your living room to entertain your guests? If you entertain at six people, do you have enough seating for six? Is there a ‘pull up’ chair nearby to help create more seating? If you are preparing to buy new furniture, maybe all you need is two loveseats and two comfortable chairs or just four comfortable armchairs for your seating arrangement. After all, does anyone ever really sit in the middle of the sofa? Have you ever considered hiring an interior designer to ‘space plan’ your home for you?
According to the authors of the book, A Pattern Language, they stated that “A room where you feel truly comfortable would always contain some kind of window place”. Do you have a window seat in your home? Are you drawn to the light? Whether you have a window seat, a glazed alcove, bay window or a comfortable armchair drawn close to a low window sill, they can all function as a “window place” where you can connect to the outdoors.
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According to feng shui experts, lights & lamps symbolize the sun. Is the overall lighting adequate in your room? Moods & attitudes of the residents can be affected without proper lighting. Use candles and fireplaces when natural light is inadequate to bring energy to the room. Light is energy.
An easy way to see if your colors in your room are complementary to each other is to pull colors from a rug, existing fabric or even a picture that is in your room for your inspiration colors and/or motifs. For example, if your rug has red and blue in it, you could paint one wall red and accessorize with blue accents! When I consulted on a recent remodel in Burland Ranchettes of a kitchen, dining room and living room, this is how we picked our colors for a house. Once I helped clients pick out paint colors for their large living room that was open to the kitchen. We pulled three colors from their granite countertop in the kitchen for the wall colors and the colors worked great! Maybe your walls just need a fresh coat of paint. Paint can fade over a period of time. Sometimes by reviving your space with a different color on the walls, some new pillows on the sofa, or new art on the walls, for example, can make all the different as to whether a home is ho-hum or feels good.
Is your dining room or kitchen table too big, too small? Is there at least 3’ of walkway around the table that allows people to walk comfortably around it? If the dining room is cramped and there are no other doors or windows, add a mirror on the wall. Mirrors attract light and visually double your space. The larger the mirror the better.
Are your dishes, silverware and linens readily available to set the table? Are your glasses stored in the wall cabinet near the refrigerator water spigot & icemaker? Is your microwave near the refrigerator? After all, doesn’t almost everything come out of the refrigerator into the microwave?
Years ago, my sister was moving to another state and just before she left she asked me to write down my secret for being organized. The first thing that came to me was that “everything has its place”. I believe that is the most important concept to being organized. If you know where the scissors are, for instance, and that they are always kept in the same drawer then you will save many steps that it may have taken to find those scissors! Is your life in order? If you have a small table in your entryway to lay your car keys, put your cell phone in the charger so that when you leave home again you will know where they are. Do you have plenty of file storage? Do you sort your mail ‘as you get it’ by throwing away the junk mail immediately and putting your important mail in a place that requires immediate attention?
Order is the Shape
Upon which Beauty Depends
Pearl S. Buck
Finally, enjoy your emotional comfort in your home. By making your home function for your needs, you will grow into the essence of your home. Your home is your spiritual center and reflects your personality and energy. It is your 'Sacred Place'.
Deborah Nansel is the owner of Interior Elements. Located in the back of the Conifer Marketplace (former Safeway Shopping
Center.) She is an authorized dealer for Hunter Douglas Blinds and Shades and offers Archival Custom Picture Framing. Deborah has a degree in Interior Design.
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