Rule #4: Don’t forget the other senses
One of my favourite images from Country Living
I’m writing about my “House Rules” this week - a few things I want to keep in mind when it comes to creating our future home.
Some of my fondest memories of the house I grew up in are not visual at all. My mom was very good at creating a visually attractive home, but there was so much more than that. It was the cool smell of fresh air in the morning. It was the sound of Christmas music ringing through the house. It was the warmth of sitting on the carpet in front of the radiator snuggled in a soft blanket.
I really want to pay attention to the other senses when creating my home: open windows for fresh, cool air and the sounds of rustling leaves and singing birds. lit candles that fill the room with warm scents. scents of yummy baking and cooking to greet those who come in the door. music played to dance to, clean to, relax to. quiet times. warm soft blankets at arm’s reach. each bed kept with crisply cleaned sheets that smell like fresh laundry. warm fragrant drinks offered to talk over. bare windows to bring in sunbeams to snuggle up in. fresh flowers or evergreen boughs to leave a fresh scent lingering whenever possible.
Rule #3: Play with texture
Design by Caroline Allison
I’m writing about my “House Rules” this week - a few things I want to keep in mind when it comes to creating our future home.
I love pattern, and I love colour. But over and over I find myself drawn to interiors that aren’t quite as bold with these. Rather, the interiors use pattern’s more sophisticated and subtle cousin: texture. Texture takes time and layers to create. It means waiting for the right piece. It means a variety of natural materials together: worn leather, beautiful wood grain, sparkling glass, interesting stone, woven grass fibres, warm and cool metals, breezy linens, soft silks, and sumptuous velvets.
While I’ll never stay away from colour or pattern completely I would like to pay attention to textures and create a subtle complexity of materials when designing our next home.
House Rule #2: Create places of retreat
I’m writing about my “House Rules” this week - a few things I want to keep in mind when it comes to creating our future home.
Rule #2 is to create places of retreat. I’m an introvert, and sometimes I need a place to curl up and escape it all. As a kid I used to even go sit in my tiny closet on a pile of my shoes in the dark. Even though I had my own room. The house we plan to build is quite open concept - which is not usually the way I’d go, so I want to really prioritize creating places of retreat. Things like a window seat, or a chair in a corner, or a little tent.
