Ah, award season. It is the time when actors and singers walk off the sets of their plays, movies, and videos, and await the sound of their name being called to receive an award for excellence in their craft. What we forget is that a good set can tell a story as much as an award-winning performance. It gives the actor a sense of place from which to create their fantasy lives.
Like a movie set is the backdrop for the life that plays out before the camera, your home is the backdrop for your life. It reflects who you are, while providing a sense of comfort and grounding. That is why, diva-darlings, you must not be afraid to make your home as opulent or minimalist as you choose. While I might choose to live In Mr. Darcy’s Pemberly (the Collin Firth/BBC version, of course), you may choose to live in one of those hot new 300 square foot tiny homes. Or anything in between the extremes.
Whatever kind of home you choose to be the backdrop of your life, make sure it is your “House of Belonging,” as writer Sarah Ban Breathnach calls it. Make sure you surround yourself with only those things that bring you joy.
Remember that walls and floors are the pallet upon which you create your design. Whether you are starting with a clean slate in a new home, or updating an old one, spend some time thinking about how you use your home. Things such as traffic patterns and exposure to moisture will have a huge effect on the materials you need, especially for walls and floors. The staff at City Tile in Murfreesboro, Tennessee is always there to help you with your choices.
I was recently a visitor to a home that had beautifully dark-stained pine floors and a varying pallet of grey shades on their walls throughout the entire house. It gave the home a sense of space, and their lushly textured furnishings in greys, peaches, and teals with accents of mercury glass gave it the lux look of 1930’s Hollywood. I could almost see Jean Harlow slinking across the living room in her body-hugging satin evening gown and dramatically throwing herself down on the velvet fainting couch.
Another house I visited not long ago was designed to look like a large, but simple, farmhouse. Inside the open plan had oak flooring throughout, with a shelf over the fireplace made of one rustic beam. The furnishings were an eclectic blend of old and new décor, a trend quite prevalent today. And it worked against the earth-tone walls. The bathrooms employed the newest tile colors and textures. Everything about the home was relaxing and comfortable, like a cabin in the woods or a bungalow tucked among sand dunes. But this home was an oasis in the middle of town.
Many years ago I was in a friend’s home that felt like an English castle; the floors were rough wood and stone, the walls white-washed, the ceiling high and half-timbered. She had even filled it with English antiques, including a complete set of armor. The saying “your home is your castle” was so true for her. I half expected her to come to the door in full Elizabethan regalia like Dame Judy Dench as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love.
Speaking of Shakespeare, he was the one who said,
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts…”
Be it a tapestry draped castle or a rustic farmhouse, filled with Hollywood glamor or a space-conscious tiny house, your home should reflect what you love and who you are. Make your home the stage where the story of your life plays out.
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