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with harmony, fulfillment, and joy at home? Are we living as latter may encompass heirlooms, childhood souvenirs and
well as we would like, or are we too often anxious, emo- handcrafts.
tionally exhausted and stressed?” “We begin by shaping our home environments into
Interior designer Kelee Katillac, author of House of Be- places of inspiration and affirmation,” advises Katillac. “By
lief: Creating Your Own Personal Style, suggests we start by keeping our beliefs in front of us in our homes and by build-
taking a close look at what we see around us in our home. ing our belief and our confidence through artistry in our
“Homes that say nothing of who we are—what we believe own home, we enter into an exhilarating process that affects
in and values that we aspire toward—are places of tumultu- our lives on every level.”
ous spiritual discontent,” she counsels. “By filling the space
around us with benign objects—department-store clones
Creative Renewal
with matching accessories to fill every nook and cranny—
we lock ourselves into a gilded cage of fashion for which
“Although we tend to relegate creativity to the working
our creative spirit has no key.”
artist, all of us are creating all the time,” says Butler. Creativ-
ity at home may begin with a notebook filled with pictures
Taking Stock
culled from magazines, paint chips, product literature and
to-do lists. We have the information and the ideas, now we
Before we can create a home that truly expresses our
must make it all happen.
deepest self, we need to rediscover who we are now, where
Some creative house projects are relatively easy and
we are in our life and what we really want. This calls for an
inexpensive to do ourselves. We can make a static space,
assessment or inventory, a “before” snapshot.
like a living or dining room, function better for how we re-
Thomas Moore, in Care of the Soul: How to Add
ally live—make it more informal, colorful, or lived-in—by
Depth and Meaning to Your Everyday Life, recalls a “read-
changing the type of furniture or its arrangement, advises
ing” he did of one woman’s dwelling. “My idea was to see
Katillac. Butler emphasizes that the secret to using every
the house’s poetry and alphabet, to understand the gestures
room lies in setting up the room exactly as we want it.
it was making in its architecture, colors, furnishing [and]
We can happily engage all the senses with favorite
decorations, and the condition it was in at that particular
music, scented candles, fresh flowers, soft throws or silky
time.” After the exercise, he notes, “We both felt unusually
pillows and perhaps a garden, visible through a window.
connected to the place.” More, “I was motivated to reflect
We can repaint a room in a color we love. We can even
on my own home and to think more deeply about the poet-
make our own artwork. We can decorate only with objects
ics of everyday life.”
that resonate with us, with less of an eye to the price.
How well does our current home feel like we wish
“Living artfully might require taking the time to buy
it to? In Feeling at Home, Stoddard lists 15 elements that
things with soul for the home,” counsels Moore. “Good
contribute to the emotional intelligence
linens, a special rug or a simple teapot
of a home. In addition to the dual keys
“Just as a picture is drawn
can be a source of enrichment, not
of light and a view outside, as Marcus
only for our own life, but also the lives
mentions, are color, comfortable furni- by an artist, surroundings
of our children and grandchildren.”
ture, change (periodic rearrangement
of elements), privacy, fresh air, nature,
are created by the activities of
Adds Katillac, “By surrounding
ourselves with the trappings of our past
beauty, art, order, a working kitchen, a
the mind.”
successes, or with things we associ-
home library and favorite objects. The
~ Guatama Buddha
ate with those who have achieved the
September 2009 17
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