One of my favourite feelings in the world is walking in my front door after a trip. No matter how good the holiday, how beautiful the hotel, or how perfect the weather—when I step inside my home, it feels like a deep exhale.
Our recent trip was a once-in-a-lifetime ridiculously incredible, epic adventure. However I do think it was the combination of all the elements – my sabbatical from work over the last few months, being part of an adventure fuelled trip that played to all my sense and pushed my in new (and old) ways, and getting to spend a long stretch of time alone (child free) with my housemate – that really fed my heart and soul in ways I didn’t know it needed.
It’s true that often my senses are attuned to these moments when I travel, when exploring new places and finding new things that you charm you, or give you a little jolt of bright-eyed wonder. These moments are a privilege I don’t take for granted.
There is something about the combination of going away and coming home that reminds you how to slow down and find the joy in life. Most of us think about home design in aesthetic terms only. Does this couch look good? Do these throw pillows match? Is this the right rug? It is that, but design is also a way of speaking to all your sense and signalling to your nervous system how you want to feel in your space.
The way my home feels isn’t an accident. It’s the result of seemingly hundreds of small, intentional design choices I’ve made with an end goal in mind – to create a space that looks beautiful to me, and also calms my body and mind.
Every room in your house is likely to make you feel something. The visual noise, the lighting, the sounds, the scents, the textures—they’re all sending signals to your brain and body. And when you start paying attention to those signals and deciding how you want your home to feel, you can start designing in a way that doesn’t just look good on Pinterest, but genuinely supports your well-being.
That’s why we believe it’s the small, simple steps that work towards making your house a home. We have said this many times before – interior design isn’t always about going from nothing to something incredible. Most of the time it is about working with and upgrading the space you already have. Refreshing your space to a finished product that is better than you could even imagine.
As I get back to working on projects, my goal is to share our favourite big ideas for small budgets, and to keep finding joy in the little moments.
Thanks as always for following along
Xx