How to Make Any Place Feel Like Home
February 18, 2018
Have you ever walked into a magical space that just felt alive? Did you notice a “feeling” or a “sensation” about it, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on exactly what it is? It is a palpable, but intangible quality to the space.
You’ll hear people say something like “there is just something about this place”, “You can tell this place is special”, “it feels like home”or “it gets my creative juices flowing”.
Whatever it is, may seem arbitrary, but I can guarantee you, it’s not. Someone with a very deliberate intention brought it all together and gave it life.
It is a space that has been intentionally activated. The secret? The magic is in the details.
Making any space feel like home is an approach to space that activates your senses and your creative eye, so you can create an environment that makes you feel good inside. Because what we are after, after all, is a feeling.
I HAVE SEEN IT DONE AGAIN AND AGAIN
An ordinary corner turned into an extraordinary nook that calls to be engaged with. A regular ol’ kitchen that comes alive with carefully curated sights, sounds and smells, all stimulating the senses and creating an experience to be remembered.
In truth, you are a curator, crafting and creating a whole experience with a single space. Ever walk into your favorite store, feel transported, and just want to stay for hours? They have mastered the art of crafting an immersive ‘experience’ of their brand for their stores. I have been meticulously trained on how to do it too.
CURATOR
noun cu·ra·tor \ ˈkyu̇r-ˌā-tər , ˈkyər- ; kyu̇-ˈrā- ; ˈkyu̇r-ə- , ˈkyər- \
One who has the care and superintendence of something; especially : one in charge of a museum, zoo, or other place of exhibit
-Merriam-Webster Dictionary
BUT FIRST, A QUICK STORY…
On July 25, 2008 I walked into an artists hub in the Mission district of San Francisco. It was a small 60 square foot storefront space that faced Folsom street. I wandered in the side door, red ticket in hand.
Upon walking in, I was instantly entranced by the pulsating, vibrant life of this little space. Everything amazed me. The paintings on the walls, the intimacy in which the small audience chairs were carefully arranged, the mid-sized Persian rug which provided a stage, the pillowed corner nooks where people sat sipping their wine. My eyes ran across the room between flickering candle lights and fresh flowers. I smelled bean and cheese quesadillas cooking on the grill while I sipped on a hot cup of tea and sank into one of the folding chair seats in the back row.
That night changed everything I understood about space. Within 30 days I went from studying Interior Architecture at the University to managing the storefront hub full time.
And in doing so, I learned more about tending to the intangible aspect of space and paying attention to idiosyncratic details, than I did in design school. Further, I came to understand that it supported and curated a lifestyle. The space belonged and nurtured everyone who wandered in.
Most importantly, I learned that the principles of activating space really apply to working with any space however small or large, including my own home. From this particular experience are a few tips for making any space feel like home.
WHAT YOU DON’T NEED TO GET STARTED
“I’ll pick my furniture once I have a color scheme”. - Many People
An empty space, be it a new home, a new-old apartment, a small store front, a garage, or any blank canvas of a space, can be inspiring at best and terrifyingly intimidating at worst. Which is why the interior design industry is a thriving industry that I suspect will not go away anytime soon (nor should it).
As a former design student I can tell you, the truth is, you don’t need expensive furnishings, a completed color scheme, or to be honest, a complete set of anything to create a space that comes alive, is special and feels good.
The artist’s storefront hub came alive with found objects. Literally. Found objects, discarded furniture, leftover fabrics and paint canvas. Somehow all of these found, discarded and mismatched objects came together in the most cohesive way to tell a story and tempt the imagination. You could feel the gravity of their history. It is the sensation of “if these walls could talk”.
The first Key is simply a paradigm shift in thinking about filling space with stuff. You don’t have to have a color scheme, you don’t have to have the finest furnishings, you just have to have a relationship with your space. That is where the intangible magic that brings a space to life begins. From there begins a two way conversation, much like an artist converses and co-creates with a painting as it is being created (Picasso articulated the process perfectly, as a dance, each informing the other).
HONOR THE BONES
"This space has good bones!"
You may have heard someone at some time comment on the “bones” of a space. But what exactly are the bones and how do you know if you have good ones to work with?
Depending on who you ask, you will most likely get different answers. You may hear that to have good bones means there is good space flow between the rooms, or that it is structurally sound with little repairs needed, or that despite cosmetic conditions, it’s architectural features are unique and have creative potential. I personally feel it is all of the above.
For the purpose of this conversation, let’s consider the structural bones of your space as the parameter of your blank canvas. An interior designer might modify the structural “bones” of a space, but if you are moving into an apartment or a studio and are unable to make structural changes, what you have chosen to rent or lease is what you will be working with.
Every space is unique. Perhaps beautifully smooth and symmetrical in some areas, quirky in others. Dark in some areas, light in others. The bones offer a unique blend of personality specific to that space. Consider structural challenges and quirks as opportunities to play with and even highlight within your space.
CURATING FOR EXPERIENCE
Imagine you are a curator at a museum, and you are creating an immersive exhibition within a gallery. For all those that enter, most importantly yourself, how will I and others experience it. What does that experience feel like?
You have a blank canvas to work with. Take a moment. Breathe deep and let your imagination fly. Ask, what would I like this space to become and for whom? But most importantly, Imagine walking into space for the first time. Set your intention, and nurture that intention as you work with the space. Be flexible. It might change.
I THINK BACK TO THE ART HOUSE PERSONIFIED
To me, the art house was alive. Living and breathing. I enjoyed a deep kindred relationship with it. I enjoyed the life that I lived within it and all the souls that crossed my path because of it. I think of the simple yet decadent impromptu dinners, the conversations, and the daily unplanned but always welcome guests. I also think of the times where me and the house just sat quietly together. It was alive, and I was in a relationship with it. I tended to it and in return, it nurtured me. And that was precisely the point.
When you deliberately tend to a space, it becomes so activated, so nurtured, so tended to, that it absorbs and radiates this energy and takes a life of its own. It is an active participant with the inhabitants of the space. And then there is an exchange. A relationship begins to form. Just like Pablo Picasso describes “a dance” between artist and canvas, each informing the other, each equal creators in the unveiling process.
It teaches you to become present and to activate your senses in a new way. You become a curator and steward of a complete and holistic experience.
LEADING WITH THE SENSES
WHAT THE EYES CAN SEE
When I returned to school, I changed majors and completed my degree in Art Studio. Last semester I spent my Fridays and Saturdays immersed in a six-hour painting and drawing class. That is correct. A single class, for six-hours, two days in a row. Saturated in composition discussions in addition to practicum it provided me with a new way of looking at any space. Just like a canvas.
If your space was a canvas how would you gently direct the gaze and line of sight of the viewer? It is just like how the composition of a painting leads the eye of the observer.
Playing with light is a simple way to play line of sight in addition to setting the tone of any space. Consider the location and positioning of the light. What are you using the light for? Are you lighting a path to follow? Highlighting a piece of art or a doorway? A place to sit? Consider the strength of the light based on function and the sensation you’d like to create. Perhaps the light is on a dimmer. Perhaps soft light is paired with carefully positioned candle light for variation of luminescence and stimulation for the eye to enjoy. Consider the natural cascading fall of natural light into the space. How does the morning light rays breathe through the windows and their coverings?
My favorite moments at the art house were quiet mornings before the doors opened. The morning light poured in on the West side. Simple fabric covered the windows, but allowed the light to fall softly on the floor. It was a nice transition period before we opened the windows and the doors. Before the activity and the guests poured in. It was serene and majestic.
Once you have considered light, Ask, where does the eye land upon when gazing across the room? Consider the multiple landing points in a room. Fresh flowers? Fabric? Textured walls? A corner? Are these landing points in alignment with your intention for the space? Continue to make adjustments until they are.
WHAT THE NOSE CAN SMELL
Here is an easy mindfulness exercise. When moving about the space, consider what smells fill the room. Be aware of when and how they hit you. How does it make you feel? Being present and connecting with the emotional sensation that these smells evoke, opens the door into a deeper awareness of the present moment, yourself and your surroundings.
In your awareness, what do you notice? Is there a scent of flowers? Food cooking? Coffee or tea brewing? What smells do you want to experience in your space? Considering your health and the wellbeing of the space, what natural smells vs synthetic can you fill your space with that support how you want to feel in the space? You are creating a full experience. Consciously.
WHAT THE EARS CAN HEAR
Music can do wonders. So can the deliberate absence of music and other noise as well. When you fill your space with sounds, where is the music coming from? How does it fill a room? Is it balanced? Is your music soft, cheerful, melodic?
Sometimes, while I am working it is the sound of a cello, or a samba if I am cooking, or Stevie Wonder on a lazy Sunday morning. Whatever the selection, each genre, each song, creates a unique and distinct experience and feeling. As a curator I get to consciously choose my experience.
WHAT THE HANDS CAN FEEL
The founder of the art house used to have this fun exercise for the staff. We would be paired. One person would be blindfolded. The other would lead and craft your experience. They decided if you stood, sat or walked. What you touched and felt. It was soft, rough, hot or cold. Blindfolded, all your other senses heightened. Not to mention your sense of fear of hitting a wall. So yes, it was also a trust exercise. But for me it made me keenly aware of touch, how things felt when I touched them, and how it made me feel. I always think of this when touching something, like a blanket or piece of fabric. It’s no longer about how it looks, but how it feels when I touch it, and the feeling I get as a result. These details have an impact. For me, how I feel in a space, and how I would like others to feel in a space is important.
WHAT THE BODY CAN SENSE
The art house constantly shifted. During the day it resembled a living room, which doubled as our office. Not desks for us. More like corner nooks, couches, arm chairs and even hammocks outside on the 23rd street sidewalk (only on warmer days, of course).
In a single day the art house could become an artist studio, an exhibition space, a concert hall, a workshop space, a meeting room, a recording studio, a photography studio, a rehearsal space, a dance floor, a dining room and on and on it went.
Really, it meant moving the furniture around - alot. Taking things out, hiding them away. It taught me how to rearrange and recreate a single space (sometimes several times a day), with intention. More importantly, it taught me about the deliberate flow of a space.
FLOW
Flow is how people and energy literally flow (or move) through a space. Think of a fluid stream. You can design where and how the stream flows through its surrounding landscape.
If the flow is off, people bump into each other, or worse, things. They have to lean in or reach for things. One might experience a bottleneck of movement and a claustrophobic feeling or quite the opposite, like a goldfish in a wide expansive ocean. You know the flow is off when it doesn’t feel right. The human body can sense it. It doesn’t feel good.
How you feel in a space determines how you experience it. Here are just a few examples of things to consider.
First and foremost, what is your intention for the space?
How does one experience the space from multiple positions around the room?
How does one enter and exit the space? How does one walk around space? Are there clear and unobstructed pathways for energy and people to flow about the room?
Explore and enjoy your space! You are the curator of your home and your home experience.
Thank you for taking this journey with me!
From my heart center to yours,
NOEMI
