House and home are an interdependent couple. The symbiotic relationship is undeniable. It is the juxtaposition of the container and the content; the what lies within and the within where it lies.
Segue from the semantics, making a house a home is simply the stylish, intimate transformation of a raw persona non grata space, into a space drizzled with detail, design components, drama, accents of all languages and textures and most importantly personal threads that weave a pattern of individual style and design choices.
Making a house a home, is a concept relevant to every timeline of civilisations. Cave men, I’m sure … chose markings and scribes on cave walls that were indicative of personal cave style… Mud huts were indented with hand prints or pebbles and river stones to add gloss and texture. Wigwams and tepees were woven with leather lace and stained with henna bearing drawings of Indians chasing horses across the Appalachian hills… the making of a home was innate from then.
Fast forward to Houzz, HGTV, luxury dream homes, flipping Las Vegas; making a house a home is now an awesome, creative, endless budgeted or unbudgeted pastime or burning ambition. It is the influence of personal taste into your space through the selection of accessories, art, plants, furniture, lighting, area rugs, bed linens, window dressings, and so much more. It is a time consuming yet visually and subliminally rewarding accomplishment. Manipulating your space to void it of stark mandatory structures, to almost clothe its bare bones with fabric, colour, texture and jewels, is indeed the process of breathing life and signature into your space.
Making a house a home is a multifaceted action that can be achieved in so many ways.
Accent pieces
Accent pieces no doubt are a big game changer in the house to home process. How you choose what you choose to scatter in the corners of your home is one sure way of defining your space.
Accents in art should be reflective of your personal appreciation and attraction; if you like it, then it’s a personal selection to add value to your intimate space. Accents in decor clocks, vases, twisted vines and bamboo sticks are all pieces of salt and sugar to make the meal taste better. The key is not to overdo, over choose nor over buy; always step back and assess “is this too much or too little?” Accents are not to clutter but to complement.
Colours set the tone. Bathe walls in colours that sing your song.
Beige, cream, pewter, silver sparkle and oatmeal linen is the home of the consummate patience pursuer, lover of charm, calm tranquility. The brightest accents in their home are the bursts of Orchids spraying from a rustic side table positioned by a window that is awash with cotton curtain panels or Vivid Art by Hughie or Cooper.
The showgirls of Jewel tones, plums, jades, and blues, herald in personality. Bright prints on accent cushions flank the sides of suede covered sofas done in teal or burnt orange. The resident Live Love Laugh persona takes pride in this space.
To continue reading, purchase Vol.8 #9, 2016 Issue.