May 01, 2008
Hello, and welcome to the third issue of Dream Home Decorating News - THE INSPIRATION ISSUE (May 1, 2008).
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Publisher’s Note
- Tip of the Month: Dream Your Home
- Legal Stuff
Publisher's Note
Hello again! Well, it looks as if spring were now well and truly on the way in my part of the world – after snow at Eastertime (in London!), and hailstorms and ground frost well into April, I did have a few doubts about the survival rate of those roses in our back yard. But they are budding … nothing can stop them now! (Expect a few garden pics and articles on this site later in the year!)
Inspired by the season, this newsletter is mainly about ways to ‘blossom’ your home dreams into reality. I’ve put together a three-step process for you to try out. It’s great fun, especially if you’re prepared to test some unfamiliar approaches and experiment a bit on your own.
I’ve decided to do some experimenting myself, concerning the format of this newsletter. There will be no Featured Article this time, while I’m preparing a shop report for the next edition (July 1, 2008). It would be great if you could let me know how this version of the Dream Home News works for you. Do you like it short and sweet, or do you prefer the ‘double whammy’ (Tip of the Month and Featured Article) in every newsletter? Should this newsletter be shorter, longer, more varied? As always, I very much value your feedback, so do drop me a line!
Right. So the new Tip of the Month is …
Dream Your Home.
Obviously, there are many ways to have a dream home. You can pay excellent professionals to design, build and decorate one for you, or you can find a home on the market that looks like what you had in mind, or …
… you can take a seriously creative approach and transform the home you have into something that is thoroughly inspired by your dreams. Well, you’ve seen enough of this site to know that the latter would be my favorite method! It is the most fun, the most interesting, and it will result in a home that is truly (even madly, if you want) YOURS.
I propose a three-step process that starts out with a vivid, colorful dream. Starting with this vision, you then discover ways to apply the essence of your dream to your current home. Even if the home you now live in doesn’t look remotely like your dream home, there is a lot you can do, often at minimal expense, to increase the likeness in astounding (sometimes jaw-dropping) ways.
Step 1: Dream!
Creating a home that embodies your dreams will work best if you begin with the end result in mind.
So let’s start by imagining that money, time, and the people in your life are all aligned with your dream. If you wanted, you could move into your wonderful home tomorrow.
What will it look like, this place of your dreams? Make some notes on a sheet of paper, or spend a bit of time getting clear about your vision - collect pictures from magazines and catalogues and make a collage on a large piece of card, or start a ‘look book’ of your home dream ingredients.)
Now comes the most important part:
Imagine that this dream home is already yours, and you are, right now, walking around in it.
See, hear, feel, smell, even taste your dream home in as much detail as you can:
- Which room are you in at the moment?
- What kind of floor does it have? How does that floor feel under your feet? (Are you wearing shoes or slippers, or are your feet bare?)
- What can you hear whilst you are in this room? Do the sounds come from outside the house or from the inside?
- Smell the air in the room. And open the window to smell the air outside.
- Look out of the window - what do you see out there? What does the sky look like? Are there buildings, fields, mountains, a beach?
- Now look around inside the room. What colors do you see?
- Go around in the room and touch things – the walls, the furniture, the floor, the curtains (if there are any). Actually see your hands touching these things. What do they feel like? Are they soft, nobbly, rough, warm, cool?
- Now look around you: are there pictures on the wall?
- What does the furniture look and feel like?
- What do you love about this room? What attracts you the most?
- Now go into another room. What can you smell, hear, feel, see, touch in that room?
Step 2: What Would This Give You?
Now, start the second step by focusing your attention on the things that stand out for you about your dream home: The things that make it the lovely space you want to live in.
Then ask yourself: “If I had this, what would that give me?”
For example, let’s say you are totally smitten with the view from the windows of your dream home. So if your home had a view like that, what would it give you? (Maybe a sense of generous, open, free space - a feeling of freedom, clarity and calm. Or a daily dose of uplifting beauty. Or a sense of home, of having arrived in the “right” place.)
So focus on what’s gorgeous about your dream home, and then ask yourself the question: “If I had this, what would that give me?”
Jot down a few notes about this.
Consider that the feelings (like calmness, clarity, being “home”, feeling inspired…) may actually be what you really want.
We usually DO things, and want to HAVE things, because deep down we expect that they will make us feel better.
I invite you to test this for yourself. Fantasize about your perfect home, and then ask yourself how you think this home, these possessions would make you feel.
If you don’t find it easy to imagine, there is another avenue you could take:
“Test” different living spaces (friends’ homes, show homes, homes in magazines, shops and catalogues) by focusing directly on the feelings that these spaces evoke in you. Imagine what you would feel like if you lived in a home like that. Whenever you are visiting (or looking at) a living space that
- lifts your spirits
- makes you feel happy
- inspires you
- makes you feel at ease
- makes you want to stay there
- makes you want to take it home with you …
Step 3: Translate Your Dream
Feelings are your key to the concrete changes you could make to your own home and lifestyle.
Let’s take the above example of the view, and say that the views from your dream home are serenely beautiful. Whenever you look out of the window, you feel uplifted, clear, calm and happy.
How could you create this feeling in your home? For example, you can
- use well-edited color schemes (have fun with this and include some of the colors you want to see from your dream home windows!)
- put some ”Views on the Wall” - pictures, particularly large ones (seascape photos, landscape paintings or posters, abstract art)
- create large expanses of a single color or color family (no area rugs, minimal pattern, no clutter, no small sofa cushions or other visual distractions)
Let’s take another example. Let’s say your dream home is really luxurious – beautiful materials, gorgeous shapes, several items of high monetary value.
So if you had that, what would it give you?
- a feeling of prosperity and security?
- a sense of being special – admired, even envied by others?
- a feeling that you deserve ‘the best’ in life’?
For example, buy a book of exquisite photography that depicts the kind of things you want to be surrounded by, the ‘world’ you want to live in.
Then do something most people would never dare: cut out the pictures you like best, and frame them. Surround yourself with them. Be bold: hang them in large-scale mats, two above two, in prominent areas of your home, or cover a whole wall in them.
Then, decide what kind of luxury would make the greatest difference to your current home, and focus your attention and finances to obtain it. This will be the beginning of your dream home! (For more ideas and inspiration, have a look at the Top 10 Tips.)
What’s the Point?
What we appreciate appreciates. What we focus on, we get more of. I’ve put this to the test many times in my life, and have always found it to be true.
So if the 'complete' dream home you have in mind is currently out of reach, you can always make a start. Focus on what you would like to see, feel, touch, hear, smell around you, and start realizing that in ‘small’ ways. By doing this, you will attract more of what you want into your home and your life.
Further reading:
I first came across the idea that we get what we focus on in a class with Ken & Elizabeth Mellor at Biame Network. Their website is really worth checking out. I recommend buying their beautiful and effective "Creative Release Meditation", which can help you create your dream home, and any other kind of success, first in your mind and then in the world.
I found the "What Would This Give Me?" exercise in a beautiful book, The Magic of Conflict, by Thomas Crum. (Mine is a very simplified version!)
By the way, I'm not affiliated either with Biame Network or with Tom Crum, and I make no money out of these recommendations. I'm just passing these tips on to you because I think they may be worth your while.
Legal Stuff
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"See" you again on July 1, 2008!
All the Best to You,
Renate Hering-Shepherd
www.dreamhomedecorating.com