Thursday, May 7, 2015

Living Small & Happy



I feel a bit repetitive when I try to blog about living small. To be honest with you, I feel a bit idle in my circle of topics and images. Why idle you might wonder. Well, sometimes I feel I am not as inventive and ever-changing as many other interior bloggers. Others seem to reinvent their homes on a weekly basis like shuffling the furniture, changing the colour scheme, exchanging all decor items, adding new pieces to the home and so on. I on the other hand feel like I only change bits and pieces over a longer period of time. Is it interior decoration idleness? I used to blame my little apartment with limited space for it. But who knows who's to blame. And is there anyone to blame and for what?


A few days ago I mentioned this feeling of idleness in a comment on the blog or Instagram - I don't remember exactly. I said something like I feel a bit 'boring' as I am sharing the same images from my home whereas others have so much more variety to show and change constantly their homes. A reader replied to my comment saying something like: Maybe this is exactly what your readers like about you. A certain continuity and steadiness. Good point. It made me rethink and reevaluate my concerns. I wonder, do you have such concerns about your home from time to time?


I've been living for seven years in this tiny rooftop apartment in Munich. Questions popped up like: Shouldn't I be moving to a bigger place finally? Shouldn't I exchange everything? I mean I have some furniture pieces from day one being in the very same spot. That ping-pong of doubts and questions resulted in a 'cut-the-crap' attack and an affirmation of my happiness about where I am, what I do, how I dwell. Simple. It seemed like the only good way to go on: Embrace your life in the moment and live happily ever after. No matter how big or small your home is.


Of course I am not preaching an interior standstill here. My home does change and evolve - over time. I add and take away. Key is that I have grown way more conscious about the choices I make. I have stopped buying things on impulse because they caught my eye in an instant (yes, I was guilty of that). I let it sit a day or two and take a more conscious decision thereafter. Do I want that new chair? That new vase? If the answer is 'yes', then I'm good to go. If it is something like 'well, yeah, maybe, if...' - just forget it. It's not meant to be.


Here I am again feeling repetitive by saying that living in a happy home is about surrounding yourself with people you love (ok I live alone for now but you know what I mean) and things that have a meaning for you, that tell a story. Go around in your home and try to remember those stories behind your choices. A certain piece has no story? Well, you know what I'd say now. But then I would sound repetitive once again. Live happily, my friends!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

29 comments :

  1. Αχ πόσο με μαγευουν οι μπλε λεπτομερειες...

    http://beautyfollower.blogspot.gr

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  2. Hello Igor, I personally think that an interior is a reflection of the person who lives there. If you don't need big changes in your home to feel good, you are just a lucky one ;-)
    Greetings from Holland
    Marloes

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    1. I absolutely agree with you Marloes. That's why I think that slow changes in our home are a natural way as our personality changes slowly over time too, at least in my case:-)

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  3. How exhausting would it be to constantly be changing out your interior. And why?! A home isn't a magazine spread. It's created over time by slowly adding (as you said) objects that tell a personal story. Why would you want to swap out all of those stories? You live in a happy home Igor!

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    1. I guess that is one of the reasons why I dread such constant and radical changes. I have no time to consantly change my home - it would drive me nuts I think:-) Thank you Amy for your thoughts!

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  4. Well said :) "Comparison is the thief of joy" - Theodore Roosevelt

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  5. Igor- I love this post. So honest and so very true to you. Your home is a beautiful reflection of that. x

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  6. You know what, Igor, I doubt I would be reading your blog on regular basis if you were constantly changing colours in your home or reinventing it (in my opionion, that is the result of a restless mind). It's exactly the small changes you make that make your flat so wonderful (part of me thinks you're lying about the size of it; feels much bigger to me). And as someone who has been following your blog for a long time, I like the way you have been refining your style. Your ceramic collection ... sigh ... and don't even get me started on that woven basket (is it new or am I noticing it for the first time?). By the way, this is probably one of my favourite posts on your blog. I just love the styling; absolutely beautiful vignettes.

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    1. Oh Lisa!!! Your comments warms my heart! So wonderful to read these lines. I am very happy to have regular readers like you who are with me on this journey and noticing the changes over time. It feels like I am bonding with all the people whose blogs I am reading regularly (like yours) and who read my blog regularly. It is truly like being part of each others lives although we always get to see just bits and pieces. And yes, well observed, those woven baskets are a new addition from Broste Copenhagen. I like that natural vibe and the blue accents - it kind of fits in my home perfectly, no? :-) Thanks again for your lovely comment, Lisa!

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    2. Just came back to pin some images, as I was running out of the house when I left my comment earlier. I can see that the others who comment mention that thing about bloggers constantly changing their homes, probably to have something to blog about, which is kind of sad. I think I had more patience for those bloggers all those years ago when I first stepped into this 'weird blog dimension' as my husband jokingly refers to it, but now I only follow a few bloggers, those who seem content with life and their blog reflects that. I'm off pinning ;-)

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  7. Whenever I feel unhappy about something in my home... when it gets me down... that's when I'll change it. I wouldn't move things around for the sake of it, though I realise some people like to have that constant flow in their homes. I would find it unsettling. I've resorted to working at my dining table because I no longer feel comfortable in my study. So after persuading my partner, I'm now working to change the study and make it a more fitting place for me to be in everyday. I believe that at home you need to feel happy, secure, free and in comfortable. It should be a sanctuary and you should surround yourself with everything that you love. Nice sentiments Igor (he of the small apartment in Munich that we all love so much).

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    1. Good points, Gerard. I know you're a more constant and streamlined dweller. And yes, I mean have I mentioned it is really small and in Munich? I mean just in case you forgot... :-)

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  8. There's something to be said about someone who is content. You don't need to be changing your surroundings 24/7 :)
    By the way, what is that exquisite red-leafed plant in the fourth photo? :)

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    1. Thank you!! The plant on the picture is called 'Peperomia' (in the white pot) and the red petals in the front are from an Oxalis triangularis.

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  9. Igor, you are doing so right! Living in a happy home and surroundig with people you love.......thats it! And as I told you some posts before, I love your unagitated, calm but stylish way to live and to report about it. I love to read your postings even if I don´t comment each time! Sorry to all the english readers when I continue in German in the next lines, but to express how I feel about this theme beside my words Igor mentioned in his text is more easily.
    Es freut mich ja riesig, dass ich mit meinen Worten vor ein paar Tagen anscheinend auch genau deine Gedanken zu dem Thema getroffen habe. Dieses ewige dauernde Umdekorieren und Umstellen ist zwar manchmal ganz schön und macht auch gewiss Spaß, bringt aber auch oft so eine komische Unruhe rein. Man muss manchmal einfach wissen was man hat, was gut ist und so bleiben kann! Und Stücke an denen richtig mein Herz hängt WILL ich gar nicht wegräumen! Hat auch was mit Treue dem eigenen Stil gegenüber zu tun. Bleib wie du bist, mein favorite Interiorblogger du ;-)! GLG Anne

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    1. Danke Dir Anne!! Was für ein wunderbarer Kommentar und ja, Du hast mich eigentlich mit Deinem damaligen Kommentar zu diesem Blogbeitrag inspiriert:-) Danke fürs Mitlesen, dabei sein, unterstützen und für die Happiness, die Du auch teilst!! Thanks a lot for your wonderful words, Anne!!

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    2. Wunderbar! So soll es sein ;-)!

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  10. How tiresome it would be if you had to change how your home looked on a weekly or even monthly basis. Most pros don't live like that. So there is something honest about your blog which a majority of people can relate to. If you are an interior blogger and change your home weekly, to me it says you are doing it so you can have something to blog about and there is no real mess in that. That is you are living for your blog rather than blogging about what you would normally do had there be no blog in the first place but the passion for interior design. Although it is hard not to compare yourself with others at times just continue doing you.

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    1. Very good observation, Barbara. The distinction between living for your blog and blogging about your living is quite interesting to think about!! Thank you for your encouraging words!

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  11. What a nice post Igor! I, and many others I'm sure, have had those very same thoughts.

    "Embrace your life in the moment and live happily ever after."

    Spot on mon ami! It's good to hear that again from time to time. Thank you :)

    Xx.

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    1. So happy to see that my post resonates with you too mon amie! But I assumed so! Sometimes all we need is to inhale, exhale, sip a good cup of coffee and be content with what we have:-)

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  12. Have you found out any ideas of how to deal with a small space? I love hearing different ideas on this since I live in a rather tiny (in Hamburg) space as well.

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    1. I have no specific rules, Mathilde! For me it's all about finding the balance between what I need, what I want and what's nice to have but not really necessary. And I try to follow the 'one in - one out' rule as often as possible to avoid cluttering the small apartment.

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  13. Igor, I have been feeling exactly the same way myself - but have (happily) come to the exact same conclusion you have. This post came at exactly the perfect time. Thank you1

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    1. Oh so glad this resonates with you too, Eleanor!! Thank you for reading along & telling me!!

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