How Sensual Is Your Home?

Home is our emotional heartland - a place to restore our balance. Home is your corner of the world. Time to be slow, time to dream, time to read. One of the biggest luxuries in modern life is unscheduled, uncommitted time. Defend it fiercely and value it. It's not wasted. Your brain needs it to come up with new ideas. These phrases are penned by Ilse Crawford, the founder of the British Elle Decoration and design connoisseur par excellence. She wrote these lines back in 1997 for her book 'Sensual Home' and they seem to be more valid nowadays than ever before!

Truth be told I wasn't familiar with the book until I read THIS article by my London based friend Tina. I was intrigued and ordered the book shortly after. You know that my concept and life motto is that we all need to add more happiness to our homes. If you are not happy at home, where will you be? 

The notion of happiness is a very personal one. But no matter what happiness means to you, it will always involve your emotions and your senses. Pay attention to your senses when you are at home. What makes you happy? A certain sight? A specific scent? The haptic in your abode? The audible cues when you walk bare feet over your wooden floor? Most probably it is a mix that speaks to all your senses and makes this not only a visible but rather 'feelable' notion of home and happiness.

Reading this book means experiencing your home with all senses at the same time. A few days ago I received a 100% natural beeswax handmade candle. This was the right moment to light it for the very first time and take in the delicate odour of a product coming from the nature, put in shape by human hands and lit to make my home feel warm and cosy. This resonated perfectly with the book speaking of a home detox and the importance of purifying the air we breathe and thinking of natural odorants and purifiers rather than those artificial air fragrances.

The book takes you on a sensual journey with the mission to liberate your senses. It not only speaks of smelling but also of hearing, comfort and textures, touching, the sight, light and shade and taste. Reading chapter by chapter I started looking for those cues with my senses more consciously than ever before. Styles come and go, but beneath them all are fundamentals that speak to our senses and trigger emotions in us. It is more than there is to see!

A big thank you to Amy from Apidae Candles for the wonderful natural beeswax candle in a Weck jar. Check out her handmade candles in Weck jars, sake cups, wine bottles and more. Oh, and feel the happiness in your home!

Happy Friday!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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