The 10 Ingredients That Make a Home
What makes a home? It is one of our most important spaces, and yet sometimes it can seem elusive as to what you should include, and what you should let go. Come learn the 10 essential ingredients that make a home.
Paul & Sophie Yanacopoulos-Gross, Brooklyn, USA | Photography by Chris Warnes
Katrin Arens, Bergamo, Italy | Photography by Chris Warnes
Pierre Emmanuel Martin & Stéphane Garotin, Lyon, France | Photography by Chris Warnes
Claire Delmar, Sydney, Australia | Photography by Chris Warnes
Cassandra Karinsky, Marrakech, Morocco | Photography by Chris Warnes
The question of what makes a home seems like a simple one. But it’s a little more complex than what you might initially believe or understand. After all, it can mean different things to different people. In its most basic form, it’s a place to shelter, and feel safe. But a home is so much more than that.
In 2017 I travelled the world to answer the question of “what makes a home?” I visited four continents and seven countries, and stepped inside more than twenty residences to see if there was some universality to the idea of home, and what makes us feel good in our spaces.
I also spent endless hours researching the history of the home – how and why we progressed from our nomadic past to wanting and needing to have a permanent base, and community.
“And why do we need to express ourselves in our spaces?”
The result of my research, travels and more than a decade of working in the interiors industry (at that point) as a writer and stylist for magazines, and stepping into hundreds of homes, was my debut book, This is Home: The Art of Simple Living.
To mark the five-year anniversary of its publication, I wanted to share the biggest lessons I learned while creating that book.
HOW TO MAKE A HOME
1. Develop a sense of style
The homes that most felt like a home were a true expression of the people who lived inside. They weren’t trying to emulate someone else’s home or style. Their home is an expression of who they are in physical form.
2. Focus on story
Does your home tell your story? Our homes are our story in a three-dimensional form. And they are the story of the land where we live, the building that we reside within, and the community that we are part of too.
3. Manage priorities
It’s so easy to get swept up in how other people are living, and what they are piortising in their homes. Focus on what’s most important to you. Manage your time and money in relation to what you value.
4. Elevate function
You cannot design a home with a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, personalise your space to meet your needs. Consider your daily rituals. And be realistic about how you live.
5. Create true beauty
While beauty can sometimes seem a little too surface focussed, as a society and culture it’s something that we’ve always craved and prioritised. After all, nature is beauty. It’s about balance and harmony – and that’s what makes us feel good in our spaces.
6. Appeal to the senses
We are sensory beings. More than half our body dedicates itself to deciphering sensory information. When you create a home, engage all of the senses. Otherwise, it’s a missed opportunity.
7. Connect to the surrounding spaces
Where we dwell is one part of where we live. We are part of a community. Consider how your home lives within its surrounds, and how you can create connections to the space beyond the frame of your walls.
8. Stay focussed
It’s important to stay focussed on your values, and what’s most important to you. You might prefer, for example, to wait and invest in the right pieces for your home rather than buy everything at once at a discount store. Don’t worry about how others are creating their home. You create your home in a way that suits your life, and budget.
9. Be adaptable
Create a home that can adapt alongside you and your family. Your needs and lifestyle will change over the years. Children will grow up. We all change and evolve. Allow your home to adapt to your changing needs.
10. Nurture yourself
We can spend so much time focussed on the start of our journey to creating a home. But don’t forget to enjoy the journey. Learn how to make the most of your spaces, and meet your needs in your home. After all, a home is a place that you can rest, relax, revive, rejoice and restore.
FREE GUIDE
To help you identify your home’s unique story, and learn how to create a home from the heart, I’ve created a step-by-step resource based on my best-selling book: This is Home: The Art of Simple Living.
Click the button below to download your free copy of the workbook: 10 Foundations to Create Your Dream Home.
