Whether you live in your first house, or a temporary place, your home – or mine – is ultimately an attitude and a mind-set you can create and live in and love everyday. In our homes we have the freedom to center around our own individuality and spirit. It is here we can emphasize all the things we value, we like to be surrounded by, and we are drawn to.
Marble Platter: f/1.8; 1/8000sec; ISO-2200
Its only human to want to give physical expression to that which we hold sacred, and to define ourselves by the spaces we inhabit – through light, colour, texture and objects.
Potted House Shrubs: f/1.8; 1/8000sec; ISO-3600
The nesting instinct seems to be the strongest urges of mankind. Without knowing where we will end up, we all seem to prepare for this dream. I for one have been collecting over my lifetime beautiful objects or even mundane everyday ones of great design, rugs, art, furniture pieces, cushions and throws without knowing the exact where, when, how or why.
Spanish Glass: f/1.8; 1/8000sec; ISO-6400
Each of us has a unique, sometimes highly defined aesthetic which gives us a conduit through which beauty and style is amassed, then created. We each of us search for (or sometimes bump into!) outlets of creative self expression. Wares for your home are an accessible means to this end…
Wicker Baskets: f/2.2; 1/250sec; ISO-500
There is much around us that is pretentious and ugly. A professor at design school taught his students that they would have to edit 90% of everything that is available in furniture, textiles, and colours and only then choose judiciously from the remaining 10%.
Bath Mats: f/2.2; 1/250sec; ISO-110
When you weed out the gaudy 90% of what you see around you (just open your eyes; its all there), the personally satisfying, pleasurable, beautiful 10% that remains will give you a clearer picture of who you are.
Indoor Grass: f/3.2; 1/250sec; ISO-250
As you contemplate your home decorating and design decisions, begin with listing in order of importance and development (from one to five) the five senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, sound.
For me sight (including streaming of natural light, libraries of novels, clean white on white decor) is paramount; next is touch (the feel of marble, cotton, wool throws, leather bedhead and suede couch); third is smell (bouquets of flowers, pots of bull grass, vases with orchards, votive candles); fourth is taste (bowls of fresh, ripening fruit, herbs and spices); finally – sound (which is least important and this is reflected in the quietude of our home: no television, no radio).
Tableware: f/3.2; 1/250sec; ISO-250
We are now in the flow of home (which in actual fact is a tiny, cozy 36th floor apartment in the financial district of Dubai) where we have good reading lights, soft pillows to snuggle into, glass, flowers, natural light. Add to this some solitude, and some companionship, objects of our desires, and we have effected the spirit and place that defines personal style.
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