Making home – 1

Our spirits ebbed yesterday when the stay-at-home directive was extended to May end. We had our tiny fanny packs packed and ready for a long stroll as soon as we could get out on May 3rd…or so we were thinking.

But I decided to recount the good things we have been doing for the past month indoors. Ro poked at me, saying this is probably a good chance to write something about “home” and make this blog a true home blog, rather than a space for penning thoughts from our travels and outdoorsy wanderings.

One of the things I was uncomfortable with, in our current house was the presence of bare white walls staring down at me. It was like sitting in a big white box with a fuzzy carpet. Slowly we added some color with furniture, chairs, TV, and some of my sketches framed awkwardly. It is always self-conscious for me to look at my own art hung in front of me while I work or laze around…but we did it anyway 😉

And this time provided an opportunity to dress the walls even further! We mulled over days to select a wall for the makeover, and then for the “ideal” wallpaper. Ro wanted something modern, I wanted eclectic. He wanted “masculine” colors and patterns, and I failed to have a concrete image in my mind with this description. I was tending towards blue, and he wondered if it will be “too much”. Oh, I should have totally documented the random discussions we had about wallpaper. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought that wallpaper will make us reflect on the phenomenology of the space that we live in!

Finally, a delicate balance of all our expectations from a wallpaper as if dawned on the horizon. The process of putting up the removable peel and stick wallpaper was easy, and oh, it makes this space feel more like home. And suddenly I started believing in the effect of material possessions and transformed spaces on the inner spirit…

My this week’s home read is “Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces you Never Want to Leave“. What is this week’s read for you?

D.