Have you ever stayed somewhere and come home wanting to change things in your own house?
Last year I stayed at a house in the south of France that had me looking around my own home differently. There were little gems of artwork tucked into the most unexpected places and multiple sun hats hung on the wall. I kept noticing things I wouldn’t have thought to do myself.
But my favourite was a room full of plants. Huge floor to ceiling windows all around with sunlight pouring in and double doors opening straight into the garden.
I could have honestly spent the whole day in there!
It got me thinking about what makes us want to spend time in one room and barely use another. It isn’t always the furniture or how everything goes together. Sometimes it’s the light, the things we’ve collected, or simply how it makes you feel.
That’s what interests me about holistic home decor. Thinking about the whole experience of being in a room, rather than just how it looks.
I've gathered six things to pay attention to when designing your next room:
- Start with how you want to feel
It sounds like an obvious question, but how often do we ask it before buying something for our home?
We ask whether it fits. Whether the colour works or whether it’s on sale.
But what about asking "Will I enjoy being in this room more because this is here?"
Maybe you want your bedroom to feel restful. Your living room to feel welcoming or a corner where you can read without feeling as though you should be doing three other things.
Start there. It makes some of the other decisions easier.
Something can be beautiful without being what you need in that particular room.
- Give art more than the leftover wall
This is the part I know best.
Art often comes last. The couch is chosen, the rug is rolled out and then you notice a space above the couch that needs something.
But a painting can be the starting point.
Notice what you’re drawn to and how you feel looking at it. Do you keep coming back to water? A big open sky? Or even a cute animal that brings joy to the room.
Or do you want colour and vitality? Or something softer and more muted?
You don’t need to know the right words for it. You just need to notice your response.
Then, once you've decided on the painting, let it help you choose a few other things like a colour in the artwork repeated in a cushion or a throw can be enough. Everything doesn’t have to match.
If you’re looking for your first piece, I’ve written more in 3 Things to Consider When Investing in Art.
- Pay attention to the light
That room in France would have been a very different room without those windows.
We can’t all add windows, but we can notice the light we already have.
Where does the sun come in during the morning? Is there a spot you walk past every day that might actually be a lovely place to sit?
Sometimes we get so used to where the furniture is that we forget we’re allowed to move it.
And then there’s evening light.
This summer I switched to a warmer amber lamp on a dimmer in my living room. Such a small thing, but I notice it every evening. The room feels different.
For paintings, choose a spot with soft, indirect light rather than strong, direct sunlight.
- Bring something living into the room
Clearly, the plant room made an impression on me.
There’s something about being around things that are growing. A new leaf or a stem leaning toward the window. They're small changes you might miss if you’re not paying attention.
You don’t need a room full of plants. One is a perfectly good start.
Choose something that will be happy in the light you have, rather than something that only looks good in the spot you’ve picked.
And put it somewhere you’ll actually get to enjoy it.
- Think about what you touch
We spend so much time choosing how things look. But when we spend time in a room, we are also experiencing how they feel.
Maybe this is the cozy blanket you pull over your legs or the embroidered texture of a cushion. It could be a mug you reach for every morning, even the chair you settle into at the end of a long day, or a wooden table with grain you can feel.
These are things we use and touch every day often without noticing so they’re worth choosing with that in mind.
If a room feels a bit cold, try adding some texture before adding more decoration.
A blanket on the chair you already have might do more than another thing on the shelf.
- Keep the things that feel like you!
I keep coming back to those hats on the wall in France.
They weren’t what I would have expected. That was part of why I liked them (and ended up buying a similar one at the local market that week). They made me curious about the people who lived there.
Our homes can do that.
Maybe it's a bowl someone made for you, something you brought home from a trip, or a painting you saw once and couldn’t forget.
These things don’t have to make sense to everyone else, just to you.
But it’s also important to notice what you no longer enjoy. It could be something you’ve kept because someone gave it to you or because it was connected to a specific time in your life.
You’re allowed to change your mind about what belongs.
To get started, choose one room and spend a little time in it without immediately trying to fix anything.
What do you like about being there? What bothers you? What would make you want to stay a little longer?
Maybe you need to move the couch. Maybe you need a lamp instead of the overhead light. Maybe the painting you love is hanging in a room you hardly use.
Start with the thing you keep noticing.
And if you’d like first access to my new paintings, you can join The Flock. You might find one you keep thinking about.
With love,
Katherine
