To live in a home where you are wanted, understood, and valued is heaven. Here is how Marie and I spent a day resetting her home, so every object can feel that its a cherished member of her team.
Marie is a Permaculture designer with a Retro aesthetic and an eye for beauty. She has a rambling, flower-strewn home that is a kaleidoscope of captivating things.
After a breakup last year, she wanted to attract love into her life and wanted a bedroom that would make her new life partner feel honoured.
By the end of the day, without buying anything new, we created this space:
It evolved so easily. Here are some 'before' pictures:
Were the objects in her room feeling special and desired and loved? Loved and understood is the vibe we are after, flowing through everything and everybody in the house.
Marie had attended my Kitchen Sink Webinar a few weeks earlier, and was so happy with her new 'Shrine of Beauty and Love' in her kitchen, that she got me to come over. She wanted the same patterns activated in her bedroom and felt a bit daunted about where to begin. We all need a buddy for this.
Can you see what we did in this 'before and after'?
We made families of objects, so nothing felt left out or without friends and supporters.
We made things seeable by taking away distractions. We made the things that dilute attention, such as power cords and clutter, unseeable. By graceful positioning, or ruthless donating to the op shop or rubbish bin, never to be manufactured again.
We made creative void. Pulling the bed closer to the wall created a yoga spot on the carpet. The floor is not for piles of homeless objects anymore. The things have been honoured with their own special places, and the floor is for lolling, full of lovely emptiness and possibilities.
The dresser got dressed up elegantly, with a lot of subtraction, and the addition of a perfect hoya plant I found in the laundry. Marie has been caring for it for 12 years. It knows her secrets and shares her memories.
If you've already done my home design webinars, you might be able to see the Cecilia patterns we have used in this transformation.
We Reduced Useless Diversity, we put things into Zones of high-and-low attention, and we used Knolling. That is, lining things up at right angles as a micro-meditation, to show ourselves we were putting them in exactly the optimal spot, and our task was complete.
Powered by the Postcard Method
When I do a consult, the first thing we do is get our cameras out and go hunting for combinations we find beautiful. They are always there, but sometimes we have to look closely. The harmony we find shows you what a genius you are for already creating beauty. I call them postcards, as they will be so inspiring, people would be willing to buy one to gaze at.
Postcards give direction and power. Look at what a movie-star house Marie creates:
Marie's Postcards, taken by Cecilia. 'Sweetpea Caramel' is my name for her style:
Vivid pretty colours and old-world faded treasures, all on a creamy, neutral background.
After delighting each other with postcards, we then go looking for anti-postcard images. They are pictures of the muddle you've been putting up with. Nobody wants to buy these. Your eyes have been filtering the dis-harmony out, but now you have help, we will put these objects where they belong, which isn't your sacred space. The camera shows it as it is, but makes the clutter look so contained, so possible to get rid of.
How do you feel after a day of making these Permaculture and Japanese culture patterns embodied in your life?
We are glowy. Thank you Marie, for having faith in me, and having such a fun play date with me, all day long.
Join us online for your very own 2020 transformation: 'Less Stuff, More Merry: Re-imagine and Reset your Christmas'.
It's on Sunday 29th November, and again Sunday 13th December 2020
We will explore how to use the Japanese Five S method to declutter and reset your home, and other patterns that will generate value and ease in your life, and surprise and connection in your Chrismas Day, if you have one, or want to.
A few minutes of imagining what you want can lead to relaxing into a holiday season that's a good fit for you. A restful day or an opulent day are both good choices. Whatever is required to have you light up and glow, that's what we will re-design together.