Why we’re all so obsessed with interiors and rightly so

Last month I paid a decorator to paint my bedroom.

It felt so indulgent, wasteful and the emotional barriers I had to get over to finally create an event in my calendar were frankly ridiculous. Who did I think I was? What was I thinking getting someone else to do a job I could do myself if I stopped being so lazy? How could I be so wasteful with money? Normally I do any painting myself so I felt the need to justify my choice intensely. Laid reading in bed, admiring how beautiful my favourite room in the house now looked and inhaling the fresh smell of paint, I agreed with myself this had turned out to be the best money I’d spent in a long time.

It feels like we’re more obsessed with our homes than ever. Gone are the days when we emulated our parent’s homes and styles or settled for magnolia walls. Every time I ask a friend what accounts they’re enjoying on Instagram right now the answer is always interior ones. Perhaps spending so much time in our homes during the pandemic has woken us up to how important our surroundings are in terms of how they impact not only our day to day lives, but our mental wellbeing too. Home means something different to all of us but to me it has always been the place  I’ve sought safety.

My home is my sanctuary, my inner most intimate world where I can be myself at ease. It’s where I can watch trashy tv shows guilt free under my favourite pink fluffy blanket, dance around my kitchen like nobody is watching or curl up and cry in a corner to let it all out. I’ve been a stay at home person my entire life. I hated leaving the house to go to school, begging my mum to let me come home for lunch and then begging her to let me stay on the odd days she’d agree to pick me up when the lunch bell rang. When I grew up I hated leaving home to go to work, treasuring sick days when I could mooch about and savour the familiarity of home all day long. It’s no surprise to me that I’ve found myself working in an industry that allows me to stay home all day. In a world that can feel like a scary place, home is where I like to retreat.

Perhaps I was ahead of my time but I think this way of thinking has caught on and I’m feeling less alone in my love of home. As the news become less and less bearable to watch for longer than a few minutes and our social media feeds become more and more noisy, our homes are where we can turn to as a place to take a breath and submerge ourselves in peace - if we allow it.

The age of Pinterest and Instagram has given us all the permission slip we needed to stop seeing our homes as mere bricks and mortar and start showering them with love, affection and most importantly our personal style. Channeling our inner selves into the outer world through interior design is how we make a home truly ours. In my simplified home ebook there’s an entire section dedicated to discovering and uncovering your personal interior style so you can bring it to life and experience the sheer joy that comes from living amongst it every single day. I don’t mind telling you I prefer dressing my home to my body. I often wonder if this is because my home doesn’t have ‘fat days’ and dressing it is rather emotionless compared to dressing my own body which fluctuates and reflects my mood of the day.

Creating a beautiful home that acts as a foundation for the kind of lives we want to live doesn’t have to be an arduous task. Functional and intentional design is usually more about taking things away, simplifying and organising rather than adding lots of new things in. Yes time, effort and money is required, but it’s worth it. Our homes are a reflection of our worth and our self-respect. That doesn’t mean the bigger and flashier the better but it’s time to stop depriving ourselves of the healthy environment we need and deserve to flourish.

So take this as a permission slip to invest in your home. You don’t have to renovate the whole thing, though you might want to begin, but at least realise the impact our surroundings have on us and reflect this as deserved. Make it a place to nest, recharge or even staycation. So much stuff is a waste of money, creating a beautiful home we enjoy spending time in and feel ourselves in is most definitely not.

What does home mean to you? Is it your sanctuary like mine is or maybe your favourite party venue? The place where your family can enjoy time together? Whatever home means to you, I’d love to know.

If you’re looking to create your own unique version of a simpler intentional home you can find out more about my simplified home ebook and get your copy here.