Beauty in order

There are so many schools of thought about how we present our homes to others. It can be easy to get lost in all the opinions and ideas that are out there and I recognise that even writing this, I’m adding to them. My reason for doing this though is to help, not hinder, as I try to simplify the everyday things of life.

One of the reasons that I wanted to write a blog alongside my business was to explore the reasons why we respond in a certain way to our homes. I hope to help as I curate and share some of the things I’ve read along the way about this topic.

I like to think about what is behind it all.

What is at the heart of our motivations?

I’ve had lots of conversations recently about the motivation for tidying, cleaning or presenting ourselves through our homes in a certain way.

Creating beauty and order is not supposed to be a pressure or a stress. It could be seen as an impossible task to achieve and therefore too much. Or something clinical that is just a means to an end, joyless and sterile. I think that there can be joy and freedom in the process of creating calm. For some of us, it is how we live and how we choose to live most of the time.

The main reason I love presenting things in a certain way, is because I would want my home to bring beauty to those who spend time there. Please hear me, I’m not saying I have a beautiful home, just that I like to work on creating corners of it where I hope there is calm and in that order, beauty. There is something pleasing to the eye when something looks nice, when the chaos is gone, when something simple and beautiful remains.

Have a look around your home. Are there corners or shelves or walls that speak beauty to you? Do you have a special place for loved ones’ photos, for a special plant, a child’s drawing, an ornament that was a treasured gift? Have you made space for these things, and cleared away other unnecessary things? This can help you focus on the items that are important to you and how they make you feel.

Beauty doesn’t equal spending money. It isn’t the latest trend. It’s simple and meaningful.

There’s a really famous quote by William Morris the English designer who longed for people to see the beauty in the everyday. Many of his prints were of nature which he hoped would inspire people. He encouraged us to consider how we presented our homes. He said:

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

His method to go about this was certainly different to mine, but he did care about how people used their spaces and how the simple, everyday things can make a difference. On that we definitely can agree!

So, as we look at our homes and the spaces we spend time in, maybe we can think of creating some areas of beauty. As we decorate for Christmas, how can we make that a way of drawing attention to something simple and special and not get carried away with too much.

We will not regret looking for beauty. We will not want to make our homes more complicated again after any simplifying. Any effort you make in this area will be worth it!

I hope that you can enjoy simple beauty today.