Creating Home in Temporary Spaces
We live in a transient world. Life pulls us here and there and yet still we long for a small space to call home. I read a wonderful book recently by Xorin Balbes called Soul Space; Transform Your Home, Transform Your Life. In it he writes about his partner’s uncanny ability to create home in the most inhospitable and temporary of spaces. It made me think about my daughter’s upcoming move to New England. She planned to rent a room in a house and we began talking about what to bring to make it feel like home.
The picture above represents the things she pulled out as her favorites; Her colorful snuggly comforter, and throw pillows, a few favorite books and pieces of art, some carefully edited pictures of family and friends, a bamboo plant from her last place of work, a journal and some art supplies, a nifty jewelry or mail (or both) holder, her favorite cup and bowl, and a terrarium full of flowers holding meaning for this new path.
Here are her before and after pictures of her room. She has taken a plain space and made it feel like her own cozy nest. And while I imagine she is waking up knowing she is in a new place, with an unfamiliar bed and a completely different view out the window, she has the comfort of her own sheets and pillows and these bits and pieces of her former life to ground her as she floats into an unknown future.
You can make even the most temporary of spaces feel personal by placing your hat on the dresser, a bunch of posies in the bathroom glass and your books and magazines by the bed. If at all possible, bring your own pillow in your favorite colored pillow case so as not to leave it behind. Settle in and enjoy your new surroundings.
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