“being human – how we can integrate the way our homes look and feel with our basic emotional needs”

-Ilse Crawford

 

 

If you really want to explore design, to get past the surface stuff and understand how and why you respond to your home  there is no better teacher than Ilse Crawford.

She has written two incredible books –     Home is where the heart is?

and      -      Sensual Home.

They are both brimming with wonderful images and thought provoking ideas. Here is a little sample;

‘Home is the ongoing sotry of a person (in this case, you). Think about how to create a sense of identity and, by extension, a future. It’s all down to the individual. And that does not mean beige (hopefully). Style is meaningless. A moment. To shape a sense of place, you need to stand back from the relentless pursuit of a look (which, by definition, is instantly old fashioned). A home can be complex, a place for crazy combinations, for modernity, for memory. Try things out.’

What I respond to in these books is the wisdom in seeing past the need to copy slaveishly the trends that bombard us. To use our homes as places to curate our own stories with the objects that have meaning and value to us.

Design certainly does enhance our homes but we don’t need to feel inferior to it or be afraid to experiment with it.

Of course I couldn’t leave without sharing some images of the fabulous Ms Crawford’s work.