Homes that you live ‘with’
“ CLICK CLICK !! … and the lock of the main door opened. Glancing at my name plate, as I entered inside, a familiar smell surrounded me with memories — bitter and sweet. “
This is a feeling which most of us resonate with. Whether we come back home after five days or five years, our home is ‘ever welcoming’. We feel that we are in a safe abode where we can just be ourselves.
Have you wondered if it is because of the spaciousness, colourful walls, or the false ceiling with dim lights?…. NO… It is the hand-curated collection of pieces and pictures forming our personalised style that our home possesses, which makes us miss it like a ‘hopeless lover’ when we are away.
‘HOME’ like a ‘HOUSE’, is not a mere structure of bricks and mortar. ‘Home’ is a ‘feeling’ — nurturing, authentic, distinctive and personal. This feeling very interestingly varies for each member of the family sharing the space within the same enclosure. The combined essence of colours, shapes and textures evoke emotions in us and the guests visiting us.
More than a decade back when I pursued my formal education in architecture, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of becoming capable in giving physical form to people’s dreams. Then gradually, as I moved in professional life, I discovered an underlying responsibility of an architect, which was beyond handing over the house keys to the client. And that was a step further — to convert their ‘house’ into a ‘home’.
Since then, my perspective towards design changed forever, with an added ingredient — ‘emotional thinking’. Deep understanding of people made me realise that — ‘home design is an outward expression and point of pride worthy of attention, thoughtfulness and time’. It helped me evolve from an ‘architect’ to a ‘home stylist’ who began giving meaning and liveliness to dead spaces. It not only helped me bridge a gap between a ‘house’ and a ‘home’, but also compelled me to propagate the importance of meaningful personalised spaces. With this, I managed to touch lives of those people who felt strangers in their newly built houses, or rather were experiencing a hitch of a breakup with their old nest. A magical connection happened between them and ‘their’ spaces.
The design ‘enlightenment’ has its roots in COVID quarantine era of 2020 where confinement made the world shrink into these tiny dwellings. My optimism made me see endless opportunities in such a small space that soon home for me became an experimental canvas with new ideas of who I wanted to be. With each new day, my home has evolved with me and has remained as a constant creative outlet.
Home shall not be perceived as a ‘materialistic entity’, but rather a ‘valuable asset’ irrespective of how small it is or how old it is. It begins as an address on a street in a neighbourhood but soon becomes a state of mind — a place where we laugh, cry, love, mend, mess up kitchen, sleep in, stay up late and curl up, meditate and grow spiritually.
Hence, ‘home’ is a space that grows with us, not in size, but in value, which makes us long for it… no matter where we are on the big, fat, round planet.