can your interior improve the quality of your life?

April 23rd, 2008

We’ve all fantasised about our dream home. In her second blog entry for liberate the home, Kristina Dryza tells us about hers.

Below is a list of things that I wish for in my dream home, somehow believing they hold the key to improving the quality of my life.

When buying fruits and vegetables in the supermarket, I forget the totality of the process of how these items came to be from the harvested soil, to now be in my shopping trolley. I’d love a garden where the very act of planting seeds allows me to feel the cyclical nature of life again.

In my dream garden there’d also be a hammock - not so much a place for reading books - but a place to lay, be super still, and listen to the gentle breeze of the wind. A birdhouse and bath too, so in the words of They Might Be Giants, they form a little birdhouse in my soul.

I’d like an antique four-poster bed with a muslin canopy so that each night, as I part the netting, I feel like I’m stepping up into the clouds and into the land of the Gods, with whom I’ll slumber. And to crawl into linen sheets that have been dried in the open air, and hand pressed to a crisp, and just enjoy their feel against my body.

This dream home would have a game room - to play board games, as well as house a pool table, and a bar (where sleek martinis could be served) - so I always remember how important play and sociability is in my life. And to not make ‘play’ a mental concept, but something I actually do on a regular basis. And while I’m at it, a well stocked library for a good frame of mind, and reference.

For the bathroom, a Japanese cedar wood bath that soaks away my constant stream of thoughts. And I’d also love a sculptural work in the hallway that reminds me of all that is humane and graceful in the world - a poetic piece that reconnects me to life’s bigger, and formless, picture.

And as the checklist continues, for the kitchen a mixture of antique plates, cups and saucers - no matching sets - so that each piece could tell its own, unrivaled story. And a delicately patterned three tiered cake stand for regular afternoon tea soirees. While we’re in dreamland, I’d also place an order for a conservatory, so that even in the depths of winter, light may still reach me.

But honestly, having these ‘things’ in my home would be no substitute for the family and friends to share them with. For family and friends are the very items that breathe love and life into a home, just for their very simple act of being there. And I’d wish for them to be around me in abundance, for they truly are the ones that give my life quality.

Entry Filed under: Kristina Dryza