As we continue to live our lives closer to home, with little to no travel and fewer social outings, there is no better time to look inward for inspiration. Home projects have been on the rise for many of us during on-again-off-again quarantine, but it’s also easy to get stuck, feeling flummoxed about what to tackle next or where to begin.
Over the past few years, the inspiration board has appeared regularly in our pages. Current times seem to lend extra credibility to this form of creativity. Even if there is no project to be done, creating a palette of ideas can be relaxing and may spark an idea or push you toward thinking of a room, a tabletop, a home office or a wall differently.
I believe your home is the story of you and the ones you share it with. We are all a work in progress … so let go of concerns about the finish line. Continue telling your story by adding, subtracting (just as important!) or simply rearranging. As we collectively hold our breath for the end of an uncertain season in our world, there is space to create and to breathe, even if it is in the simplest ways of laying out treasured keepsakes, samples of saved fabric and pictures of dreamy places.
For fall, I am drawn to things I’ve collected and kept over the years. Warm hues of brown and beige, yellow ochre and raw sienna, with vibrant pops of raspberry, violet and sage, are found in the paints and watercolor color blocking, an old sketchbook, photos of zebra print and a Parisian bridge, yellow silk, striped fabric and purple trim, along with a favorite dried flower and branches, my dad’s camera and a vintage book with a sailboat sketch cover.
All items from the author’s personal collection
“Design is an opportunity to continue telling the story, not just to sum everything up.” –Tate Linden