While I write these very words I’m currently surrounded by boxes and no storage. I have just downsized apartments. Adjusting has been hard because my partner and I love to collect and curate our finds around the home. My obsessions are magazines and animal ornaments and his is urban toys and records. Falling, tripping, swiveling around and disguising our much loved objects that have no home in our new flat is driving me crazy. I keep sourcing online clever storage solutions but I rent which limits my options. It's time to consider to let go of the clutter!
I can’t help in times like this to think about a home I visited last year that is polar to mine. I was lucky enough to visit a New York family who were what I like to call ‘Shiny Happy People’ Their metallic finishes and space-age design are proof that you can make a minimal home into a cool energetic environment.
When I spent the day with them I felt this empty space inspiring, stimulating and I just couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. For Lisa and Jonny they have created a simple scheme to create good vibes, love and a relaxed home for the whole family – kids included. Yep they have three who feel as free as their parents in this space.
What they wanted was a home that ‘brings out the child within’. I couldn't help to let my guard down while I hanged out in this uplifting space. I felt full of optimism and creativity. 'Creativity is central to our lives and we wanted our living space to reflect this', explains Lisa. ‘We want the vibration to feel very high here. What I mean by vibration is a feeling, a sense of joy. My kids are free here to develop their passions'.
It's not just the lack of stuff that makes this space feel a source of spiritual illumination producing all things bright and happy. It's the clever and well thought-out choice of surfaces, textures and colours. With Jonny’s talents as a painter, sculptor and industrial designer, and Lisa’s former experience as a textile colourist, the couple joined creative forces to put together a crisp white palette of glitzy tints and luxurious clean looks. ‘The white surfaces and soft metallic tones are light but also energising’, says Lisa.
What I loved most about this family is they arrived to their new apartment in a cab and a couple of suitcases. No removalist, boxes or stress. Could you do this? Could you get rid of all your memories bar a few clothes and start fresh? I found when talking to them it to be liberating, brave and refreshing. But doing it myself is crazy, not rational, such a waste... Or is it?
Richard Powers photographed the space for me and has brilliantly captured the flow of this minimalist and very happy home. Check out the whole story in Australian Inside Out magazine.
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