I love things. This feels like a terrible thing to say as I talk about living slower, choosing less, and going against the grain of our consumeristic culture, but the truth of the matter is, I love things.
My husband is more of an experience person, but me, I like the tangible things I can hold onto to transport me back to a place and time. It’s easy to get wrapped up in just collecting things, but in my practice of slow living, it’s taught me to be very intentional with the things I accumulate, making my home an organized and thought out place of clutter.
To paint a clear picture, my house doesn’t look like an episode of hoarders. Yet, I’m still the furthest thing from a minimalist. While I love the insights and practices of the ever popular podcast and book The Minimalists, there was always something there that just didn’t connect.
It felt cold to me.
I like vintage, I like art, I like having personal items throughout my home that tell a story and showcase a personality. So while I’ve tried over the past few years to embrace the ideas around minimalism I’ve come to accept (and embrace) the fact that I am a maximalist. I like color, I like pattern, I like shapes, and I like to put them all together in a way that inspires others.
One of my favorite interior designers, Anna Spiro, does this so well with her maximalist style. Color and texture is balanced in every room in a way that shows an artistic side but also doesn’t feel like we need to have an intervention.
All my life I’ve been told there is a right and a wrong way to do things. When I felt how minimalism helped keep my need for more at bay, how it saved money and allowed you to focus on the important things, I thought, this is the “right” way to build a home. This is what calm looks like. But, like everything else in life, there is no one size fits all solution, and a minimalist home just never worked for me.
Building a slow home to me is designing a space that lives up to our everyday needs. It’s about telling a story and inviting others into that story. It’s about making people feel comfortable and grounded. But most of all, I want to inspire anyone who comes into our house, including myself. To do that, I have to be true to myself and embrace my maximalist heart. No gray walls in this house but plenty of art, color, and pattern.
What the slow lane teaches us, isn’t to do it the right way or the way that everyone else is doing, living slow is making space to tune in and and figure out what’s right for us. How do we want to create a home, build a business, live our lives?
If at the end of the day you knew there wasn’t a wrong or right way to do things, just what felt good to you, how would you choose to live your life? For me, that’s a lot of wallpaper covered by a gallery wall of my favorite art and a deep blue velvet piece of furniture to top it off. Maximalist through and through!
Embrace Your Maximalist Side
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