I believe the spaces we live in should be a reflection of our individual personalities and priorities. Don’t let the “I’m only here temporarily” mindset keep you from loving your surroundings. If you’re a person who enjoys hosting game nights and wearing colorful sweaters, then your place should be colorful and you’d make great use of a nice round table, perfect for boardgames. If you’ve lived in or traveled to Morocco or Bejing or Stockholm, your living room or your entryway should tell those stories with beautiful handmade things you’ve collected or with inspiration you’ve gleaned along the way.
In the past decade, I’ve moved to a new country every few years, but wherever I lived, even though a move was always on the horizon, I made homey, personality-filled spaces that were great for lounging with the cats, quiet talks with new friends, weathering Coronovirus, diplomatic cocktail parties, intimate dinner parties, and once, a North African jam session of a dozen musicians in our loungey low-sofa bar space, which is a bit what I was picturing when I designed it. I believe maximum enjoyment of a space and realization of its full potential is only possible if it’s designed thoughtfully around how you will actually use that room, garage, yard, etc.
Often, folks who move around a lot don’t want to put the time, money, and effort into turning a temporary space into something great. Or they think their stage of life (having a toddler or having pets) means they’ll wait a bit longer to take their living room from bland to stylish. And I get that. But I’m here to tell you: It is so very worth it to do it now. Not to get existential here, but we’re only alive for so many two and three year chunks and you need to live each of those temporary periods to the fullest. I believe a big part of that is having a home where, when you walk into it, you smile, you breath a sigh of ease, and the space makes you happy and proud.
You might be a foreign service family like us, moving abroad often and eager to make your temporary house feel more like home sweet home, or maybe you’re rooted in your place and ready to make it more put-together and clearer reflection of yourself, I can help. Through a personalized design consultation, sharing inspiration via Pinterest, visual representations including a moodboard, a layout plan, and a personalized shopping list (of what you can get locally and what you could order online), you’ll have all the tools you need to create a stylish, comfortable, interesting space.
Some snaps of places that inspire me
My family moves frequently and I get so overwhelmed with putting together a new home every couple years. I call it “decorating paralysis”. At the heart of the problem is my difficulty seeing the potential in each new space. I loved Emily’s vision for my home. It really helped me pull our new place together!
Alonna, Tegucigalpa