A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was having some photos printed onto canvas, and then last week, some more printed as enlargements. This was a move to finally put something on the walls at home so that it doesn't look like crazy people live here. Of course, crazy people do live here, but I don't want to give the game away as people first walk in.
Our home has soft and neutral colors, with warm white floors and walls in a soft egg shell color that changes its tone depending on whatever light source there is, from cool grey to a very warm orange. This works really well with our variable lighting, allowing us to change the mood of the room quite dramatically, when it is dark at least. In the summer when the days are so long we don't need that much light, but in the winter it can make the place much cozier, which is very welcome.
But, the problem with not having anything on the walls is that there is no height in the room, as the seats are low, the tables are low and the ceilings are low. This means that when standing, there is nothing to break up the scene, no layers at eye level. I bought a boom light for the lounge a few years ago, and when we made the kitchen we added hanging lights over the counter top to break up the space, but in the dining and living room, it just felt flat and uninspired.
While I have nothing against images and posters bought from the likes of Ikea that look great, but are mass produced, I wanted to have pictures that mean something to me. So, all of these are taken by me and from one of our trips, with pictures from last year in Croatia, over ten years ago in Paris, and on our honeymoon in Italy. In the kitchen, there is a picture of my wife's steaming tea cup from Tallinn in 2012. No matter which image it is, I remember taking it, and the scene that surrounded me when I did so.
You can't buy experience.
And while I might forget much of the trip experiences I have been on, what I rarely miss are the points where I take images, which generally are at times that are meaningful to me and I want to remember. There is something about taking the shot itself that I connect with and then, I connect again with it when I spend time sorting, choosing and editing the selected photos. And then I connect with the moment again when I share it with my family and we discuss the experience. And then occasionally through the years, as I come across them, or my wife gets a reminder on one of those apps she uses.
Home is a place where we should feel comfortable and a place that reminds us of preference in the past and possibility for the future. It should be inspiring and sometimes, a little reminiscing can be a guiding force toward building and creating something new, or heading out on an adventure based on the reminder of how good it used to be. It can have pieces of us, a trail that winds through a story of life lived. Not all pages will be written, and many that are will be lost along the way.
We have an old house.
Bit by bit, it is becoming a home.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
