Life inspires home

When life inspires home, home inspires life

The distinctive smell of paint, freshly polished furniture, fluffy cushions, crisp rugs and that gleaming new sofa set can only mean you’ve arrived at your new home.

When the packers are long gone and the last carton is stowed away in the loft, that’s when the real work begins: the mission to turn your new house into your home. Don’t get carried away trying to create something out of the pages of an interior design magazine. What we are saying is that all the inspiration you need to do your place up is within your home already.

Stuff that’s strewn around your house acts like a snapshot of the lives of the people who live there. The books you read, the kids’ toys piled into a wicker basket, the quilt your grandma made; these are all beautiful representations of who you are. Bring them to the forefront and display them imaginatively.

Try these simple ideas:

• Use a few bookcase shelves to display your collectibles, artifacts, hand-me-downs or heirlooms.
• Give your kitchen that lived-in look by pinning up scribbled recipes, old greeting cards, takeaway menus and your kids’ handiwork from art class, on a bulletin board.
• Hang some old photos in new picture frames.

  

• Show off your hobbies: get a nice stand for your guitar and use it to fill a corner; exhibit your stamp collection album on the coffee table; display vintage perfume bottles in your powder room.
• Bake your favourite dessert: The smell of cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar and spice and all things nice beats the smell of fresh paint.