Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to think about the stories your home tells
Speaker 1: you and anyone who visits. By consciously choosing these stories,
Speaker 1: you can create an atmosphere that feels good and that
Speaker 1: reinforces the identities that matter to you. Today's tip, like
Speaker 1: another later this week, comes from Emily Grovenor's book Find
Speaker 1: Yourself at Home, a conscious approach to shaping your space
Speaker 1: and your life. Grovenor starts from the premise that, as
Speaker 1: she puts it, home is a place of great power
Speaker 1: and purpose, and when you shape it consciously, it shapes
Speaker 1: you back. I haven't studied design or fung Shuis as
Speaker 1: Grovenor has, but I do know that our homes can
Speaker 1: have a big impact on how we feel. Now, not
Speaker 1: everyone spends a ton of time or energy thinking about
Speaker 1: their living quarters. Perhaps you have seen that photo that
Speaker 1: occasionally goes viral online of a young man's living room
Speaker 1: featuring a single recliner set a few feet in front
Speaker 1: of a television. But once you have decided to put
Speaker 1: some effort into your home, making sure that the effort
Speaker 1: creates an environment that tells the stories you wanted telling,
Speaker 1: just requires a little more thought. For instance, most people
Speaker 1: put something on the wall near their entranceway. What is it?
Speaker 1: It could be something generic, or perhaps it could be
Speaker 1: a photograph of waves on the sand at the beach
Speaker 1: you visited most summers since you were a child. That
Speaker 1: memory sparking photo will tell a more rich story than
Speaker 1: something that is not connected to your past. Plenty of
Speaker 1: people display family photographs, but what stories do those tell?
Speaker 1: A stiff, formal portrait of your grandmother might tell a
Speaker 1: less accurate story than one that shows her a little
Speaker 1: rumpled but laughing in her garden, which is where she
Speaker 1: loved to spend her time. Nick Knacks and things like
Speaker 1: that from your travel can also tell stories. Now, this
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that you need to display a miniature leaning
Speaker 1: tower of Pisa somewhere. Instead, the story of your travels
Speaker 1: in Italy could be evoked by a glass dish holding
Speaker 1: sea glass that you picked up from the beach. There.
Speaker 1: You know what stories the sea glass tells, and if
Speaker 1: a guest asks about the sea glass, you can tell
Speaker 1: her those stories too. Even your furniture and room layout,
Speaker 1: Grovener says, tell stories, a big round cable evokes warm
Speaker 1: gatherings over meals, shelves of books that you like to read.
Speaker 1: Grovener also explains the Fung Schhuei perspective that a particular
Speaker 1: part of your home is about influence, fame, or reputation.
Speaker 1: She suggests decorating the area associated with your influencer work
Speaker 1: and ways that embody you as you want to be
Speaker 1: seen as more of us work in our home offices.
Speaker 1: This is more important than ever before. I have a
Speaker 1: lot of bookshelves in my office, but I reserved one
Speaker 1: particular section for my own books to remind me about that.
Speaker 1: Another showcase is my collection of miniatures, which is a
Speaker 1: long standing interest of mine and gives me a thrill
Speaker 1: every time I see it. Anyone coming into my office
Speaker 1: comments on the miniatures too. I mean, we're talking a
Speaker 1: miniature piano, a miniature washer and dryer, a miniature dishwasher
Speaker 1: and refrigerator, and all that. We've probably all been to
Speaker 1: houses that really feel like the people who live there.
Speaker 1: We've probably also been to places like the apartment with
Speaker 1: a single recliner. In addition to wondering where you are
Speaker 1: supposed to sit, it just gives the one dimensional picture
Speaker 1: of whoever's there. This person likes to watch TV? Great?
Speaker 1: What about? What? What interests them? Who knows? With some
Speaker 1: attention to the stories your home tells, you can let
Speaker 1: your home be a window into who you are. It
Speaker 1: can also remind you of the parts of your identity
Speaker 1: that you love the most. If you think about stories
Speaker 1: your home or your workspace tells, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: about it. You can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.