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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to think about the stories your home tells

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Speaker 1: you and anyone who visits. By consciously choosing these stories,

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Speaker 1: you can create an atmosphere that feels good and that

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Speaker 1: reinforces the identities that matter to you. Today's tip, like

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Speaker 1: another later this week, comes from Emily Grovenor's book Find

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Speaker 1: Yourself at Home, a conscious approach to shaping your space

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Speaker 1: and your life. Grovenor starts from the premise that, as

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Speaker 1: she puts it, home is a place of great power

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Speaker 1: and purpose, and when you shape it consciously, it shapes

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Speaker 1: you back. I haven't studied design or fung Shuis as

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Speaker 1: Grovenor has, but I do know that our homes can

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Speaker 1: have a big impact on how we feel. Now, not

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Speaker 1: everyone spends a ton of time or energy thinking about

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Speaker 1: their living quarters. Perhaps you have seen that photo that

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Speaker 1: occasionally goes viral online of a young man's living room

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Speaker 1: featuring a single recliner set a few feet in front

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Speaker 1: of a television. But once you have decided to put

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Speaker 1: some effort into your home, making sure that the effort

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Speaker 1: creates an environment that tells the stories you want it telling,

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Speaker 1: just requires a little more thought. For instance, most people

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Speaker 1: put something on the wall near their entranceway. What is it?

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Speaker 1: It could be something generic, or perhaps it could be

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Speaker 1: a photograph of waves on the sand at the beach

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Speaker 1: you visited most summers since you were a child. That

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Speaker 1: memory sparking photo will tell a more rich story than

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Speaker 1: something that is not connected to your past. Plenty of

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Speaker 1: people display family photographs, but what stories do those tell?

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Speaker 1: A stiff, formal portrait of your grandmother might tell a

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Speaker 1: less accurate story than one that shows her a little

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Speaker 1: rumpled but laughing in her garden, which is where she

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Speaker 1: loved to spend her time. Nick Knacks and things like

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Speaker 1: that from your travel can also tell stories. Now, this

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Speaker 1: doesn't mean that you need to display a miniature leaning

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Speaker 1: tower of Pisa somewhere. Instead, the story of your travels

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Speaker 1: in Italy could be evoked by a glass dish holding

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Speaker 1: sea glass that you picked up from the beach. There.

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Speaker 1: You know what stories the SeaGlass tells, and if a

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Speaker 1: guest asks about the sea glass, you can tell her

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Speaker 1: those stories too. Even your furniture and room layout Grovener

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Speaker 1: says tell stories, a big round table evokes warm gatherings

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Speaker 1: over meals, shelves of books that you like to read.

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Speaker 1: Grovener also explains the fung Shui perspective that a particular

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Speaker 1: part of your home is about influence, fame, or reputation.

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Speaker 1: She suggests decorating the area associated with your influencer work

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Speaker 1: and ways that embody you as you want to be

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Speaker 1: seen as more of us work in our home offices.

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Speaker 1: This is more important than ever before. I have a

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Speaker 1: lot of bookshelves in my office, but I reserved one

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Speaker 1: particular section for my own books to remind me about that.

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Speaker 1: Another showcase is my collection of miniatures, which is a

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Speaker 1: long standing interest of mine and gives me a thrill

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Speaker 1: every time I see it. Anyone coming into my office

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Speaker 1: comments on the miniatures too. I mean, we're talking a

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Speaker 1: miniature piano, a miniature washer and dryer, a miniature dishwasher

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Speaker 1: and refrigerator, and all that. We've probably all been to

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Speaker 1: houses that really feel like the people who live there.

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Speaker 1: We've probably also been to places like the apartment with

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Speaker 1: a single recliner. In addition to wondering where you are

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Speaker 1: supposed to sit, it just gives the one dimensional picture

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Speaker 1: of whoever's there. This person likes to watch TV great,

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Speaker 1: but about what what interests them? Who knows. With some

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Speaker 1: attention to the stories your home tells, you can let

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Speaker 1: your home be a window into who you are. It

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Speaker 1: can also remind you of the parts of your identity

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Speaker 1: that you love the most. If you think about stories

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Speaker 1: your home or your workspace tells, I'd love to hear

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Speaker 1: about it. You can reach me at Laura at Laura

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Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.