Second Cup: What stories does your home tell?

Make your space feel more meaningful

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to think about the stories your home tells
you and anyone who visits. By consciously choosing these stories,

(00:26):
you can create an atmosphere that feels good and that
reinforces the identities that matter to you. Today's tip, like
another later this week, comes from Emily Grovenor's book Find
Yourself at Home, a conscious approach to shaping your space
and your life. Grovenor starts from the premise that, as

(00:50):
she puts it, home is a place of great power
and purpose, and when you shape it consciously, it shapes
you back. I haven't studied design or fung Shuis as
Grovenor has, but I do know that our homes can
have a big impact on how we feel. Now, not
everyone spends a ton of time or energy thinking about

(01:13):
their living quarters. Perhaps you have seen that photo that
occasionally goes viral online of a young man's living room
featuring a single recliner set a few feet in front
of a television. But once you have decided to put
some effort into your home, making sure that the effort

(01:33):
creates an environment that tells the stories you wanted telling,
just requires a little more thought. For instance, most people
put something on the wall near their entranceway. What is it?
It could be something generic, or perhaps it could be
a photograph of waves on the sand at the beach

(01:55):
you visited most summers since you were a child. That
memory sparking photo will tell a more rich story than
something that is not connected to your past. Plenty of
people display family photographs, but what stories do those tell?
A stiff, formal portrait of your grandmother might tell a

(02:17):
less accurate story than one that shows her a little
rumpled but laughing in her garden, which is where she
loved to spend her time. Nick Knacks and things like
that from your travel can also tell stories. Now, this
doesn't mean that you need to display a miniature leaning
tower of Pisa somewhere. Instead, the story of your travels

(02:38):
in Italy could be evoked by a glass dish holding
sea glass that you picked up from the beach. There.
You know what stories the sea glass tells, and if
a guest asks about the sea glass, you can tell
her those stories too. Even your furniture and room layout,
Grovener says, tell stories, a big round cable evokes warm

(03:01):
gatherings over meals, shelves of books that you like to read.
Grovener also explains the Fung Schhuei perspective that a particular
part of your home is about influence, fame, or reputation.
She suggests decorating the area associated with your influencer work
and ways that embody you as you want to be

(03:22):
seen as more of us work in our home offices.
This is more important than ever before. I have a
lot of bookshelves in my office, but I reserved one
particular section for my own books to remind me about that.
Another showcase is my collection of miniatures, which is a
long standing interest of mine and gives me a thrill

(03:44):
every time I see it. Anyone coming into my office
comments on the miniatures too. I mean, we're talking a
miniature piano, a miniature washer and dryer, a miniature dishwasher
and refrigerator, and all that. We've probably all been to
houses that really feel like the people who live there.

(04:04):
We've probably also been to places like the apartment with
a single recliner. In addition to wondering where you are
supposed to sit, it just gives the one dimensional picture
of whoever's there. This person likes to watch TV? Great?
What about? What? What interests them? Who knows? With some
attention to the stories your home tells, you can let

(04:27):
your home be a window into who you are. It
can also remind you of the parts of your identity
that you love the most. If you think about stories
your home or your workspace tells, I'd love to hear
about it. You can reach me at Laura at Laura
vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

(04:50):
for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

(05:18):
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