"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." William Morris
My sister and I were recently at our old home sorting through some dusty boxes of crockery that had been sitting in the attic for years. Most of the contents of the boxes were things that our mother collected and now was the time to decide what would stay and what was to be sent to a charity shop.
On the whole I think I have developed a taste for handmade items and pretty things. My measuring line for what stays and what goes is from the well known William Morris quote - is it useful or is it beautiful? If it ticks either of these boxes it can stay. My sister is more practical and requires both boxes to be ticked at the same time. After passing the test of beauty she then asks if it is useful. If it passes both she will keep it. Although to be fair she did keep a rather ugly heavy bowl that Mum handmade and decided it could be used for peanuts. Sometimes the heart rules over the head!
In the process of sorting through I brought home some pretty Royal Copenhagen porcelain pottery pieces from Denmark. They are vey kitch and a throw back to the 1950's, but each little piece is very beautiful and has a meaning to me and that's why I kept them. The birds live beside the cactus plants while the fish now lives on the kitchen window and swims alongside these swirling pink and purple shells from Capetown.
This little girl has been broken so many times that I decided to just let her be as she now is. She rests on a glass decanter top. I like contrasting different textures, the rough wood of the wine box which is now a shelf and the hand cut glass plus the broken piece of danish porcelain work well together.
I've grown up with this little girl playing her cymbals from an antique display stand in the living room. Her new home is in the bathroom where she plays her music and serenades the seashells.
Another set of pottery I have always loved are Mum's old French handmade Quimper crockery. These are all handpainted items and this floral design always makes me think of Provence. I find the tea cups too heavy to use and the tea gets cold really quickly but the plates are great and the egg cups are sweet.
I found this interesting vintage Berlin tea cup in a local antique shop & bought it because it reminds me of Lotti, a German girl who I worked with on my gap year in Namibia many years ago. She was a Countess from an ancient aristocratic German family and my Berlin teacup reminds me of her.
After bringing home Mum's old Denby stoneware teapot and some green teacups I am now appreciating how much better tea tastes from a cup than a mug. I was pondering why this is and can only put it down to the proportions of milk to tea being easier to measure. But possibly it is all in my head and the novelty of a the teacup will wear out and I will soon be back to using mugs.
My home is an extension of myself. Rather flamboyant at times! This interior of an Italian palace was the look I was going for in certain parts of my flat. Here is what it turned out like.
And yes - I know you are wondering why a white dove keeps popping up. That is my friend who likes to come and check things out every now and then.
As it was a dreamy day of constant rain yesterday (the kind where you are forced to snuggle down inside) I settled down to browse some of my favourite blog and instagram contributors for some inspiration.
Here are a couple of them if you have similar tastes to my own and would like to take a look.
A mixed family of Scandinavian/French/Hong Kong heritage living in Bordeaux, France - mimithorisson.com which will soon become rueloudenne.com
The restoration of a French chateau by an Australian family - chateaugudanes.com
I ended up watching endless short video films of gorgeous homes. If you wish to follow a similar rabbit trail search for the New York Times House tours and watch the film of Anna Wintour's garden https://www.nytimes.com/video
or Miles Redd's two different morning routines
https://www.nytimes.com/video
These things feed my soul but a truly amazing home is never about the items that inhabit it. It is not about the external beauty of things. A home that one is drawn to and is inviting to linger in is always about an atmosphere, a presence, a fragrance! A sense of peace. A place of content. A place of belonging. A place of safety and rest.
As well as paying attention to what is beautiful and useful, I would also pay attention to what needs to be kept out. Be careful what you allow in your home. I let the dove in but keep certain things out.
Since I live alone I often have the radio on when I'm in the kitchen, keeping me company. However it gets turned off frequently whenever it comes to the news. If left on it will be an unclean, dirty drainpipe of sewage entering my home. Opening the door to sweep in strife, disaster and discontent. It is an intellectually proud fault finder, a bullying worry maker. A war monger and fear bringer.
So the news it out - It ultimately steals content from my home.
(I also avoid Advertising and hence have to limit myself to the BBC radio stations - but lets not spend too much time dwelling on my irritation with militant capitalism.)
I don't want a negative atmosphere. If you've ever entered a room heavy with an unspoken tension you will know what I am talking about. Usually suffocating atmospheres come from a hidden strife that is felt internally. A dishonesty that has settled in and is lingering. A trap in waiting. Everything in you tells you to get out, you sense the danger.
Ultimately a home should have a supernatural peace about it. A dwelling place of goodness, kindness, gentleness and mercy. You should enter a home and feel safe. Churches often carry a peaceful presence, the cloud of glory, you will know it when you enter it. It happens often at church during worship, a mist will settle, a sweet cleansing air of calm, content, hope and joy. It is not the fake smell of a tangible perfume like incense or frankincense but the subtle sweet smell of a person. God is in the house and everyone senses it.
I am aiming that this same cloud can also be felt in my home. There's nothing like it that money can buy. So I will pay attention to William Morris when it comes to the material stuff of my home but more importantly I aim to set up a home that contains God's glorious presence and since the dove is a picture of the Holy Spirit I will let him stay.
2 Chronicles 5:14
so that the priests could not remain standing to minister because of the cloud; for the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house ...
