Designing at Carol’s: Place Makers

Abby McIntyre

Autumn is around the corner, friend! Are you prepared? While we may have just barely stepped over the threshold of September, I am counting down the days until there is a crisp chill in the air and coziness surrounds us. The joyful colors of fall will be popping up on trees and seasonal decorations will soon be pulled out of attics to be strategically placed throughout our homes. There’s something about a new season that gives us hope and excitement for the future. With the turn of the seasons we typically pack up the old and bring in the new to prepare our homes for the adventures and holidays ahead. As we march into the months of welcoming relatives and friends into our homes, it might look a little different than years past. Perhaps this year Thanksgiving will be a group Skype or Zoom call with relatives across the country. Don’t fret over this, friend. Embrace it. Regardless of whether we will have the chance to welcome family with open arms into our homes or through a computer screen, it is still important to prepare a place for the joys ahead. Recently, I have been reading a book about the importance of this placemaking and our calling to be place makers for others. We each have a duty to cultivate spaces of comfort, beauty, and peace for ourselves and our loved ones. So, friend, this month I want to let you in on little ways you can focus on placemaking this season.

What is the first thing you would think of if I asked you to picture your happy place? For some, it may be on a boat at a lake spending the day fishing. For others it could be wrapped in a fuzzy blanket sipping tea and catching up on the latest issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine. Wherever your happy place may be, I’m willing to bet that it is your happy place because just being there brings you joy and peace. Our homes should make us feel the same way. They should rejuvenate us. When they successfully do this, we radiate this joy and others feel at ease in our space. This important factor is what transforms our house into a home.

We are living in a distinctive period of time, friend. Never before have we been given an opportunity to carefully evaluate our homes and what fills them. One way to bring peace and joy into your home is by mimicking your happy place. Focus on the color scheme of that place. Is it the lake? Bring blues, whites, and grays into your area. Think about opening up your windows to let the light in to create a sun-soaked space and frame them with decorative drapery panels. Do you prefer a quiet day catching up on Better Homes & Gardens? Find the perfect sage green to incorporate into your space mixed with earthy tones. Installing light filtering shades in your windows will give your room a soft, comforting glow. Paired together you can prepare your home to exude perfect peace and give others a sense of warm familiarity when they enter. When we intentionally create a place for ourselves and others to be at peace, we successfully fulfill our role as place makers.

So, look forward to the season ahead as you cultivate your space to glow with peace and joy this season, friend. We would love to help you create this oasis. Give us a call at 940-565-8337 today to schedule an appointment. Happy designing!