21 Jan 2013 Be inspired in your home this new year
by RaeLynn Callaway
As we embark on a new year, my prayer for 501 LIFE readers is to be inspired.
Different things inspire different people. I am inspired by many things and many people but visually inspired by the beauty of God’s marvelous creations all around me. In 2013, slow down long enough to see the beauty around the 501 and find what inspires you.
Anyone can draw a floor plan, but only you can be the inspiration of what your home can become. Each room can be filled with treasures that you’ve collected along your way. That’s what makes a house a home. Quit looking to others to tell you how you think or feel. What inspires you? No rules, no boundaries — whatever you imagine or dream, make that a reality.
Our homes are a reflection of who we are. Elsie de Wolfe once said, “A woman’s environment will speak of her life, whether she likes it or not. A house is a dead giveaway.” Charlotte Moss says it this way, “Our belongings speak for us before we’ve opened our mouths.”
As guests enter my home, I want them to feel invited and welcomed to sit and stay awhile, soaking in every detail that is my life and what I treasure. The decorations are just a background. I want them to feel the atmosphere — each room’s soul, charm and serenity — to feel the love, breathe in the beauty and be in awe of how the combination of charm and comfort with practicality and function create an elegant yet inviting space.
God has gifted me to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary — to create balance and movement pleasing to the eye. I love using what may seem like random pieces to some in a wall collage or mixing books, photos and knick-knacks on a bookshelf; every detail whispers something special about the homeowner.
“Beauty is not created at a desk — on demand. You must learn how to live, play, wander, dream, see and explore. Then creating beauty is just like breathing.” — Charlotte Moss
While I was sitting in a lecture by Moss, a celebrated tastemaker and designer, I was reminded what fuels my passion for design. My life was created to give order to what some see as chaos and create beauty with what most see as ordinary. She confirmed what I had always known in my heart but could never put into words.
“I’ve learned that the most ordinary of found objects artfully considered and arranged can be elevated,” Moss said. “And it’s in these created environments that we share a specific point of view, a personal aesthetic, a vision, a passion for life. In essence, creating a composition is about seeing. And sometimes, it’s seeing the beauty in ordinary, everyday found objects.”
It will be one year this month since we moved into our new home. Yes, there are still pictures to be hung and boxes to be unpacked. You can’t force inspiration. My thoughts on the matter: Why rush? I plan to be here a while. The joy for me is in doing, after all.
Praying you have a blessed and inspired 2013.
A board certified interior designer, RaeLynn Callaway owns CYInteriors (raelynncallaway.com). She and her husband, Bart, have three children and live in Conway.
