We Believe In Home
A few years ago I finally got to visit Magnolia in Waco, TX and that experience was so inspiring and motivating in pushing me to work towards my own dreams. In the Magnolia home showroom the phrase “We believe in home” is displayed on the wall. I’ve always believed in and loved home. I remember as a young girl, I regularly assessed the feng shui in my bedroom and changed things up until it felt right. One summer I moved my papasan chair next to the window in my room and willingly set my alarm and got up at 6 am so that I could read my new chapter book while the sun was rising. I couldn’t articulate it then, but I was creating a little “Hygge nook” for myself; a space for restoration and self-care.
Interior design has always been something I enjoyed and a talent that I possessed, but I never viewed it as a serious career option for me. In college I signed up for an intro to interior design class my sophomore year. I had decided to pursue a degree in psychology, but knew that interior design was an interest of mine and thought it would be fun to just try and see what I could learn from the class. The interior design class didn’t count towards any credits that I needed to graduate and so I was persuaded towards practicality and decided to drop the class.
My motivation for studying psychology was to learn more about emotional and mental health, primarily to better prepare me for motherhood. I worked towards my degree and graduated with a BS in Psychology in three years. I was engaged when I graduated and was planning to move out to California with Lane once we got married, work for a year to save money and then get my Master in Social Work degree so that I could actually do something with my Psychology degree. Lane and I only really had one option for housing on Stanford campus. We were one of two married undergrads in the whole school so we had to live in graduate housing and we had a limited income so we chose the oldest apartment option. I looked up pictures of the housing on the Stanford student housing website and mapped out as best I could from the pictures the layout and started imagining living in the space. I stayed up until 4 am one day pinning DIY projects and saving design elements I liked. I couldn’t shut my brain off, I was too excited and anxious to sleep. I had never experienced enthusiasm for something the way I felt about dreaming up a home for my soon-to-be husband and I. Once we were married and moved into the apartment we immediately got to work and turned that classroom looking student housing into a pretty cozy little home.
I caught the creative bug and wanted to find a way to get into home design and make some side income. Lane and I ended up opening an Etsy shop “TaylorLaneCo” making wood hand painted home signs and decor together. We were making cute pieces and there was a demand for our products, but our 500 sq ft apartment was not conducive to the wood working business and scaling that business was too daunting a venture for us at that stage.
I decided to stick to the plan and applied for graduate school. I actually love learning and being in school and loved so much of what I learned from my graduate program. I continued to DIY with Lane and everyone who came into our apartment loved all the cozy touches we had made and started asking me for design advice or asked Lane to build them something for their homes. I found myself dreaming about a career that allowed me to stretch my creative legs.
While in graduate school, I started toying with this idea of combining my two passions. I started thinking about the role home plays in our development, and in our happiness; it is truly the grounds for developing who we will become. I started thinking about how certain psychology principles and therapeutic tools could be applied to home design and function and I felt like I was really inspired by everything I was researching and the dots I was connecting.
When it comes to home design and the pictures we see, much of success is based on what something looks like: Our eyes find rest in an aesthetically pleasing space. The thing we may not pay as close attention to, however, is the feeling. A beautiful space feels welcoming, soothing and calming. Though aesthetic is important, a space’s appearance is just one facet of making a house a home. Planning for the feelings and messages you want to have in your home is the other half. I feel like this critical piece is often missed. Repainting with a new color, bringing in new furniture, or making a feature wall are all great things, but if we don’t have an understanding of the why behind it, then it is just pretty pictures.
Our homes are the foundation for our families to learn, grow and become who we want to be. These things do not just happen, they take planning. I hope that The Hygge House can serve as a space for developing a new process for designing your home. Rather than crafting picture perfect spaces alone, true serene spaces work to facilitate the building of beautiful and meaningful lives.
XOXO,
THE HYGGE HOUSE
