It is this time of the year when we want our homes not only to look good but to be homey and cozy. What makes interiors feel right and have true and timeless beauty? The idea of home is deeply rooted in our primal instincts. Human beings are blessed with five sophisticated senses - sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell, and a sensual home corresponds to all these senses. A "home sweet home" to look at, listen to, touch, smell, and taste. The home is our emotional heartland, a place where the rhythm of events is under our control, a potential zone for our sensual being.
The designer Jasper Morrison once said, "When you walk into the room, you know immediately if it's nice or unpleasant. Light, space, colours, and materials all contribute to the atmosphere."
Beyond visual appeal, a sensual home needs to feel, smell, and taste as good as it appears.
Smell
Very often, smart-looking homes smell next to nothing, whereas Dutch homes of the 17th century were strewn and swept through with sweet-smelling herbs. There are many ways we can add scent to our homes, not only through candles or scented diffusers but also by making sure the house is aired and cleaned properly for good air quality that can be enhanced with fresh scented flowers like lavender or essential oils. Aromatherapy is good for balancing emotions and bringing us back in touch with our senses. When we are away from our home, we want to miss its smell.
Roses, Jasmine, lavender, violets, carnations, honeysuckles are just a few of the houseplants that perfume our homes and act as natural humidifiers.
Sound
Some sounds we enjoy, some drive us mad. A properly soundproof home is essential so we can enjoy quiet time, eliminating street noise. Who would want to listen to air compressors and jackhammers? Too much unpleasant noise can make us anxious and even ill. We want a home where we are in control of what we hear. A good surround system to play our favourite music in the best quality is also important. Essentially, the sensual home is one in which the sounds we hear are the ones we want to hear to make us happy.
Touch
Touch is the first sense to develop when we are born, and touching our home for pleasure is no less important. When we visually absorb textures, our minds automatically lead us to thinking about how surfaces feel to touch. We make assumptions on what a texture may feel like based on memories of tactile surfaces we have made contact with before.
Cashmere blankets, soft textures, fluffy rugs, silky carpets, sheepskin on a chair, and more, all provide us with a cozy experience. We often recognize the quality of finishes through touch. Even fabrics that look the same can feel completely different, so it is important to carefully feel the furniture and its textures before making a purchase.
Taste
While we don’t lick our homes to taste them (unless they're made of gingerbread :), the dishes we cook contribute to our sense of well-being and bring back many good memories. We associate certain recipes with our own homes or the homes of our relatives, so we can say that each home has its own special flavour or taste memory marked by a signature dish.
Sight
The final ingredient for a cozy home is pleasing to the eyes. What makes our home look good? It’s all about the proportion of scale, colour coordination, and lighting. I often use the phrase "It pleases my eye," which means that pleasurable sensation when something I look at is simply beautiful to behold. It exists in harmony and has perfect proportions.
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