Spacing Out
I’ve been thinking about spaces lately. We know when we are in a special one and also a not so special one. All of us identify with certain elements which inspire, calm, or excite us. The spaces we inhabit can greatly affect our mood and productivity. It’s spring cleaning time, so … let’s discuss.
You may be the type of person who feels most comfortable surrounded by stuff. Others of us work better with organized openness. Some might function at optimum with a blend of the two. It’s a fun exercise to think about spaces that inspire you and which qualities they have in common and then apply those qualities to the spaces you inhabit the most.
Personally, I’m very into flooding light, minimal display, natural materials, greenery, and cool colors. Let me name drop some spaces that exemplify those qualities for me. The Nasher is a perfect example — you can go to check out the incredible art, yes, but how about taking a book or friend and hanging out in the garden for a couple hours? Such a soothing place. My hair salon in the Design District, Rossi + King, is a chaos-free sanctuary with music at a calm level, high ceilings, a wide-open layout, and sun flooding in through full walls of windows.
Pure Bikram Yoga offers a quiet, warm room where the natural light and serene energy calls me to practice nearly every day. And my home office, bathed in white with a window looking out over my garden, is a space where I am highly motivated to take care of business.
All these locations have qualities I’ve identified as pleasing to me. These types of environments contribute to making me feel creative, happy, and healthy. Conversely, when I am somewhere that is cluttered, noisy, or dark, I feel a big difference in my mood. Not that I can’t function in those spaces, I just function differently.
Every one of us is going to be different on this front. What’s your ideal space? What are some descriptors for it? How do you feel there? How can you cultivate those qualities in the spaces you frequent? How can you manage your time to be in those types of spaces more?
Freshen up your spring by dumping places, items, and colors that block your ideal space qualities and work to replace them with ones that feed your senses. It’s the season of renewal, after all. Happy spring!
Find more of Stephanie’s ideas at lovageinc.com and watch weekly Working & Living Well videos at facebook.com/lovageinc.
