Adam and I joined some friends at their home for dinner the other night and when we walked through the door, we were both struck by the hominess of their place - a well-designed, thoughtfully-curated space with beautiful furniture and objects that were both eclectic and personal. I've been struck by this before and you know it when you feel it - an immediate warmth and sense of 'home' within a space - a sense of place, firmly rooted.
Nearly Nomadic
As a family, we've moved around a lot in the past ten years. Four houses and two states, to be exact. The lure of family (living on opposite coasts), adventure and that too-good-to-pass-up fixer-upper have all contributed to our nearly nomadic lifestyle. We've spent time in hotels and furnished rentals, waiting for our new home(s) to be inhabitant-ready, always anticipating the arrival of that big truck with all of our belongings to arrive. It's always striking to see a space transform from someone else's home, to an empty space, to a sea of boxes and, in time, to something uniquely your own. As furniture makers, this idea that the objects in your life, the things that follow you from house to house, ultimately lending to that feeling of place, is fascinating.
Letting Go
Of course, these very same things that make us feel at home can also be burdensome. The minimalists in us cringe at the amount of stuff that follows us around and we've often wondered, is all of this really necessary? Am I really packing up this thing...again? And so we've naturally paired down with each and every move - an equally painful and liberating exercise in distilling and letting go.
So Many Boxes
We've done this the hard way. Moving several times to figure out what should stay or go is not something we'd recommend. Adam and I met in our late 20's/early 30's and we both came to the relationship with our own fully furnished apartments. We had some boxes to stuff to contend with and it took some time and a few moves to pare down. What was worth keeping? Just the stuff you love enough to haul around with you, pack and unpack several times throughout your life. Nothing more, nothing less.
Animism and the Energy of Home
Maybe that essence that we feel when we walk into a space that feels 'homey' is the sense of a place well-appreciated by the people who live there. The absence of burden and the ease that comes with the luxury of being surrounded by things that make you feel happy, comfortable and inspired. We also believe there's an energy to the space and objects themselves. Enter the idea of animism: the belief that objects possess a distinct spiritual essence. We believe this to be true - we feel a soulfulness in the furniture that we make. We think it comes from the tree itself and the many hands that touch it as it transforms into something altogether unique. Perhaps home is also the energy and vibration of a space and the things in it, living and not, that make up this very interesting and difficult to define concoction.
Why We Do This
For me, the things that evoke the most warmth are objects that are handmade of natural materials. As furniture makers, it's humbling to know that the pieces we design and build ultimately become part of the warmth and energy of our clients' homes. One of the reasons we're so drawn to making furniture is the idea that handmade pieces help people attain the beautifully complicated and somewhat elusive thing that we all seek - the feeling of home.