It is no secret that I am completely obsessed with ‘home’. Making them beautiful, and advocating for their power in our lives is the wind beneath my wings. In alignment with my own skill set this often comes in the form of working with historic and period homes. While I personally find these particular homes exhilarating I know that, no matter the genre, ‘home’ should not only be pretty but evoke the fire deep inside. Our homes should be our havens and our sanctuaries. They should make us feel protected and loved and when they are doing those things (even if, dare I say, aren’t photo perfect) that is what ‘home’ truly is.

I had the most wonderful conversation yesterday with Nikki Weeks of @3weekstolove on ‘A Quarter Til Wine’ and it embodied precisely what I try to articulate to clients on a daily. Nikki is a DiY Queen and as she says ‘crazy’. She seems completely unbothered by being a novice and jumps into projects with both feet (like tackling the kitchen herself as soon as she moved into her new home, one day before COVID stay at home orders, talk about the deep end). We talked about the guts it takes and the uncertainty of tackling projects when you don’t always know what it is you’re doing. But the part that literally gave me chills (the part that would have had me bawling if I wasn’t forced to keep it together) was why she did the projects she has done.

Nikki’s why was simple. “My grandmother was my best friend”. Barely two minutes into our conversation Nikki shared arguably her biggest influence and one I can get behind with gusto. The love shared by Nikki and her Grandmother was one of a kind, and is evident in the choices that she makes in her home today. The lessons she instilled in Nikki “what are you doing to be creative?” are the things that have stuck and the driving force behind creating a home that feels connected to a family that may physically be apart but felt so deeply every single day.

This is the truth, the authentic version of home that I want for everyone. Whether you are in an efficiency apartment in NYC, or a southern plantation. Whether your Grandma is right next door or across the country, our homes should be a reflection of the people, the places, and the things that we love. When you lead with the heart the decisions just click and hold space for our lives to unfold, and that my friends is the whole point.

Whether you are a DiY maverick like Nikki or need a bit of help from our firm check out these three steps to consider before tackling any space!

Define your Why

So often we start a project and we don’t consider the why. We jump in assuming that “it’s to make it pretty”. In reality, making a space pretty is the easy part but also the most superficial. Defining why a space means something to you and what it is you are trying to accomplish will ensure that the feeling is authentic and true. Nikki’s kitchen wasn’t just a fun project, but one that made her feel connected to a Grandmother she had lost and a family that was far away. By defining her why first, she found that everything else just fell into place.

Consider any architectural details

As you know, our firm specializes in working with historic and period homes. For us this consideration is a must. Whether you are in a new or old home understanding the space as it is will help you make decisions that support it. Much like a hairstylist will advise you to make a decision about your hair color based on your own skin’s undertones, understanding architectural details will help you do the same. Work with the bones, not against.

Define the Function

What do you want the space to actually do for you? This past year has been enlightening in so many ways but I feel that the most prominent is the fact that our homes, for the first time in a while, had to work. We were working, learning, and playing all at home. Bedrooms became the gym. Dens became school rooms and offices had to be strategically positioned far enough away from all the action. For the vast majority of us we are inching back to ‘normal’ but the lessons we have learned remain. Our homes are more than just the four walls that we retreat to at the end of the day, but a capsule that our lives are lived in. Consider how a space will work for you, what do you need it to do, because like I said before…

That is the whole point

What are the things you consider before beginning a home project?