Home is a sanctuary, a happy place, a quiet place...
Okay, maybe not always quiet and perhaps not the entire home. But there has to be a space where your shoulders drop and a big exhale comes out of your mouth as soon as you walk in. Once you're there you instantly know - it is time to rest.
Like with every good recipe the secret is in the delicate art of balancing. Our team has created a quick guide for you so that next time you're renovating or moving into a new home you can make your own quiet sanctuary where you are able to finally let go and say that sweet "Ahhhh..." at the end of a busy day.
1. Colour
Everything starts with colour - it is the first thing that you see when you walk into a space and the last thing you see before you shut your eyes. It is also incredibly powerful when it comes to evoking certain feelings and emotions. Thinking of your quiet colour, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Our recommendation is to go beyond the hue and look at the tone of your room. Of course, you can leave your walls and your bedding white to keep it simple, but if you'd like to achieve more depth and elegance - dig a little deeper and play with the shades of moss, olive or nutmeg, for example.
2. Walls
Being the capsule of your quiet space, you'd want your walls to be relatively calm but not completely sterile. At the end of the day, nobody likes the hospital kind of quiet. Playing with negative space will add another feature to the balance of your room. A hanging plant or a simple print on one of your walls will immediately amplify the interest in your interior. Our Barloga Prints collection is perfectly suited to this narrative. Each one of them is printed on a unique piece of handmade paper that will maintain the natural relaxed feel of the space. They're also available in different sizes - depending on how much of that negative space you'd like to use.
3. Textures
When it comes to relaxation and grounding - anything natural is your friend. A soft touch of patina on timber or exposed brick painted over with some muted tones are all great elements that will help you embrace the organic look with a sense of calm. Being tactile creatures we're highly affected by everything we touch - especially with our hands and feet where so many nerve endings are concentrated. To combat the static electricity from spending the day in front of the computer, plant your feet onto natural fibres like our new jute rug or melt your body into linen cushions and throws from our Chizgi & Siyah range.
4. Layers
A good layered bed is like a hug from a friend or your mum who'd always bring a cover when you happen to have a "nap-cident" on the couch. Layers create a feeling of soft imperfection, kindly reminding you that it's okay to make mistakes. So pile it up, make some mistakes, mix different textures, materials, colours. Linen, cotton or lambswool, loose-weave or sturdy, minor or major colour contrast - anything goes. Check out our bed covers and throws range to begin your layering journey and we bet you won't be able to stop :)
5. Scent
Now that we've talked about the look and the touch of your quiet space, it's time to move on to the 4th sense. Scent is such an important element of any ambience but it is so often dismissed. Yet of all senses it is the one with the best memory. Uplifting notes of zesty citrus or bergamot will energise you and signal your brain it's action time. For a restorative mode choose something herbaceous and viscous like a combination of olive leaf & thyme or sage & chamomile.
Now one last sense we haven't covered is taste - we'll leave it up to you to choose your comforting snack :)
