Simple Pleasures: Your Home Is Your Château
Savoring a good life should start at home, but it’s easy to
get stuck in the trap of thinking our homes are not grand enough, clean
enough or beautiful enough to celebrate them as they are. In her
recently published book, At Home With Madame Chic, Jennifer L. Scott quotes French style
icon Inès de la Fressange: a “Parisian’s apartment is her château.”
These words stopped me in my tracks, because they contain such
possibility. Why can’t your home be your château? Why not do what you
can to make daily life a bit grander, more exciting and
more elegant? Try one or all eight of these ideas to start doing just
that. Your life — and your home — will be the richer for it.
Throw a dinner party. Pull
out the good china, scatter tea lights everywhere and decorate the
table with potted orchids. Invite your best friends over, cue up the
music, and serve something simple but delicious. Dishes that take all
day to prepare is fabulous if you love to cook and have the time,
but don’t let extensive cooking keep you from having a fabulous dinner
party. Make the evening feel special by starting with champagne and
ending with coffee or tea and a bite of something sweet — your guests
will hardly care if the main course was a rotisserie chicken from the
local market.
Enjoy art. Take time to
peruse your favorite art books, listen to opera while making brunch on a
Saturday morning and pencil in visits to local museums and galleries to
see what’s new. Instead of going to see the latest blockbuster, see a
flick at your local art house instead — or visit another kind of theater and see a play.
Wake up on the right side of the bed every day. Make
a point of rising with a spirit of optimism and delight, and you may be
surprised at what a difference it makes in your day. Stretch
luxuriously in bed before getting up. Then — instead of reaching for
your phone — reach for a glass of water with lemon or a sprig of fresh
mint, and drink it while looking out the window in your home with the
best view. Make your bed while you’re waiting for the coffee to brew,
and set an intention for the day ahead.
Simple Pleasures: Cultivate Everyday Joie de Vivre
Simple Pleasures: Cultivate Everyday Joie de Vivre
Have dessert. Chocolate cake and an apple tart are delicious, bien sur,
but ripe, seasonal fruit can be just as lovely — taking the time to
savor a little something after dinner can make even a weeknight feel
special. And if it’s a special occasion, stop by a favorite bakery on
the way home and surprise your loved ones with a real treat.
Bounce the light around. Light
has so much to do with atmosphere. Turn the lights down low in the
evenings and light lots of little candles all around the house to create
an enchanting
mood … placing candles in front of mirrors is even better. One or two
good scented candles can be delightful, but make the rest plain or
you’ll give yourself a headache.
Welcome the Winter with Mood-Enhancing Lights
Welcome the Winter with Mood-Enhancing Lights
Take the time to do things just so. From
the perfect pour of your morning coffee to the nightly turn-down of
sheets in the evening, it often takes only a few extra seconds to make
the difference between feeling rushed and feeling content. In those few
seconds (really…seconds!), you can bring your awareness to what you are doing and enjoy the simple pleasure of completing a task well.
Never apologize for your decor.
It’s your home, so make it the way you like best and don’t fret about
what others may think. Chances are, even if friends or relatives don’t
share your taste, they will admire you for having the courage to go with
what you love.
