A Better Life by Design

In design school, I was never taught to have a conversation with a mom whose daughter just passed away from cancer and wanted to make a quilt out of old blue jeans. 


I was never told that I'd be going thru boxes of old memories after a divorce and re-labeling them with a new name...


and I certainly was not taught about how to advise over the pain of what to do with 'granmama's' precious rocker when your new husband doesn't want to keep in your new Victorian Tudor. Guess it depends on WHO your granmama was!

Our belongings truly belong to our souls and express it without the need of words. Objects either have a strong emotional connection or they don't....just ask someone what they did with their first child's crib. It may be stored in the attic or they may have donated it to someone in need. Which, I always like to wonder which is really getting more 'life'? 


Good designers should teach you how to design a better life. How to make sense of life when...life doesn't always make sense!


Enter dilemma.


These emotional conversations are so tightly woven into every interior element where conversations, arguments, dreams, concerns and laughing all co-mingle on a daily basis. The furniture upon which we sit, jump, make love on happens to be a backdrop canvas to what matters most in the end....the simple pleasure of sharing yourself with another.... and it matters. 

In my house, I have a 'talking room'. It originally was the old dining room, but instead, I transformed it into a quaint, cozy place to read, where I pull a book off the shelf within reach and lower my feet onto a cushioned ottoman. It's where I have the best conversations with my daughters about the future, boys and next summer. 


I created this space and never recognize it as the actual dining room....neither does anyone else. I love it. I gave a farewell to what I was taught you 'can't do' in school and gave in to what you 'can do' in life. 


Since freeing myself, it seems it has allowed others to 'think out of box' and find their own 'can do' too. 


A few weeks ago, I was involved in a wish child makeover. After purchasing a large white frame for over the desk, I was puzzled at what I'd actually place within this 'frame' and instead simply waited until something came to me...knowing it would when the time was right....(designers do this sort of 'you can't rush me' exercise often).

So the wish child was surprised, we all celebrated and I decided to simply place some colorful paper below the glass since I still had NOT figured out the 'perfect' idea to feature here. 


When suddenly, someone arrived with a premie diaper from when Kayla (our wish child) was born. She was 1 1/2 lbs and I had NEVER seen such a freakin' tiny diaper.....I didn't even know they came THAT small. But wouldn't ya know, I opened up the diaper to see how wide it would span with the tabs outward, and low n behold, that diaper fit perfectly within that frame. 

To say this felt like a magical moment is an understatement, it was truly worth the wait and patience. It was a 'moor alive' moment where the miracle of her life was clearly on display.


So now, when I walk into a clients house, I allow their life to hit me in the face, emotions and all, good or bad, happy or sad and I wait. 


I know it will come to me what to do next, how to improve this room and in return improve a life story....I listen, I process, I speak truth.....and I always surprise myself...in a very good way.


www.mooraliveinteriors.com
'Improving life one room at a time'