A homely house.

by Ilse Crawford

Source: The Monocle Guide to Cozy Homes

Home. What is it exactly? It is a word that is bandied about by estate agents and lifestyle shops. The image of the perfect home, lived in by the perfect family in domestic bliss, is clearly at odds with how we live now. Yet it has been propagated since the 1950s and is still omnipresent in advertising and magazines. However, it is no longer our dream home – so how do we adapt our notion of home to our new reality? And, more importantly, how do we make it?

It should be conceived around how we live. It should celebrate the everyday, be grounded in our reality and be an informal place for us to interact with others. It is a place where we should feel rooted and relaxed. At the same time it is a place where we can be open and generous and can upgrade the ordinary things we do with others to another level by the thought and attention we give to them. It is warm, clearly so much more than just a house.

What does this mean in practice? In one word: sense. In adopting the many advantages of modern life we've thrown out common sense. We are primal, sentient creatures. By not fully engaging our sense we allow our daily lives to be filled with drudgery rather than delight. Our senses ground us in the moment, slow us down, make us aware. So how to begin on the sensual reboot?

"It is a place where we should feel rooted and relaxed. It is warm, not cool. It is there in small gestures, not stylistic statements. Home is so much more than a house."

A real wooden floor is a good place to start. Or, more to the point, a real wooden floor that feels like a real wooden floor. Why is it so strange to want a floor that feels like wood rather than lacquer? While this is unlikely to be the cheapest option, your floor is the one thing you touch all the time. (For the prurient: the feet and fingertips allegedly have the most nerve endings in the body, with the exception of the genitals.)

Lighting should be layered and should light how you live, not the apartment. The three-point plan is in fact quite straightforward: a low level of ambient light; good, focused task lights; and "emotional" or atmospheric lighting. LEDs need to be integrated into a fitting that diffuses their cold intensity. Too often lighting is approached the other way around, with ambient light being the brightest in the mix. No one is comfortable in blanket bright light. We need shadows to think. In fact, many activities are better in the dark.

Make a list of the things in your home that you touch in a day and decide if they have integrity. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche believed that "all evidence of truth comes only from the senses". We build a metaphysical picture through the physical. A glass can feel honest, special or cheap. A bowl feels generous, earthy or mean. A table is for sharing. Or not. The things we use speak to us and are our tools for life. Our homes should be a frame for life.