Decorating or Renovating your home? You must have this…
One word
Is all you need when decorating your home
Integrity
It’s not easy to find
And you can’t buy it in a shop
But it’s an essential aspect of quality decorating
Integrity sets you, and your home or office, apart
People notice a person with integrity
They also notice a room filled with character
And meaning
Meaningfulness is an important addition to beauty
Here’s the main point of this article…
Point 1. When decorating, it’s better to have one main feature in a room, than heaps of meaningless junk
But here’s the problem…
There is so much junk being sold in magazines, shops and advertisements that people lose themselves. When decorating, people lose direction and forget what is really important
Over time, we get distracted
And become confused as to what we really need to buy
It doesn’t matter what the television says
Or the newspaper
Nor those beautiful glossy home decorating magazines
Here’s what matters most when decorating…
Love
And personal integrity
Following are 3 questions I constantly ask myself…
1. What do I love most?
2. What is most meaningful to me?
3. What is most important in my life?
This is the essence of quality decorating…
The answer to those questions is where your integrity comes from
It’s found in the heart
And once the heart is engaged, your decorating will come alive
Point 1. When someone is true to themselves and has much personal integrity, there’s little contradiction between their words and actions when decorating
But here’s the main problem in our society…
The commercial world is very influential
We become enticed
And addicted to junk
We lust after things that become meaningless after one season. Then waste more money the next season! Our lives become filled with futile stuff that clever salespeople convince us is important
But is that stuff really meaningful to you?
Often not
Mostly it’s a waste of time and money
Ending up in our garage with all the other junk from last season
If people are not familiar operating from their own personal integrity
Here’s what happens…
We make silly buying decisions, and fill our lives with rubbish
Point 1. A far better solution is to build your own solid brand of personal integrity, where nobody can persuade you otherwise
Using your personal integrity makes decorating much easier
Okay, so how do people build integrity into their lives?
Practice
Every decision that’s made is building a foundation, because those little decisions over time become big issues
We build integrity by giving the small decisions more thought than normal
Yes, it does take extra time to reflect upon our lives, but as the famous philosopher Plato once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living”
When thinking about decorating, we should ask ourselves this question…
Can I really live with that everyday, or am I being poorly influenced somewhere?
Here’s probably the biggest trap for people when decorating…
Peer pressure
In western culture we call it ‘Keeping up with the Jones’
Decorating homes with the motivation to beat someone in a competition
Very silly
Or maybe in the past you’ve been persuaded by an alluring advertisement in a glossy home magazine, promising a quick fix to your decorating problem
Here’s my personal example… and hopefully it clearly illustrates what I believe personal integrity is about when decorating your home or office
My love for birds has been strong ever since early childhood
In particular, I love Australian pelican birds
For years I’ve watched them glide through the air with majestic grace
They’re absolutely beautiful creatures
And they hold a special place in my heart
I believe they fly like free flowing spirits through the sky
A picture of wonderful freedom
And pure effortlessness
As they skim land on the water
My favorite childhood movie in Australia was also about a pelican named Mr Percival in the motion picture ‘Storm Boy’
That’s where my personal integrity begins
In stories
With many years and layers of experience creating rich soulful feelings attached to my stories
Integrity is who I am
My identity
And the inspiration for my life
Things I focus upon, like my fascination with pelicans, builds my integrity
But integrity can be a very subjective illusive concept, however, it’s worth thinking about because it builds understanding, insight and character into a person’s identity
Point 2. My personal integrity grows when I make decisions aligned with who I am
And it quickly evaporates the moment I start compromising my beliefs
Pelicans have always been a fascination to me
I love their character
So if I’m decorating my home or office, I look to incorporate those feelings into my space
If I need to fill a wall…I don’t want a photograph of a pelican bird because that wouldn’t be enough to express my love of such creatures
I want something special
Original
And unique
Just like my feelings
I want something that can’t be replicated
The painting below currently hangs on our wall, and it captures what I’m talking about
The boldness of a pelican
They’re large
Proud birds
Strong
And they dominate the airwaves
It appears they’re wise creatures too
To fill my walls with posters or photographs of these birds would be an easy option, but it would also cheapen myself. In my mind, it would diminish the love I have for them. I’m not willing to make that compromise, because it would impact upon my personal integrity
For me, a large photo of a pelican bird wouldn’t hold the same power
I want something valuable
Something special
To match the way I feel
Then when a visitor walks into the room and sees my original painting on the wall, the piece emanates character. It has a strong emotional value
The same thinking applies to decorating
Maybe your cushions could be covered in a special cultural pattern that you discovered when traveling overseas?
Or the walls could be painted with a color you’ve loved since childhood?
Whatever decision you make when decorating, make sure to base the design on what you love, or what fascinates you in life
And build personal integrity into your space
Because strength of character is always evident
And it definitely enhances a room
Also, don’t be afraid of telling your story to friends and family, about why you made the choices you did, and what the story means to you
Point 3. Telling your story inspires others, and leads them into a deeper understanding of themselves, where personal integrity grows
Stories build trust
Because people are impressed when individuals words, feelings and actions match
There is congruence
Design decisions often have a story behind them, so before decorating, think about the stories in your head. People love hearing interesting stories, and they admire a person with strength to stand up for what they believe in, despite how trivial it may seem
If a story is important to you, go ahead and create a room on the theme
Make your home or office an extension of who you are
Build character into the atmosphere
Here’s what happens…
You’ll feel very content
And grow with confidence about who you are
Point 4. When I see my pelicans everyday on the walls…it makes me happy
The paintings catch my eye
And reminds me of my true love
Everyday I get to look at what touches my heart and moves me
I’m living my feelings out loud
And they’re on the wall for everyone to see
All the time my integrity grows
And other people get the opportunity to create their own interesting stories about the birds they love too. The pieces are interesting conversation starters for social situations
As my life is based more and more upon love and personal integrity, compromise becomes a thing of the past. People now encourage me to follow my heart, because they see the blessing it brings into their lives too. The same people who once held me back from following my heart, are now the very ones spurring me on, to greater heights of creativity and inspiration
But it takes time
To reflect and think about who you really are?
And what really inspires you?
Final point: The stories you remember from your childhood are often very powerful when building trust, integrity and love
Once you’re clear about your personal story, that builds integrity, then integrate it into your decorating life in a creative and interesting way for yourself and others to enjoy
If you would like advice on how you could integrate a story into your living space, just complete the form below, and we can begin the creative conversation