Wrapping up

This year we have endeavored to touch upon our humanity through exploring design at a deeper level. We addressed higher ways of thinking about the power of interior design as well as practical applications on how one’s space can provide refuge, sanctuary, strength and inspiration.

Starting the set out with “Food for the Soul,” we discussed how the components of our living, working, or civic spaces either contribute to or detract from our physical and psychological well-being, whether or notwe are immediately aware of them. The more awareness we have, the more conscious our decisions toward a goal of sustained well-being.

Mid-year we ventured into “Origin” and how to build intention into design. In today’s marketplace we are fortunate to have many options for just about every purchase. Just as we have the choice of fast food or slow food, we can choose “fast” or “slow” interior design. While the former might provide something that is instantly gratifying and tastes good going down, does it provide any nourishment on multiple levels over time? There is a value proposition to be found in a balance of price, satisfaction, experience, and quality ingredients, after all.

In the fall, we turned our attention to the benefits of taking calculated chances in “A Small Leap.” Remember, our interiors are our personal canvases, not finished works, where we can explore, rearrange, try out, and test different aspects of our personalities. They are to be kept in motion and evolving to fit our needs and tastes. All decisions need not be risky, but go ahead and move out on that branch a little to see what happens.

Together we also danced to topics around gathering place, embracing cultures, creating tranquility, strengthening the fabric of community, and speaking your mind. All topics discussed point toward howinteriors can bemore substantial to us than fluffy pillows, and how availing yourself of the process can indelibly shape the immediate world surrounding you.

As we close the year, we find ourselves folding, reflecting, drying, accounting, dreaming, closing, gathering. With the cooler weather, we are spending more time nestled in our interiors and in so doing, turning our attention toward these spaces that support what we do, who we are, and what is important to us. As we hunker down and spend time with loved ones near and far, this is the time to contemplate these questions and reflect on how you canmake changes in your interiors to better support you and those important to you.

This concludes our fourth year of writing this column. We thank you for your readership and encourage you to send us topics that we have yet to cover and would like us to explore. We, too, have been refocusing and look forward to sharing our new column title (”Live Your Story”) and fresh spin with you in an exciting line up of articles in the new year. That is our gift to you, to be unwrapped come January.

Heather Van Luchene, ASID, and Steffany Hollingsworth, ASID, are partners in HVL Interiors, LLC, an interior-design firm offering professional residential and hospitality design services. Both areNew Mexico-licensed interior designers. They can be reached at (505) 983-3601 or info@ hvlinteriors.com.