Loved this book! Great addition to my collection of coffee table books that I will enjoy occasionally flipping through for inspiration :)
Filled with imagery of beautiful thoughtfully appointed interiors and inspirational content, The Kinfolk Home is a delight to read - a must for design professionals, home owners and good life enthusiasts alike. Author Nathan Williams takes us on a journey around the globe, visiting 35 homes that have successfully embodied the ethos of slow living - a lifestyle celebrating the escape from busyness and chaos of everyday life, reclaiming of precious time and dedicating it to that which is most essencial. In a time when the whole world seems to be focused on how to be and have more, this book's gentle call towards mindful principles of simplicity, community and leisure is a breath of fresh air.
“Slow living isn’t about luxury or laziness, nor is it about forgoing our most beloved belongings - it’s about identifying what, and whom, we simply cannot live without.”
PRINCIPLES OF SLOW LIVING:
1. CULTIVATING COMMUNITY
It is in the safety and privacy of our home that we find refuge from the outside world. Here we also nurture and foster our most important relationships. Whether we live alone, with a partner, with family or with friends, within the comfort of our personal space, we rest, grow, recharge, interact and play. A safe clean beautiful and organized home can do wonders to replenish our spirit and nourish our relationships with ourselves, our loved ones, our community and world at large.
2. SIMPLICITY
Based on the principles of "less is more", simplicity is more about refining rather than relinquishing of possessions. Through a careful inventory of ones' belongings, one is able to identify and get rid of non-essential, making room and time for that which matters the most. This value of simplicity will have a different definition and manifestation unique to each home and individual, but the hallmark of the concept is to surround oneself only with those objects that fulfill an aesthetic and/or utilitarian function. As William Morris put succinctly, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful".
3. RECLAIMING OF LEISURE TIME
Slow living is about following our natural rhythms, reclaiming our time and spending it in a ways that brings us profound happiness. Our home is a space where we can shut out the constant demands of the outside world, look inwards and generate keen awareness of what we really value and want. For some, this may mean turning off the phone and spending quality alone time soaking in a tub, for others a luxuriously long breakfast with the family, yet others would enjoy nothing more than to stay up late with a large group of friends and one too many glasses of wine. Only by freeing up one's schedule and tuning in inwards can one familiarize themselves with their wishes and allocate their time to what is most needed at that moment.
Images via The Kinfolk Home. Photo credit: Pia Ulin.