I grew up in a home that was carefully and lovingly created by my mum (and occasionally Dad had a few ideas that weren’t half bad either)… We travelled internationally a bit with Dad’s work when my two younger brothers and I were in school which meant we watched our parents set up multiple houses from absolute scratch in each country. It was pretty tedious being dragged through a Japanese Ikea aged 10 for hours on end while Mum and Dad bought pretty much the entire store (we literally moved with just clothes, toys and some essentials so we needed everything from saucepans and cutlery through to coat hangers and doormats…) It mustn’t have done too much damage though since I’ve now crafted a career out of setting people’s houses up from scratch every day of the week.
At the time I definitely didn’t appreciate the effort and love mum put into making the houses inviting and welcoming spaces. Mum has a knack for finding pretty trinkets that when grouped together (on coffee tables, console tables etc) end up telling a nice little story. Each time we moved back to Sydney Mum would incorporate all the things we’d collected on our travels that meant something to us at home.
Somewhere during my career, I realised how our homes are such a reflection of who we are and what we want out of life but so many people make excuses about why they can’t have a nice place to retreat to every day. I get that what I do for a living is not saving lives or curing cancer but I like to think that on some level, what I’m doing helps make people’s spaces more meaningful to them and gives them a sense of belonging. Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs lists “shelter, safety and security” on the pyramid of basic human needs so why can’t our shelter’s be pretty?!
Many of us see homemaking as something we will do “one day”, when we stop renting, when we move in with a significant other, when we move out of our parent’s place, when we win the lotto or when the kids stop flinging food around the lounge room. Keeping House is here to challenge that, I wrote the book to show you how to start making the most of what you’ve got right now. I share tips on how to style and maintain every room in the house to achieve a meaningful home and how to decorate and connect with your guests while hosting beautiful events. And no, you don’t need a million dollar budget to achieve it. It’s about finding creative ways to inject some love into your home!
Just like it says on the back…. Keeping House is your guide to creating the life you want in the space that you have, no matter where that may be.
The feedback I’ve received on the book so far has been nothing short of amazing. I did wonder if anyone would care to read ANOTHER 208 pages about decorating but apparently I’ve done a great job and created a helpful resource to create a space for sanctuary and celebration. (See what I did there, worked in the books subtitle…. Clever, I know ;))
You can pre-order your copy of Keeping House here for $29.99.
Emma x
