Have you ever looked around your house and just wished you could throw everything out and start over? Even if you could afford to do that, chances are in time  you would recreate much of what you have there now.

Here’s the way I see it. It’s probably not the house you are dissatisfied with. It’s probably the stereo-type you’re measuring it against.  House Beautiful, Home and Garden, show houses, show places are just that. They are contrived interiors designed to  show a product to it’s best advantage and in turn make you want to have it. These settings are color coordinated  yet surprisingly impersonal. Like hotel rooms,they are good for a few days but they are void of home-comfort. They are without personality, without familiarity, without memories. In short, they are empty of you! We need to get real. Only you will know if in your heart you want a showroom house which will make your friends envious to the nth degree or if you want a home to live in, one that is comfortable, one that  can withstand being a little messy, one that reflects who you are.  We  cannot leave it to interior designers alone. How can they know what will make you comfortable?

Today we are often deluded into thinking that  we can simply pay, and that someone else will figure it out for us, rather  than using the expert to  work with us. Don’t leave yourself out of the process, or assume an interior designer knows more about what you need than you do. Hey guys it’s about taking responsibility in creating  comfort spaces. And yes it requires some effort on your part.

My collectors will tell you that they speak to  the children in  my paintings every day as they sit in their comfortable chair.

They  feel they know that mother who is hot and tired as she holds that heavy baby.

They are trying to remember to dance every day and make peace with their bodies the way they are.

They want to be reminded to leave the baggage of life behind and to move unencumbered through their day.

They want to remember the granny with the sharp tongue or the one who always had a piece of gingerbread to  offer them.

They want to be reminded of our island’s history and  of those  who hewed the stone that made our houses.They want the memories, they want the interpretation, they want the lushness of the paint itself and they want to be able to share their art acquisitions  with those  who come to their homes.

Who told you that only a House Beautiful home is desirable? Some things in life are pretty but not functional. It’s not unusual to find a chair with beautiful lines which doesn’t support your back or your bottom. When it comes to art my collectors will never begin describing their art to you by telling you about the colors. They will invariably begin by telling you how that painting makes them feel. They will describe memories and feelings.   Look at that room you are most dissatisfied with. Remember a comfortable shoe or chair is not always a new one.

A comfortable room is one that fits and molds itself to you. It never has been about the color scheme of the room, but rather what will calm you, what will feed you, what will let you know you are home. I guess it’s when we focus more on what serves our needs, rather than on whether or not our tastes conform to current trends, that we  begin to  create environments we really want to live in.