Apparently, ‘hearts and flowers’ is a common expression for nostalgia. Why? I’m not quite sure, and Google has not helped me out in this instance. Could it perhaps be ironic? When something truly tragic happens, you cannot be comforted by ‘hearts and flowers’, by care and charm, love and grace. It is simply not enough. Nostalgia, a longing or yearning for the past, is often described as heartbreak. Can heartbreak be defined as ‘truly tragic’? I don’t know. So perhaps it is not ironic.
I have recently been researching nostalgia for my dissertation. It is such an incredibly interesting subject. It keeps me hooked, and I find myself being truly challenged by the questions raised each day as I further my research. You may wonder what this has to do with Interior Design. The answer? Everything.
Nostalgic thoughts and feelings prompt us to hold onto things. Whether these ‘things’ are items in the home, or memories that remind us of certain objects or events. Our inability to let certain things go can help determine the interior of our homes: How many photographs we display, how our grandmother’s patchwork quilt must always stay on the bed in the spare room, and how the clay model of a fish we made when we were five years of age must remain on the mantelpiece – despite the fact it resembles a painted lump of clay more than sea creature.
This might mean that we choose to design a room around that quilt, and allow that item to determine the design of the interior, or it could also mean that we choose to have a certain design scheme in a room, and the object will remain there whether or not it ‘goes’, leaving us with an eclectic mix of items in our home. It is completely the opinion of the individual. Their style, taste, and sentimentality.
The many points made around the subject of nostalgia is what has prompted me to start a blog. Well, that and my love for design. Sometimes it might be interesting, and other times it might not. But I hope that, just once, what I write might raise a question, or spark a new idea. Design doesn’t have to be contemporary, plain, patterned, bright, feminine… it can be personal. It can be different. But it will always be beautiful.
So, what are the ‘hearts and flowers’ of your home?
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