Anya Mullen – Opinions Editor

Like many students, I went home for the fall reading break this year. My whole family lives in Vancouver, so I don’t always make the trip out, and I was very excited to be going back to BC for the week. Because the break began with Thanksgiving weekend and because I had not been at home since the summer, I visited all my grandparents’ houses. While sipping on my glass of wine or cup of tea, I found myself observing their art and decor more than I ever had before. 

Photo courtesy of Anya Mullen

I started to realize how much a home reflects people’s personalities and what they find important and beautiful. I started to notice it at friends’ houses as well: no two homes are decorated the same. Everyone does things to make their space beautiful to them and everyone does this in different ways. 

For example, one of my grandmothers lives on a floating home and everything in her house reminds me of how much she loves boats and BC, where she has lived her entire life. It is full of paintings and photos of all different parts of BC and books everywhere you look about nature and history, also usually in relation to the province I call home. I don’t think she has ever given a book away. This is great for me: it’s like a free library whenever I go to her house.

My paternal grandparents both have more minimalistic styles. Each living in their respective homes with their partners, each also has a distinct style of decor. My grandmother and her husband have warm lamps, cozy couches, some paintings, floral things and many photos of everyone in the family. My grandfather and his wife decorate their apartment in a very orderly way – everything has its place; the patterned scarves, the impressive photos taken on their travels, the travel books. 

I have started to notice the reflection of people in their home with every home I step foot in, and I would highly recommend this to anyone. I’ve discovered that it is quite beautiful to think about the fact that when you are looking at the inside of someone’s home, you are almost looking through their eyes (and dare I say into their soul) and seeing the way they think a space can be made the most beautiful.

As I already mentioned, another lovely thing about it is that no two homes are decorated the same. Two houses could look the same from the outside and look absolutely night and day on the inside, down to the colour of the walls. My parents painted our front entryway orange a few years ago because they like bright colours. I would never choose to do that, but it is actually a very nice welcome into the house.

I look at this as a beautiful aspect of humanity (at a time when we really need some of that), our appreciation for beauty and how subjective it is from person to person. My brother and I grew up in the same house, with many of the same things influencing us, and we would probably decorate the same home very differently from each other. Think about it: every apartment in Little Forks is of similar size and shape, but none of them look the same inside.

It’s a thought that makes me excited to have my own place one day, and make it my own, and maybe people will come over and appreciate the art, colours and furniture that I find beautiful.