An image of a 30,000-year-old cave painting, a replica, depicting a prehistoric herd of cattle hangs near the entryway in our home. The phrase “Interior Design” doesn’t even come close to what I was trying to accomplish when I chose that image as the centerpiece to remodel, but it will have to do. My aim was to create an environment that would express the deep shift going on in my life, something I couldn’t really put into words. I was hoping that color, shape, texture and especially theme would be the message.
Right before the remodel, a long-time friend of mine came from out of state to visit for the first time since we bought our home. Her comment, “Oh! Your house looks just like your mom’s!” was meant as a complement. My mom’s house was amazing, filled with antiques, very homey and inviting. Still, her comment was unsettling. I didn’t want to be my mother. I wanted to be myself.
At the same time I had experienced a shift away from conventional expectations, cultural norms and many of the traditions I had embraced as a young person. It seemed as good a time as any to lean into the changes going on inside of me. And so as I remodeled our home I tried to reflect those changes in the choices I made.
The prehistoric caving painting was the starting place. It had a particular significance for me. I had dreamed it. During a beach retreat, I had what I consider my first archetypal dream. What I mean by that is all of the images in that dream were singularly prominent and had deep universal and primal meaning, a pool of water, a horse in mid-air, a herd of pre-historic cattle, a tribe of women clothed in colorful cloth and head-dress. The dream consisted of just those images, presenting one after another, with no story context. The dream affected me deeply. It was a dream within a dream and I was trembling in emotion in the dream of the dream I was recounting to someone. That may all seem mumbo-jumbo, but as you know, that’s how dreams are. They are just there, speaking a message whether we understand it or not.
And so I finished out the remodel following a primal theme, tribal patterns in rugs and pillows, primal looking pottery, rustic woods.
Filling my home with creative expressions of what I was sensing in my inner landscape brought me such joy. Interior Design actually reinforced the changes in my inner life and became a daily reminder of the transformation I was longing to fully step in to.
What personal changes might you express through the design choices in your home?
Writing Prompt for the Week: Archetype
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