Sometimes, though, I find myself thinking about how many homes I’ve lived in, or, perhaps, how many homes I’ve lived through, because not all of these homes necessarily contained human beings. Some were pretty attractive, some narrowly avoided being what I’d call kind of bad in ways that didn’t make much sense to me at those particular points within time, and one or two seemed to have been trying to impress but didn’t quite understand how a home can assist rather than impede. The idea that any of this kind of thing was somehow something I should know beforehand didn’t enter into it.
Appearances, what this wall is, what this handle is, are huge concerns of mine after I lived there. Someone mentioned Water Filters Adelaide as an excellent choice during a conversation about fixtures, and I remember thinking that this is one of the less exciting options you could recommend during a home renovation project. Oh, to know what I know now.
It is ironic how what you thought to be more “boring” aspects about housing become what you care about most after you get over the initial rush. The pendant light fixture is no longer something that you pay attention to but rather are concerned about how your housing smells at 6 a.m. You take notice of how clean your tap water tastes while pouring yourself a glass while half asleep. The air is more something you feel rather than something you can see. This is something that is not easily showcased.
Better homes, homes actually meant to last, seem to know this part automatically. Four walls and a show-stopping kitchen aren’t what make a sanctuary. A sanctuary is something more. indefinable, like how your shoulders suddenly ease crossing into a home that expects nothing from you.
The Places Where Longevity Really Begins (It’s Not Where Pinterest Sent Me)
One thing which I have been surprised by, having only just started to pay attention, is how early these big decisions actually happen. Well before you’ve started to think about colors, and actually, well before you’ve started to decide on tile design and what is currently in style at any given time. This level of longevity is what is being hidden. This is apparent by how well water is filtered, mind you, actually filtered rather than “technically,” how it flows through pipes. I’ve personally found myself recommending Water Filters Adelaide because they realized how quickly water could tarnish a home. Hard water, no less. I mean, you feel like you’re getting such an incredible finish, but if you have water that just isn’t right, that finish is gonna look aged before you are.
It is much like air flow. The kind that is quiet and smooth is one of those things that can only be appreciated after having lived without it. The air conditioning at this other place I lived at sounded like it was trying to work on a degree in sports announcing, it chugged and gasped whenever it got the whim. Then you could go from being blissfully comfortable to being frozen stiff and/or boiled to a degree that could not possibly have any purpose to it. The experience is like having an entire building full of nervous energy, a thing which, until this one, I did not know to exist.
I remember one study, it may have been one that is published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, but I don’t know that to be a fact, it said that indoor air quality is what influences everything from how you sleep to how many headaches you have. That kind of helped to clarify a whole bunch, because I thought these factors could range anywhere from stress to screens but could also relate to architecture.
The thing about longevity is that it is hidden within tiny, almost inconspicuous details that you do not talk about until there is a problem.
When Lifestyle Isn’t About Looks but About Not Fighting Your House All the Time
It took a while to understand what “lifestyle” is not about. “Lifestyle” is not about design, it is not about vision boards, it is not about renovation. “Lifestyle” is what you experience when you feel tired, when you feel like you are running late, when you feel like you are having a bad week. A long-lasting home is one that does not take small problems and make them big problems. A long-lasting home is one that is reliable. A long-lasting home is like having a low-maintenance best friend.
I lived at one point in a luxury residence, but this one didn’t have one luxury thing to brag about. This is not a place you could go into and say, “Okay, this is luxury,” but this is what luxury feels like. The temperature is what you want it to be without having to make a thousand adjustments to make it like that. The air is clean, but it’s not cold. The water is clean enough to drink. The sun shines into a room slowly, but it’s not beating down on you. That’s what this is like. This is what ease feels like.
Ironically enough, during this time, I viewed an article on The Pinnacle List, explaining the idea about how homes are meaningful, how homes are places we can feel comforted secretly while other homes can generate tensions within our life which we ourselves are not consciously aware of. Of course, I didn’t agree to everything said, but one thing which he said that I liked is how calmness is achieved by features that you yourself do not notice.
I agree with this: The lifestyle layer is unseen. Yet you can feel it.
Materials Matter Less Than The Conditions They Live In
Finishes can literally have money thrown at them but if they are not accompanied by favorable conditions, they will fail. I have personally seen marbles tarnish within six months because there were too many minerals present within the water. This is due to the fact that the hardwood floors cannot handle humidity. The fixtures will stain, not because they are cheap but because they contain toxins that are not present within their water.
This is because the owner is to blame because they didn’t budget to account to protect their very own kind. It is almost ironical. We treat our finishes like those Crown Jewels, but it is those processes which make those finishes possible, such things as water filtration, ventilation, insulation that make those Crown Jewels continue to glitter, or tarnish into something merely discouraging. Long live homes, which view these processes as characters rather than afterthoughts. Perhaps this is what is most different about typical luxury homes compared to sanctuaries. Typical luxury is loud. Sanctuaries are quiet.
The Moments That Reveal The Truth
Then you begin to pick up on these subtle hints: A house that is cool when it is warm outside without having to work hard at it. A bathroom mirror that does not fog up much after one shower. A cabinet door that does not warp. Glass that can stay clean after a while. A house that no longer requires you to clean up after it. These are not luxury experiences when they are working properly. These are experiences of peace. Experience peace and you will know how glaring chaos is. A room without air circulation is not an aromatic room. Water with a slightly metallic taste will knock you right out of your peacefulness. Light shining into the room is almost brutal. Nothing much, but it is debilitating. Houses to last you a lifetime grow old with you.
Houses to show you how old they are while you live within them. Perhaps sanctuary is something you maintain rather than something you construct. The homes I loved aren’t necessarily pretty homes. They are those which didn’t make one single thing about life around you feel like a fight. The homes where everything worked together to make life better within their walls.
Homes where function straddled beauty. Homes which have enough potency to allow life to live within them. Perhaps it is what makes a sanctuary a sanctuary that is enough. Nothing to do with the glamorous. Nothing to show. Just enough to feel like you are being cared for without having to draw attention to yourself. A sanctuary is something you do not notice. Just a place you stop to catch your breath.