You moved full-time to your home in upstate New York in the early spring of this year. What has it been like to fully experience the changing of the seasons there? Did anything surprise you?
It's crazy how much closer and connected we are to nature up here. I've found myself noticing every small imperceptible shift that comes with the changing seasons. Like knowing summer is here because of the fireflies and grasshoppers or that summer is ending because of the cicadas or that fall is coming because the goldenrod is blooming and the snakes are having babies and the monarchs are everywhere or knowing spring is coming because the birds are back and the peepers are chorusing even though it's still 40 degrees out.
How does your sense of personal style interact with your sense of home-style? Are they distinct or in sync, or are they in conversation?
My personal style is pretty low-key (jeans/t-shirt etc.) so it was never really too far off from my at home style. Though I will say that there was a certain degree of excitement that came with getting dressed for the day to head into work when we lived in the city that is definitely missing from waking up and commuting to my dining room table to work. I'd love to say that I make an effort to change things up but that just wouldn't be true. "Changing things up" when working from home means changing out of sweats to the same pair of jeans I've been wearing for weeks (and sometimes not even that). If I'm feeling ambitious I'll throw on some mascara. That's a really high glamour day though.
As the collective focus-shift of the last year has made us all into homebodies (some reluctantly, some exultant, most somewhere in between), what small shifts can people make to feel more authentically "at home" in their space?
I think it's different for everyone because, well, everyone is different. What makes one person feel "at home" can be wildly different from what makes another feel the same way. The reality is that I feel like we're all our truest most authentic selves when we're at home just by default—no one is watching and we're free to be ourselves in a way we are not when we're out and about. That being said, good smells (candles, incense); soft textures (blankets, pillows); and nice lighting (I am forever on a quest for the right lightbulb) are what make me feel happy at home.