How To Renovate

EP51 Why You Should Have Things In Your Home That Tell A Story

• Tash South • Season 1 • Episode 52

Share episode

Send us a text

What makes a house truly feel like home? Beyond beautiful furniture and perfect paint colors lies something more profound – the personal stories woven into your living space. 

Taking inspiration from a recent client project where we've moved beyond renovation to thoughtfully selecting meaningful objects, this episode explores why surrounding yourself with items that tell your story creates a deeper connection to your space. Your identity is essentially a collection of stories, and bringing elements from your past, travels, and meaningful experiences into your home reflects who you truly are.

These story-rich items serve multiple purposes. They're natural conversation starters, as I discovered when my husband displayed Andreas Gursky's swimming pool photographs that captivate every visitor. They trigger positive emotions daily, with research suggesting people who display family photos live happier lives. And in today's uncertain world, they remind us to treasure our safe havens and the memories they protect.

The beauty of this approach? Creating a story-filled home doesn't require significant expense. From travel souvenirs to simple photo prints in nice frames, what matters is the meaning behind each piece. Your home becomes a visual autobiography, filled with reminders of special moments, cherished relationships, and personal values.

Ready to transform your space with meaningful touches? Listen for practical ideas to create a home that truly tells your unique story. And don't forget to check out our free renovation resources at southplacestudio.com/freebies to support your journey toward creating a deeply personal home.

*******************


Hi I'm your host, Tash South I'm an Interior Designer and Renovation Consultant.
Each episode of How To Renovate is short, but brimming with practical advice to help you manage your renovation project with confidence and success.

Grab some more renovation advice & free resources and become part of the South Place Studio Renovation Community at
https://www.southplacestudio.com/freebies

Everything I teach about renovation falls within my Five Pillar Process for A Successful Renovation, to learn more about the process, head to
https://www.southplacestudio.com/pillars


Or if you want to get social, you can find us here:

Instagram: @southplacestudio

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/south-place-studio

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/southplacestudio

Tash South:

Hi everybody, it's Tash here and welcome back to the how to Renovate podcast. This week I thought I would do a really quick episode on why you should have things in your home that tell a story. I've recently finished a client project and we're now at the stage where we're adding some really lovely things into the home Some really beautiful pieces, some artworks, the most gorgeous family tree that we're looking to have made bespoke and it just made me think that I should record an episode on this, and I just think it's so lovely that she's taking the time to really think so carefully about what she wants to include in a home now that it's been renovated and she's really enjoying the space and she's really enjoying living there and having others come in and enjoy it with her, and so she wants to kind of add those other levels and layers to the home now, and I feel really lucky that she has decided to include me in that process. So that's why I'm doing this episode, and so I thought I'd just run through really quickly a few reasons why it's so lovely to do this. So let's get into the episode Now.

Tash South:

I think having things in your home that tell a story is so powerful. It really can transform your space, it can give it a different feeling. I think it just makes it more kind of deeply personal and adds some meaning to your environment and particularly for you. I don't think this is so much about others. It's for you and yours, your family, or whoever lives in your home, you it to have meaning for you, and you want to have these things around you that bring back memories, that inspire you, that bring you joy, and so that's why I think it's really lovely to have things in your home that tell a story. So, firstly, I think bringing in things that tell a story really reflect your identity, because I think you kind of link your stories, link to your identity, don't you? Your identity is the combination of stories that have happened to you. That is your life, and so I think just having these things in your home just reflect who you are and really your stories could come from so many things. They could be objects from your childhood, they could be colours from your childhood, they could be items from where you grew up, the country you grew up in. If you live in a different country now, they could be souvenirs or heirlooms or arts. You know, things that really show your experience, your life experience so far, your values, what you find precious. And I always say about this, um, kind of adding these finishing touches to your home, that these are things that don't always have to cost a lot of money, these are things that are really meaningful, things that you can bring back from your travels, things that have actual meaning for you. They don't always have to cost money. So I think this is why I love this as well, because I just think it's something everyone can do, because I think bringing things from your travel or from your childhood, just they kind of bring the sense of the sense of self, the sense of connection to your home. And I always say it's. You know, it's not always about things, it's not always about having objects, but in terms of the feeling of your home, whether you're bringing in some colour or some pattern or some textures from your childhood or from your story into your home, I really think that counts as well. And then, secondly, having things in your home that tell a story really sparks conversation and connection with those people coming into your home, whether they be friends, visitors. These kind of story filled items really will start the conversation and I think what a lovely thing to have in your home is to have objects that start conversations with people who come to visit you and take the time to come and see you and so having whether it be an object from your travel or even a family portrait or family tree, like I just said can you just imagine the amount of conversations that could spark? And I just think, obviously, conversation is connection, and so sometimes just having a conversation starter is a great way to start connecting with someone who perhaps had not visited your home before, and so I really think that's a lovely part of this as well.

Tash South:

Recently, my husband, rich, has been finding these posters. So they are these posters of swimming pools but aerial shots, and they're by this photographer called Andreas Gursky, and there are a few other prints he's liked from the same artist before, but he's now discovered these swimming pool shots, so he's put a couple of framed ones around the house and when we've had people over for dinner or friends over, they've really noticed them and I have to say they weren't my favourite. I'm not so keen on them. There's one that I'm okay with. I think it looks all right. The other one, the jury's still out, but I have to say, everybody who comes in now says what's the deal with these swimming pool pictures? They want to know why. Why is it on the wall, who the artist is, what do we find interesting about it? And it really has started so many conversations. I don't think anybody who's come in since we put them up has not mentioned them, and I've just found this so interesting that just putting up a couple of pictures of these German swimming pools have really caught people's interest and started lots of different conversations. So it it could literally be anything that tells a story. If it's slightly interesting, people will want to know about it, they want to talk about it and start the conversation, and I always think that's such a lovely thing.

Tash South:

And then, of course, you can't have things in your home that tell a story without putting them there with intention to kind of evoke an emotion or nostalgia or memory. And this is another lovely thing I love about this is because those special items that you have in your home just take you back. They just take you back to that moment when it was made for you, it was given to you, when you found it. We have many things around our house that do this for us. You, you know we have things that children have made for us, whether they're silly or ridiculous or lovely. We have, you know, silly photos, that point in time that made us really laugh, and you know it's captured there to remember every day. So think about those special things that you want to bring into your home that bring that sense of happiness, comfort and bringing those really, really good memories back to your everyday life.

Tash South:

I heard once and I hope I'm not getting this wrong, but people who generally have photos of their family around them generally live happier lives. It's the constant reminder of those memories and why you've made your home and what your home means to you. So I think it's always really nice to take the time, look through your photos. They just live on our phones now, don't they? Look through your photos on your phone, take one afternoon or a couple of hours in the evening to just send those off, to print and get some frames for them and put them up. It doesn't have to be a huge deal.

Tash South:

I remember, maybe back in the 90s or so, I don't know if you remember, but it was quite the thing to have these huge pictures of your family or your kids blown up and wrapped around these canvases and had really large on your walls in your home. But I think you know it's, it's the little things. And in my own home we just have little standard six by four photos that cost about one or two pounds to have printed. And then I've just found some really nice frames and on shelves just around the house, here and there we have photos of everyone in our family, some of our friends, or the kids with our friends, some really good days we've had out, and they're just these little constant reminders of why we're doing everything we're doing, why we're working so hard, why we've made the home we've made. And so I do think, you know, take the time to just take the time to keep those memories going.

Tash South:

And then, lastly, in this shorty episode, is that having things that tell a story just create a sense of home. So I think, just to wrap up everything we've talked about, you know, having these things around you, these reminders, these memories, that is what a home is. It's the place where your memories are kept safe, where your family is kept safe, and it's filled with meaningful things to you. And I think, especially now, in these times that we're living in, you know, it's difficult to think about how many people in the world are having their homes destroyed, taken away, whether it be by war, by natural disasters, by flooding, by fires. It seems to be particularly apocalyptic at the moment, and I just think that we really want to kind of treasure these things in our homes and treasure our homes themselves, because we're so lucky how lucky are we to have what we have, to have a safe, warm place called home, where we can still have all of our family, our memories, our possessions in these safe four walls, and so I think that really nicely wraps up this episode. Um, I hope you'll go away and if you haven't had the time yet, take the time to add those special little things into your home that tell a story, and I'll see you in the next episode.

Tash South:

For more information on my five pillar process for successful renovation, you can go directly to southplacestudiocom forward slash pillars, where you'll find an introduction to the process, which covers each of the pillars and what they cover. We also have a number of other free renovation resources. Go now to southplacestudiocom forward slash freebies. I have created some amazing freebies for you there. There is one on the process, like we just said. There is one on planning permission. There is one on the process, like we just said. There is one on planning permission. There is one on kitchen design. There is another one on lighting planning. Go and check those out. There's so much free information there to help you with your renovation.