Just the sound of “slower life” or “summery sanctuary” calms my spirit. Let’s face it. Keeping design calm, spare, and simple can involve a multitude of complex layers since sophisticated simplicity requires thought, attention to detail, and restraint. I guess I’m suggesting slower life with smallish moments rather than the more daunting slow life. Baby steps, yes? A peaceful outdoor dining spot or perch. Or a cozy reading nook. Even a comfy chaise on a summery porch yields slower afternoons of wellth, relaxation or productive naps.
Slower Life & Moments of Sanctuary at Home
So many of us are blessed with busy lives and real life budgets. The thought of turning our homes into moments of sanctuary may inspire exhaustion more than anything! Yet what about starting with a single moment or a couple of moments? Suddenly, the pressure’s off. We don’t need to build a Rome of a home in a day.
Encouragement for Slow-ER Strides
I’m an intuitive sort of designer and stylist. While I have my bias and preferences as we all do, I don’t want to be hemmed in by a lot of styling laws.
One bias I have is how it feels unnecessary to keep changing decor with the changing trends. I don’t want to be subject to marketing ploys to keep me consuming, buying new, and starting over.
Refreshes every couple of years maybe, but there’s a satisfaction when you decide to arrive at a plan for slower life beauty and turn away from the feverish pace of keeping up.
The creation of smaller, slowish, simple sanctuary moments perfect for you (yet maybe far from perfect) eliminates a need to reimagine a design soon.
Sanctuary Corner of Simplicity
Since I’m naturally drawn to modern, lightened up, European country inspired sanctuaries, this moment begins with an inexpensive white bistro dining set (out of stock? This one is nearly identical).
These inexpensive yet long-lasting bistro sets sell out quickly so hopefully there will be inventory! Is shopping Wayfair a new gig for you? I find the TV commercials quite dumbed down and unlike their actual product much of which is high quality.
You’ll find a varied selection of outdoor dining pieces at Wayfair to the extent you may trouble deciding…here’s a sampling of the loveliness:
Outdoor Dining Furniture
Even a $40 rusty old bicycle planter (snagged at a garage sale) can be the start of a sanctuary moment. And it is definitely a symbol of “slower” since there are no tires…completely for show!
Broken down rusty bicycle planters may not be at home in your own garden, but the bistro set? Seems to work across a variety of settings.
Decks, Patios, and Porches…Oh My
The round folding table is 23.6″ and in my opinion, an ideal size. This set’s chairs measure just 16.5″ when folded…truly simple to store them.
If you love the look, ease, and sound (oh, the sweet crunch underfoot!) of a pea gravel courtyard or patio…find more about the one I created in our former home RIGHT HERE. We recently created another one at the Georgian.
The secondhand wood outdoor furniture (above) is hanging on for dear life at our new place. Hahahaha. Since we leave it out in the elements, it takes a beating, and I’ll probably have to replace it next season. But since it was old and very used up when I bought it almost ten years ago, I’d say it has served us very well.
If modern French and laid back farmhouse vibes are calling, collect ideas HERE and HERE.
How is the Bistro Set Aging?
I truly wondered about the quality of this bistro set since it was so inexpensive. We also own a top notch Fermob bistro set just like the ones in the parks of Paris.
But no worries.
Constructed with a sturdy steel frame and coated with a durable powder coat for rust and fade resistance, it still looks great here at the Georgian.
(Also, chair corners have antiskid foot pads to reduce floor damage.) Here it is in fluffy snow:
Pretty Sanctuary Moments Dressed Up for a French Café Look
While jet setting to Provence for summer vacation sounds amazing, maybe a sweet consolation is bringing a bit of South of France sanctuary home as a smart slower move.
Lack outdoor space? My wee Frenchy small simple sanctuary away from the courtyard is in a private, sheltered by trees, corner on the side of this home. (Ever notice how side yards in America are often overlooked for sanctuary potential?)
Scan your lot for possibilities for privacy and slower life potential. Some of the beauty of bistro sets lies in their smallish scale…little apartment balconies or terraces can live large.
Care to dress up the look with outdoor friendly plates and gorgeous gingham napkins?
For Slower Living Gardening Types
Does your paradise include puttering in the garden and tending plants and flowers? Have a corner for a living collection of joy?
Of course, an indoor sunny sanctuary moment for smiles will also do.
Psst. Our ficus tree has been with us over 30 years. The terrarium is extra helpful if you are short on space and one orangery or conservatory short. 🙂 The scale is petite, and I can see it feeling at home on porches too.
Inside is a little copper tray which would look darling with succulents or any number of terrarium lovin options. Here are finds I personally own that look even better in person than on the mood board below.
While the above baskets hold plants (and include a plastic insert to protect the woven material), I have also used them for wastebaskets and pretty storage. Of the two styles, I think I prefer the water hyacinth ones. But the scale of the larger dark rattan one was perfect for a holiday tree last year.
Even the shelf on the bottom of the terrarium is handy. It could live in a sunny bathroom with a basket or tray of toiletries upon the shelf.
Slower Living & Porch Sitting Simplicity
For plenty of design lovers, a new house is a sort of excuse to clear the decks and shop for new furniture and accessories.
I am probably too frugal and attached to my stuff to roll that way. When you invest in pieces that last, there isn’t a need for reinvention. My comfy patio chairs are still going strong.
They have lived on our prior patio and porch, in a family room through the winter…
and on our front porch in fall at the Georgian.
Maybe you recognize the French stripe baskets above and below which were in my dressing room closet:
and also in our bedroom closet…
BTW. Our DIY custom closet project qualifies as a slower living sanctuary moment despite how it is an intermediate DIY. Order in itself can be sanctuary. My husband was not confident our closet could become a Zen moment of daily calm with organized systems that truly work until we made it happen. In our former home with his and hers bedroom closets, mine was the larger one, and we transformed it into a little sanctuary of a world. In this home, HE gets the moment too, and now he’s sold!
If these baskets happen to be in stock, snag them! They fly off the shelves of every vendor to which I link!
Sanctuary Nooks & Corners
There’s something powerful about carving out moments of rest in a culture clamoring for us to hustle, consume, and produce continually. Rest is your right. The scientific research even shows a lack of it contributes to a pervading sense of loneliness. It’s never lazy to recharge and recover from all the things in a defiant act of slower living.
I chose the same tree wallpaper mural installed as an accent wall in this guest bedroom above for our entryway at the Georgian. There were a thousand scenic landscape mural patterns, but this one with its peaceful mood never grew stale.
Don’t forget that simply lighting a candle can be the gateway to a moment, to an afternoon devoted to unplugged slower living. Basket of Milieu magazine past issues? Slower looks good on you.
Simple No-Rush No-Fuss Snacks
Whether you call it charcuterie, jarcuterie, cheese eating or something else, summer afternoons are perfect for little impromptu picnics that require very little effort.
Jarcuterie = Charcuterie in a Glass Jar
It could hardly be any simpler. Idividual cheeseboards without the board. Layer graze board friendly snacks, skewer a few with toothpicks, and by all means, don’t overthink it.
Small mason jars, cute recycled glass French yogurt jars, or plain glass tumblers will do. Bet you could imagine a hundred ways to riff on this menu idea for an easy lunch…
…cater in your favorite roast chicken, salad, or croque monsieur. Keep the mood simple, slow and special.
Serene & Spare Table
The French know their way around effortless simplicity so definitely do NOT overthink decorating the table.
For my French cafe look, the Turkish beach towel keenly contrasts with all the white, a simple planter holds potted rosemary, and pastel napkins soften the understated look.
The simplicity of fragrant potted rosemary or lavender is lovely for a casual mix.
Sanctuary Cafe Moment Inside?
I styled this bistro set in a guest bedroom as well to experiment. It was surprising how it instantly brought a refreshingly calm European country vibe to that room!
Have a kitchen corner or space in a bedroom or office to help it feel more inviting?
Is it Worth Your Time to Create Sanctuaries?
Introducing beauty to the everyday has never felt frivolous, unnecessary, or superficial to me. Beauty is such a huge part of what makes life wondrous for me.
Beauty frequently sparks joy, and when you consider how delight relates to slower life living with a grateful heart that seeks wonder…
it is much more than simply escapism or entertainment.
How do we enter into relationship with beauty and what it means to be here right now, to be alive, at this moment in time?
If joyful living and postures come naturally for you, this discussion may strike you as a bit silly.
Yet there are those prone to despair (perhaps from the pains of chronic pain or chronic illness) who must be intentional about relearning joyfulness amid unsavory circumstances.
So often joy is hidden within the fabric of our ordinary lives.
Reflections on Little Joys
Do you collect delights? If you were here with me, I could tell you about a few of mine, but I might weep, and you would need to remind me to hydrate. Here’s what I wrote about exactly a year ago: A couple days back when our youngest son facetimed so I could see how Pony Boy (we love this cat so much) is recovering from a condition and a lifesaving procedure at the hospital.
Our son had made a comfy nest for him to rest in front of the screen door through which he gazed. I felt this awful pang of heartache because the sight of his lethargic state of recovery triggered memories of Snoopy (our other son’s blind rescue passed just weeks ago.) Sadness washed over me as the rain fell, and I imagined Pony longing to be outdoors.
Suddenly two ducks happily waddled right down the street through the puddles.
A parade of delight JUST FOR PONY is how the spectacle felt. What joy! Oh what beauty entered my heart, opening it to the realm of angels, to the realm of blind creatures who left us too soon yet somehow help us to see more clearly.
Wishing You Uncommon Joy
Right where you are, I am thinking of you. I’m imagining how joy is walking with you on your unique journey, with your prognosis, with the aches of your grief. And I’m sending blessings as you bravely open your heart to delight even while it is in pieces. Blessings as you give your YES to joy with a weakened wobbly voice. May you collect and connect with unknown blessings already on their way, even now in the shadows, if only by noticing the light of delight in this moment.
I independently selected products in this post—if you buy from one of my links, I may earn a commission.
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
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