Heat up your space with personal warmth

If it's happened to me once it's happened to me 100 times - I walk into a house or a room and really love the space but can't put my finger on the exact reason. The space speaks to me but I don't know why.

Recently I read a quote from Vogue's Book of Etiquette which states, "Personal warmth is the most appealing element in any room and nothing--elegance, drama,enormous expenditure--can take its place...it is the sum total of many things, all of which indicate that people really live in a room, and do not merely pass through it."

This really made sense to me. Personal warmth IS the ingredient that sets a space apart. Whether the room or home is your personal style or not doesn't matter, personal warmth enables a room to evoke feelings of happiness, contentment and appreciation.

So, I started thinking....if personal warmth is the goal, what better time to get started on this approach in your own home than right now. The holidays are the perfect time to add and experience personal warmth.  This time of year homes are filled with warmth and personal touches almost without even meaning to be.

Here are some examples:

This is the living room at my parents house.
Please notice the SEVEN stockings on the mantle, one for every human family member and one for the two dogs and a bird!

 It is the personal and sentimental elements that contribute heavily to a rooms personal warmth. In the photograph above it's hard to see but the coolest elements in this room comes from what's ON the tree....

Homemade ornaments. Some of which date back over 20 years!

This tree is at my Grandma's house.
My cousins and I made almost every ornament and decoration on the tree by hand. It's the most cheerful thing in the entire room bursting with thoughtfulness and love.

A closer look at some of the homemade ornaments.

....

They say love is in the details and I believe this is true. It's not about how much money you spend, sometimes the most beautiful, warm and intriguing spaces are full of those things that can't be bought.

All photographs are by Lori Foster