What's In a Name? The Story Behind Ritual Home Design

There's more than one way to brew tea...
 

I chose the name Ritual Home after listening to a podcast wherein they advocate for the benefits that building rituals can have into daily life.

Two ways to make tea were contrasted -

One was to heat water in a coffee cup in a microwave then add a teabag.

The other way was to heat water in a kettle - not just any kettle but one that was chosen because of its design or sentimental value - then laying out a steeper with a cup and saucer or handmade mug. Next, taking out a jar of fluffy loose leaf tea, making sure to inhale its fragrance and measuring it out into the steeper slowly, intentionally. Then you wait for the tell-tale sign of steam escaping the spout to know the water is ready.

The first way is fast and gives you tea.

The second method takes three minutes longer, gives you tea and an experience.

I fell in love with this concept - making everyday necessities special or just stopping to appreciate how magical the mundane can be. And calling something a ritual really reinforces this idea of slowing down, focusing and appreciating.
 

There's more than one way to build furniture...
 

Making furniture with a ritualistic approach has been my process for painstakingly designing and crafting pieces for years.

I get excited when I pull out my architectural scale and graph paper to map out a design. I  get this rebellious little thrill whenever someone scoffs at my hand drawing and lectures me on how design software is superior.

One of my absolute favorite parts of the process is selecting the lumber. I go through every board, hoping to find inclusions and knots, choosing wood with the waviest grain patterns. Sometimes leaving empty-handed because nothing was unique, having to wait for a new shipment to come in.

While it’s a more economical use of my time to call in the species and board feet I need and have it delivered, I wouldn’t be putting as much love into my piece as I would want.

I savor my time in the workshop, I relish sanding, loathed by most woodworkers, I love it because it is such a sure thing. You will make your wood gleam if you sand well and if you rush it, the blade marks will not lie and you will have to start all over from a low grit and work back up again.

While I’ve been operating ritualistically in my woodworking craft, I hadn’t made the natural leap into incorporating rituals into an interior design capacity. A new and important question I want to ask myself and others when they are recreating a space is not just ‘How do you use your space?’ but, ‘How do you WANT to use your space?’

Using furniture and decor in a way that helps you evolve into the person you want to become. Having your home act as a chrysalis, a place to be nourished and inspired.

The props we use in our daily lives have an impact on how we experience our environment. Just as in the example of the kettle vs. the microwave, the possibility to turn the mundane into the magical is there and I want to promote daily rituals through thoughtful curation of your space.