Nostalgia Meets Nature - Curating Meaning-filled Spaces

What is it that links you indefinitely to a favorite old vinyl record or song?  It’s a connection between the way the music made you feel, or who you were with when you heard it. It’s the sentiment of a period of time in your life. Those lyrics, that music, instantly reconnect you.  You remember.  And, celebrating your connection to things that take you back can help you create meaningful spaces.

While Biophilic Design is typically about creating a connection to nature and life, aesthetically pleasing spaces that spark sentiment can also promote healthy, happy, and unique living.

That emotional resonance is one reason sensory experiences—like scent, light, and sound—are becoming essential elements of healing design.

Adding an oldie and a goodie into your space can spark a fond memory and conversation. Place an old dial telephone, red, orange, or olive, on your side table and see where it takes you and your guests.  When I take a telephone, record player, or typewriter to a vintage show, younger crowds often have no idea what those items are or what they do. That doesn’t diminish their intrigue and excitement to put a phone to their ear, plunk out some letters on the typewriter, or try putting a needle on a circle of plastic-vinyl- that spins and makes music! A parent typically makes their connection to the intriguing item by sharing their own childhood story – We used to turn this dial, number by number, to call a friend, then we’d stretch the phone cord into another room, so you could have a telephone conversation in private. When you weren’t at home, you always carried a quarter for a payphone, especially if you weren’t going to make your curfew or you were lost! Those were the days!  And those days make for the best conversations! Those conversations are triggered by your item that sparks a memory chord.

What about adding a favorite old leather book to a bookshelf, or collecting the complete set of Nancy Drew mysteries?  A rocking chair like your grandparents’ might add the perfect motion to your living room. Or, how about a banana seat Schwinn Bike, like the one you rode around town as a kid, now as art, hanging on the wall in your recreation room? That bike will take you riding down memory lane, singing all the lyrics of your childhood neighborhood and friends and skinned knees and fun.

If you’re looking for a dining room table and chairs, you might pick chairs that deliberately remind you of people in your life, or tables where you’ve sat, or meals you’ve shared. Curating chairs one by one can spark thoughtfulness and reminiscing. Find six completely different and compatible chairs to represent six different people who you’ve shared with or might share a meal with at your retro family farm table; one that’s soft and comfy and settling; one upright and solid; one on a swivel for a person always in motion; one gold for a person channeling their inner royalty; one hand painted or hand carved for an artisan; and one timeless, sturdy leather.  

Take an inventory of things in your past that brought you joy. Did you have a treehouse? Did you romp around in your yard? Did you collect something – spoons, plates, records, pins, trucks, street signs, band posters? How about a favorite pastime, or a place you loved to travel to? Was there a favorite item you let go that you’d like to find?

Do you love Americana, Mid Century Modern, Art Deco, Retro, Victorian, Arts and Crafts? Once you’ve identified something that brought you happiness, go find it, and let its music take you back! Get back, Get back, Get back to where you once belonged. It’s a Thriller! []

Kristin Stockham is an old things junkie, curating fun, one retro item at a time.