To make a space mesmerising, the easiest way is to appeal to all the six senses
It’s finally the day I set up my living den. A small piece of land that’ll be the witness, and a contributor to budding ideas, vivid dreams, perky passion, and menacing memories. It must be perfect, with every element woven into its tapestry having colours of my essence. Eyes closed; I envision every morsel flying into its habitat.
As a strategist, I had to see the bigger picture. What does my room signify? What does it stand for? How should it make me feel? And there I found the building blocks, the axiom to my design. The first principle: Seduction of Senses.
Occam’s razor states ‘one should not increase (beyond reason) the number of entities required to explain anything. All things being equal, the simplest solution is often the best one.’ Or, as I see it, the simplest solution is often the most elegant.
To make my room mesmerising, my simple solution is to appeal to the five senses. Mesmerising visuals, melodious notes, subtle air brushing through the skin, complimented with hints of fresh grass, and mouthwatering stimulus. And it’s a home. But a little extra never hurt anyone. Adding the sixth sense of memory just completes the set.
The Visual Symphony
The door swings right to left, opening to the walls opposite, adjacent and behind the bed. Thanks to the beautiful construction, the room is lit by a full French window in the southwest opposite to the entrance of the room, giving you the first visual of the Mumbai sunrise and sunset over the sea each day.
With this enchanting view, I don’t wish to crowd the walls. A simple painting of a curious cat painting on the wall behind the bed and a faded night light nearby. That’s all! But what’s minimal should also feel premium. A static lamp plugged to a wall is just so Kafkaesque.
My perfect night light are the nano-leaf shapes (hexagonal) panel lights which can be arranged in any pattern and respond to multiple stimuli like sound, touch, time, light in the room. It’s amazing the setting of the night sky, where almost all lights are extremely dark blue and then randomly one panel twinkles like a star. Truly, an ode to watch!
P.S.: For all who also want to explore, ‘the twinkling tree’ and ‘the artment’ have wonderful pieces to add to your room. I have my eyes on the ‘Enchanted Galaxy Rose’ on the 'twinkling tree' website.
The Melody of Sound
I have divided sound into three elements. One is the big, bold, melodious output for the time I want to play music. Second is a standard speaker for everything else, and the one that listens to me. The third is a niche element, a ‘white-noise and mood re-creator’ i.e., any software / sound element that, through mediums, could reproduce a stimulus of sound (mostly natural) one might have heard in the past.
The smart speaker is a no brainer; the Google Nest Mini is your perfect companion in any room. Not only does it listen to you, but it can also very well interact with all the smart elements in the room through your voice input.
In today’s world, if you want to play music out loud, it must be of the highest quality. Here, you have the Harmon & Kardon Aura, the big bass in a small smart package of Bose Soundlink Resolve II or the one I went ahead with - the classic - sitting like a king on a side table like it rules the world, The Marshall Stanmore III. The timber sound, the clickiness of the buttons, the smoothness of the rotating dial; the feeling is as if it is being played live in front of you. Totally worth it.
The Tactile Embrace
Now, touch is a complicated sense. It is investment heavy and yet spread out all over the room. One may want a variety of experiences and yet they all must come together. As the place is rented, wallpaper is out of question. The furniture is what I can experiment with. I chose to rent a bed with an aqua cloth textured headboard and mocha-brown finish, similar to the cupboards that come with mirror on the left door.
To add to the woody finishes, I went ahead with a nice coat stand with polished dark brown finish. Just on the side of the cupboards. To add to these elements and a sport touch, are tennis, badminton racquets at the top of the cupboard. Add to it the three pair of shoes for football, tennis, and running reminding me that ‘All Day I Dream About Sports’ with their flashy three stripes.
One could also go for plants. My inclination is towards succulents, but one might choose to go with more visual proves (flowers) or smells for the same and the over ambitious ones like me could go for the ones we can taste, Melissa officinalis is a mind-boggling example to this. Not only the aroma is citrus and cool upon touching the leaves; they are a great addition to tea, salads, and the occasional toppings on pasta. Each plant adds a nice touch of green to the room.
The Taste of Blissful Moments
Taste is always difficult to work with in interiors. Hence when it comes to rejogging memories, the taste stimulus is often used to evoke the memory from the deep sub-conscious.
The first step is to unlock accessibility and ease of grabbing a bite. Hide little treats around the room. Refill them monthly. A few chocolate-coated dry-fruits are a must. The dedicated space to water bottles, ice mints can never go wrong!
The Tapestry of Memories
Memories: The polaroids, candids, windchimes, and dream catchers are all a must. I like them raw, just clipped to a string zip-zapping through a wall. Get miniatures made of gifts received from loved ones and proudly hang them as keychains. Always carefully unravel gifts, remove tapes carefully, and ALWAYS KEEP THE BOXES, store bottles of wine which were opened on special nights. Hang your favourite quotes, the newspaper articles of your work. Click pictures of airports or station boards and collage them as your travel catelogue.
My aim of memory is to expose my best moments in my interiors. Keeping it an open book for my guests to read it in awe. Know the angle in your room, build it to click photos whenever you have your friends and family around. Clip them on your strings too.
Fragrant Whispers
L’Effluvio: Fragrances dance in the air, adding another layer of enchantment to the room. A de-humidifier is essential to catalyse the effect of smells. A good circulation just adds fuel to this desire.
To start with, I had scented candles delicately infusing the space with notes of suede and oak wafting through the room. While candles are an accessible way to transport you to distant places, the fun is in a slow diffused natural smell. Fragrant oils are good, but the real gems are water-based fragrances gently warmed up to increase the intensities, or the new option - wax melting. The aromas are carefully selected each season, mood, and lifestyle.
From notes of freshly cut grass and aqua in the washroom to timber and amber in the main room. How I exploit my amazing olfactory throne. Lastly, I come down to just adding flowers to water and let them do their magic.
In the end, as I gazed upon the room that had become an embodiment of my passion and perfectionism, I realised the true power of interior design. It was not just an arrangement of objects; it was a symphony of senses that harmonized to create an experience beyond imagination. From the captivating painting to the smart wall panels, from the melodious sounds to the comforting touch, from the enticing fragrances to the nostalgic memories, and finally, to the tantalising taste, the room had become a masterpiece that resonated with my very essence.
There, all my senses are elated right now. High on happy. I turned on the marshall, played the song I was long willing to play as I light up the ode on the side, the words go:
“I'll light the fire
You place the flowers
In the vase
That you bought today
Staring at the fire
For hours and hours…”
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