I love the slow, and sometimes immediate, realisation of being surrounded by objects of comfort in a public space that makes it feel like an extended home. Depending on the venue this could be a brief, fleeting feeling or one that reoccurs; coming at you in waves.
So what are these objects of comfort? Books and bookshelves - naturally. Ornamental lamps very much unlike the industrial ones found in your standard hotel lobby. A well worn rug, and taps - the right kind of bathroom taps!
bolster pillow
Now, I know that these flourishes are purposefully curated but that does not stop me enjoying them all the same. A furniture shop entices with perfectly assembled displays of ‘the bedroom', 'the living room', 'the dining room' styled from their new season's collection, but it is so in-your-face and smug sometimes that it's nice to be caught off guard elsewhere. Take the aforementioned hotel; but the boutique kind. The contents of a hotel room is for the most part predictable, which is why a stay at a boutique lodging takes the sterility out of the basic room amenities and adds a softer lens to the picture. On a trip to Dublin last year; a stay at The Hendrick Hotel introduced me to the surprising comfort of a bolster pillow . Whereas on a subsequent trip to Poland and a stay at the IBB Andersia the lobby was lit by exactly the type of light fixture I would expect. It caught my eye but didn't quite inspire me to want to search for something similar for my own home.
Hotel lobby lighting
But hotels are too obvious an example of public spaces that inspire the feeling of being home. Last year I went to a lovely event that was hosted in an refurbished courthouse and cellars built in the late 1700s. The event was a conference being jointly hosted by a woman's collective and a retail bank so I wasn't necessarily expecting the aesthetic that was The Old Sessions House. Stripped walls and floors, bookshelves, chandeliers, beautiful porcelain taps. Not only did I have to stop myself from not taking a lot of pictures (that was not what I was there for) but I had to avoid getting in the way of the many influencers in attendance; who had no such restraint.
The brown and green earth tones colouring the space added to it's cozy warmth. As did the rug covered wooden aged (but maintained) floorboards and tiles.
It is a great space that although being obviously curated to be such; does not feel intrusive. Or at least, doesn't hinder your enjoyment of it.
The fleeting feeling of home that caught me off guard was at a modern art museum. Spiralling my way up through The Guggenheim in NYC through a photography exhibition and framed paintings, the first thing that had an odd homely appeal was a marble sculpture.
This large, gorgeously smooth rendition of a seal - the shape and diagonal placing of the sculpture looked so perfect and captured my imagination. I could actually bizarrely see it in a home library.
Le miracle
Constantin Brancusi
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Jungfrau
Joseph Beuys
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
I next came across a stern, austere table and chair piece requiring decidedly less of a leap to imagine in a home; although a rather cold and frigid one.
Staying in the realm of somewhat achievable replication; I was taken with two particular paintings that I may seek affordable prints for. The blue/black/grey colour palette is one that I am drawn to time and time again and the evocation of domesticity and dwelling in these works seems to fit the aura of home and the everyday.
Maison
à Paris
Juan Gris
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
La repasseuse
Pablo Picasso
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
I could not end this piece without a nod to the original public house or ‘pub’, and more specifically the now ubiquitous ‘gastro pub' where the fireplace is so often a feature and on a Sunday; the smell of a roast redolent of home.
I still remember a quite eccentrically charming lamp shaped like a British Bulldog spotted in a West London pub.
The features that stand out so warmly from my local being the small glass vases and wonky little brown tables like a much more worn version of my landing top table - still one of my favourite furniture purchases to date.