Everyday Shrines for a Happier Home
Honor your passions — family, fond memories, collections — by creating displays that reflect their importance to you
Becky Harris
January 12, 2014
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More
While a new year often inspires us to purge as much as we can from our homes, you don’t have to get rid of everything you don’t use regularly. Once you’ve decided what’s important enough to keep, though, consider honoring it. This is where author Gretchen Rubin’s new book, Happier at Home (Harmony, 2012), comes in. Continuing what she started in The Happiness Project, Rubin brings it home … literally. Wanting her home to be more comfortable, simpler and happier, she studied everything from the very little things (“replace a lightbulb or an empty roll of toilet paper right away,” she writes) to bigger projects.
My favorite large project of Rubin’s springs from her resolution to cultivate a shrine. She’s not talking Buddha and candles (though if that is your passion, then you should embrace it), but creating specific areas at home that honor what you love. Here’s how.
My favorite large project of Rubin’s springs from her resolution to cultivate a shrine. She’s not talking Buddha and candles (though if that is your passion, then you should embrace it), but creating specific areas at home that honor what you love. Here’s how.
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“Shrine” sounds heavy, but Rubin’s intention with shrines is to lighten the mood. “I meant to transform areas of my apartment into places of super-engagement,” she writes. Inspired by the little assemblages of dolls, crayons and teacups her young daughter keeps (they look jumbled, but everything actually has its own exact place), Rubin resolved to dedicate areas of her home to things she is passionate about. “It’s a sign of dedication,” she writes.
Family. Rubin began with a shrine to her family. This included getting around to framing that group of photos that was stacking up, rearranging existing photos and putting family photos into more prominent positions. She also created holiday galleries that are pulled out once a year. For example, she put out photos of her daughters in their costumes over the years at Halloween and framed family Valentine’s cards during February. (Her family sends valentines in lieu of holiday cards, because that time of year is too busy — that sounds like one less stress during the holidays, an idea that would make me happier. How about you?)
How to Design a Family Photo Wall
How to Design a Family Photo Wall
“Next, I considered objects that, like photos, powerfully reminded me of beloved family members,” Rubin writes. Small, meaningful objects she placed in more prominent places include two bird figurines that “brought back my grandparents, those summer visits to Nebraska, the smell of Fort Cody — I didn’t need anything more.”
Work. “I loved my office because I love working, but the room itself wasn’t particularly pleasing,” Rubin writes. Bare walls, a lack of a view and disorganized supplies plagued her space. After some heavy-duty neatening and organizing, she had flowering wisteria vines, a favorite, painted all over her office walls. “A well-designed workspace and well-made instruments made work a joy,” she writes.
Fun and games. Rubin filled a bookcase with board games, puzzles and glass jars full of tiny items like costume jewelry and marbles. She mixed in her own childhood toys and her girls’ silver rattles.
Literature in a favorite genre. This idea is very personal and is my favorite of the shrines Rubin describes. In honor of her love of children’s and young-adult literature, she created a shrine to them. “Instead of keeping these books scattered around the apartment, I would reorganize some bookcases to make a Shrine to Children’s Literature,” she writes. Once she was done organizing her Harry Potters, Little House books, L’Engles and Tolkiens in the same area, “just standing in front of these shelves made me happy,” she writes.
Whether it’s your cookbook collection, a pile of favorite Elmore Leonards, fashion monographs or that stack of Domino magazines you’ll never part with as long as you live, organize them in a place where they are easy to access and admire.
Whether it’s your cookbook collection, a pile of favorite Elmore Leonards, fashion monographs or that stack of Domino magazines you’ll never part with as long as you live, organize them in a place where they are easy to access and admire.
Something personal. Rubin also suggests a shrine to a personal passion, like travel or wine. Since reading this book, every time I see a group of items that is clearly a collector’s passion, I think of it as a shrine.
I now look at interior designer Shirley Meisels’ beloved pottery collection as a shrine. “I love vintage pottery for its color, texture and shape,” she says. In previous homes her collection had been scattered around the house, but placed together on the mantel, each piece enhances the other through similarities and contrasts in shape, height, texture and color. Together they represent a lifetime of collecting, while each piece represents her being in different places and phases when she discovered them.
I now look at interior designer Shirley Meisels’ beloved pottery collection as a shrine. “I love vintage pottery for its color, texture and shape,” she says. In previous homes her collection had been scattered around the house, but placed together on the mantel, each piece enhances the other through similarities and contrasts in shape, height, texture and color. Together they represent a lifetime of collecting, while each piece represents her being in different places and phases when she discovered them.
Vintage toys. I always loved playing with the toys in my grandparents’ attic when I was a kid, and every time I spy the dog-eared Changeable Charlie box my mother kept, it takes me right back there and makes me smile. Vintage toys take on a folk art look when grouped together; whether collected out of appreciation for what they are or because they are filled with memories, they are certainly shrineworthy.
Think about the scale of your objects and whether a grid of boxes, built-ins or floating shelves would be the best way to show off the objects you’re passionate about. The display is key to giving the objects the respect they’re due, whether they’re train cars on long, narrow shelves …
… toy fire trucks backed by beadboard …
… or model cars on clear shelves.
Action figures. Man caves are great places to put those things that bring out your inner man-child, like Millennium Falcons or G.I. Joes.
Show memorabilia. My friend Lucas is a musician who loves going to hear live music. He is reminded of all the great music he’s heard live via this shadow box full of tickets and other mementos. Incidentally, this shrine is in the loo. That’s just fine and doesn’t dishonor these memories!
By the way, Lucas’ shrine makes me miss tickets. I hate when all I have as a souvenir is a computer printout from StubHub, though I certainly prefer ordering up some seats from my laptop to camping out in front of a box office.
By the way, Lucas’ shrine makes me miss tickets. I hate when all I have as a souvenir is a computer printout from StubHub, though I certainly prefer ordering up some seats from my laptop to camping out in front of a box office.
Your favorite ceramics or china. Glass cabinet doors can let you pay homage to that Fiestaware or those McCoy, Russel Wright or other pieces you love and enjoy even when you’re not eating dinner off them.
Bottles. These colorful vintage bottles are now an integral part of this room’s decor.
Radios. This homeowner has a passion for collecting antique radios, and the thoughtful arrangement of them on these shelves makes this room interesting, unique and personal.
Clocks. If these suckers tick, I have no idea how this person ever gets to sleep. However, to each his own; perhaps it’s a sleep-inducing sound to this homeowner, or when so many clocks are ticking at once, it’s less … ticktocky? Regardless of ticking, the arrangement of funky clocks along the headboard shows them off in their best light.
Jewelry and other baubles. If you’re passionate about your costume jewelry collection, invest in good ways to display it.
Using a bulletin board transforms jewelry and other accessories into one big collage.
Whatever your passion, remember Rubin’s words, that the shrine approach is a sign of dedication. Being able to enjoy your favorite things will certainly make you happier at home.
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There's a museum curator in all of us too. And a librarian.
I think it's because we love and appreciate beautiful, interesting and intelligent things, and if we don't keep them, they are often lost forever, even from our memories. The man-made things are a tribute to the ones who made them with their hands and imagination, and those from nature genius that we recognize was made by the hands of God.
Loved this article. The curators of their miniature museums did well.