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This episodes launches a two episode series on the theme of HOME!
My guest is Jennifer Salvemini, an interior designer based in New York’s Hudson Valley. She is an expert in home design, organization and entertaining. She has an extensive professional background in hospitality and fashion, and is well studied in anthropology and philosophy. In this episode, we discuss the practice of homemaking and how caring for our home contributes to our happy life.
From Jennifer’s perspective, homemaking is the ongoing practice of creating a “safe, sane and sacred space.” It takes into account the aesthetics, functionality and tidiness of the home. Attending to these elements in our exterior world has an impact on our interior one. Our home affects, and reflects, our mental and emotional states. It is a reactive environment. Living in a well-designed, thoughtfully arranged, clean home can help counter the chaos of life.
As a designer, Jennifer works collaboratively with clients to create their happy homes. Instead of offering them a selection of complete designs to choose from, Jennifer extracts the design from her client. In this way, the home becomes a space that reflects each client’s unique and personal aesthetic. For some clients, this is a process of self discovery. They discover what they want to express about themselves both to themselves through the home and to others who visit.
The practice of homemaking considers not only the design of the home, but also the systems within it. Jennifer helps clients assess whether their habits and routines are functional for them, and if not, what can be shifted so the home environment better serves them. Each lifestyle is different.
The home, like each of us, is always in process. The continuous journey of homemaking reflects both who we are and where we are in our lives. When we take care of our home, we take care of ourselves.
Historically, taking care of the home was seen as a role that subjugated women. And though it was a role women struggled to get away from, Jennifer reminds us that taking care of the home is both actual and essential work. From her perspective, the narrative around homemaking is ready to shift and the work of homemaking can be reclaimed with a whole different value and without any gender assignment.
Melinda Gates has spoken about the unpaid labor performed by women to keep a home running. Preparing for this episode inspired me to look again at the unpaid or invisible work that goes into running a home - the cooking, cleaning and other chores - and how we value it. For me, speaking with Jennifer opened the possibility of stepping into a more integrated future. One where there’s room for each of us to self actualize and be creative in the world, and where we sincerely respect and appreciate the role that homemaking has in making our lives more sustainable and enjoyable and invest ourselves in it.
If you are ready to step into a new paradigm around homemaking, this episode is for you!
In this Episode
Homemaking as a practice of creating a safe, sane and sacred space [01:18]
What makes home a happy place - contents, people, functionality, a sense of safety and overall ecology [04:40]
Choosing objects to fill the home [07:30]
Tricks for creating cohesion and putting collections together [13:24]
Affordability and safe spaces that are not triggering [18:32]
Reclaiming spaces [20:49]
Self discovery through creative design and decision making [27:04]
Valuing the actual work of homemaking as essential work [28:35]
Alternative homes of the future and more intimate community [31:20]
Links from the Episode
Jennifer’s website, online shop and Hinterland Airbnb
Email: jenniferlsalvemini@gmail.com
Instagram: @jls.lifestyle
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