Quick tips for creating sacred space in small places
- Dec 12, 2016
- 2 min read
In "Sacred SPACES in small places" we spoke with Sarah Iserhienrhien (Ryerson interior design graduate), Brigitte Shim (award-winning Canadian architect and professor) and Anthony Lawlor (established California architect).
These knowlegable individuals gave us some easy suggestions to make your space more tranquil.
Here are our top picks:
Pick up some plants
"Anything that’s connected to nature - that’s living, that’s changing - is really essential. It’s life affirming. It creates oxygen and technical things but also we just enjoy looking at them and it gives us pleasure. They’re not plastic, they’re actually real. You have to look after it. If you don’t water it, it dies. Pretty basic stuff, but It’s important. You want them to thrive. You want them to do really well. And we actually reap the benefits of them thriving." - Brigitte Shim
It doesn't have to be a towering piece of foliage. You can start on the small side with flowers or herbs, but consider bringing this living friend into your home.
Find a way to get some natural or natural feeling lighting
(Yes, even to you in the basement apartments)
"The light is always chaning throughout the day, so every time you go into that space, it’s a little bit different and that’s one of the great things of sacred spaces is that they’re connected to the changes of life, throughout the day and throughout the seasons of the year."
- Anthony Lawlor
Allow outdoor light to come in. Don't block it up with too much clutter. If you're in a basement apartment situation where windows can be really small or not in idea locations - set up some warm lamps or using more candles.
Get some running water in your space
"Water. Moving water. Water is life affirming in different ways."
- Brigitte Shim
Make time to visit a local pond, river or fountain.
Keep things off the floor with shelves
"If you’re space is small, think of using shelves to work upwards...If you can find shelving units…that’s a good way to do things. The higher it is, the more you’re going to see it." - Sarah Iserhienrhien
Organize your room in a way that gives you the order you need
“That’s the first thing of creating a sacred space – is to create some kind of order. In traditional spaces there’s some kind of orientation to the four directions, north, south, east and west, so you mark your place in the world. To create some order to that space, and it can be as simple as how you place a chair in a the corner of room if you’re talking about small spaces, you don’t need a lot of space."
- Anthony Lawlor
Clean UP
"The most practical ways of putting our intention into the physical surrounding is to clean them up.” - Anthony Lawlor
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