I’m no dinosaur.
Although I do lean on some technology to run my business and aid my life in this western world, I am finding myself becoming more and more resistant to immersing my home, family and business into a fully digital way of life.
And with the ever-building pressure to use AI, whilst it simultaneously steals our creativity and ability to think for ourselves, all in the effort to supposedly make things easier and quicker…I find I am starting to draw a line in the sand between my life and technology. Certainly between my life and AI – but I’ll save that particular rant for another blog post perhaps.
For now, I want to share with you some of the ways I am choosing to embrace a simpler, more Analog way of life. Going back to basics in an effort to slow down and live in the moment, escape the GO, GO, GO super-efficient lifestyle we are just accepting as the norm.
Is it less efficient? – probably, but its also more meaningful, more nostalgic and feels way more wholesome….and from an interior designer’s perspective, its much more chic.
Let’s ease in gently;
I don’t know anyone who, hand-on-heart, finds a digital clock or watch more attractive than an classic face with number and turning hands. They are far more elegant on a wrist and always more stylish on the wall.
Its such a simple thing to upgrade when you choose something which resembles jewellery or sculpture over something which likes to track your steps, locations, breathing and to-do list…and gives you a little nudge with every unanswered and demanding notification.
Simply put, its chicer.
When did we stop writing notes by hand? Sending a postcard which always arrived comically late? Expressing our love or thanks for one another with a nice pen?
Have all our years of practising handwriting at school gone to waste?
I, for one, love a handwritten note – and I have been known to confess my undying love for another in this manner – and I can tell you… it feels grown up and just a little fancy. And of course, it feels even more special to receive one.
Imagine if we went back to writing lovely notes for others regularly.
The collection of letters, thoughts and confesses of emotion we could treasure in a little box or tucked into a book somewhere, for our future children or grandchildren to read.
How will we do this with all our texts and emails?
And really, who do you know wants to frame an email?
Whilst we’re onto the subject of framing things, I can’t help but mention the travesty of the mobile phone photo storage issues – yes I have them too.
Permanently at 98% full, “dangerously low on storage”, always choosing whether to pay even more to upgrade my cloud storage or just delete a bunch of stuff I might forget about anyway.
Its a modern day trap and I for one, hate it.
Instead, imagine one carefully selected photograph which captures the entire holiday. Or gathering together just a small handful to show the same smiley faces growing older.
Printed, unfiltered, real, tangible. Treasured in beautiful frames, adorning our walls for others to fall in love with too, to ask questions about and smile with nostalgia, or wish they had been there too.
Isn’t that what photos of our favourite people and places were really meant for?
Not to sit in our time-sucking pocket devices, most to never seen the light of day.
Mostly forgotten about.
So print out the best ones.
Frame them.
Enjoy them.
And then, do the same with your love notes.
I remember a small panic from all book lovers when the Kindle and other devices first launched. 1000s of stories squeezed into one slim little device. Could this be the end of real books with paper pages?
I’m pleased to say that we quickly realised there was little joy in reading a novel from a screen, and all the pleasure remained from turning an actual page in a book.
So the humble book lives on, Hurray!
And yet….
Despite our shelves full of cook books, gardening books, arty books and more… we still turn to a search engine to find a new recipe for tonight’s dinner, or to answer a pressing question on a how best to prune a wild shrub. We’ll take inspiration from Pinterest and social media before flicking though a designer’s handbook on styling your home.
Why do we do it?
The information is there – literally in our fingertips between the pages.
And not only that, we can use these books we have collected over the years to express our individual personality within our homes. A wonderfully curated display of books we love to call a ‘Library Nook’ or ‘Reading Corner’…somewhere to not only find the information we need or get to the end of the next chapter, but to share the joy of reading with our children. To slow down with a brew and a good bar of chocolate, or sink in a bath tub with a scented candle and float away into someone else’ story for a while.
What we have created with these books – is an EXPERIENCE.
Its not really the book or the information which is most important – its the ritual.
The activity itself which brings us joy.
So please, go ahead and add to your list of why Analog lift is better = BOOKS.
Like most busy people, at the weekend I have to choose whether the garden gets mowed and the weeds are tended to, or the house gets cleaned.
There simply isn’t time or energy to get both areas up to an acceptable standard. So I focus on one area at a time, leaving the other un-kept some may say.
Yet, traditionally, there has always been a more seamless link between a homes garden and its interior. The kitchen links to the garden for herbs, vegetable and fruit. The front porch leads effortlessly into the entryway, and the curtains in each room frame the exterior view.
We (and I do mean I) must try harder to create a more fluid link between my home and garden, to get the most out of both valuable spaces, and to really and truly love all aspects of my home.
And if you have very little or no garden at all – may I remind you of the endless joy you can find with mismatched pots for your house plants?
Don’t try to match them – you’ll be missing the point entirely.
Find colourful pots, geometric pots, textured pots, unglazed pots, DIY painted pots and sparkly seasonal pots – and fill your home with a variety of plants.
You cannot underestimate how an empty corner of a home can be filled with life and happiness with the addition of a simple potted plant.
Hands up if your regular evening routine consists of watching TV?
I’m not about to suggest you get rid of your TV, so don’t come for me.
But I too have been guilty of binge watching episode after episode into some ungodly hour, scrolling movies options for half an hour before re-watching one I’ve seen a handful of times. And then, instead of being immersed in the film, I find myself reaching for my phone throughout, to check my socials, look up an actor I can’t quite place or reply to School emails whilst the ads are on.
By doing all these things, we’re not really relaxing, we’re not connecting with each other and we’re certainly not enjoying the moment.
And this time, is OUR time. Our family time. Our down time. Our couple time without the kids, or our precious alone time.
And this is how we spend it – for some, almost every night on an endless loop.
So here’s what I challenge you to do, to break this habit and get back to really enjoying your down time, with connection (to our family & friends and not the wifi)
Two evenings a week at home, don’t turn on a screen after 8pm.
No phones.
No TV
No tablets.
Choose connection over technology.
For some of us, this is hard. It won’t feel relaxing at first. It will feel like more work -to think of something to do, to make actual conversation after a long day.
But just try – two nights a week see if you feel calmer, more rested before bed, have better communications with your partner, or find a hobby you used to love but never seem to have time for anymore.
Here’s some things you might like to do instead:
Create art
Sew something
Craft something
Write those handwritten notes (with a pen)
Listen to an album you forgot about
Learn something from a podcast or course
Read… in the bath
Cook something new together
Finish a jigsaw (feels like a waste of time at first until you get into it!)
Host a games night
Have friends over for dinner, and laugh
Frame those photos you printed out
Go to bed early 😉
So many other things ways to fill your time – and your soul – which don’t require a Netflix subscription.
This is a little one -but a good one.
Buy music (and films). Real music like we used to.
On a DVD, CD, or better still, on vinyl.
The music sounds better – no one can deny this- the album covers are part of the vibe -and how fancy will you feel listening to a much loved song on an actual record player, whist sipping on a cheeky glass of something? Just joyful.
And the best thing about creating your very own personal collection of records of films, is that you OWN them. You don’t have to pay to subscribe to simply listen or watch something which was always intended for joy.
That record, that film you loved from the 90s, that song is yours. For as long as you want it.
Do you need to get up and change it when the song ends – yes, but you’ll be OK, and you can have a top up on the way back.
If you’re not quite ready to ditch the TV, go offline every weekend and start your own potato field, you can start small.
Adding beautiful things to your home in small doses, which just feel nicer in the old fashion way, made with better quality materials, often more natural and better for the planet.
And the great thing is most of these treasures can be picked up second hand and in charity shops for not very much at all:
Here are my best finds so far (items I actually use, meaning they are most certainly NOT TAT):
Ceramic Teapot – the tea tastes better I swear it
Glass teapot for loose tea – no factory produced tea bag means no tiny unnatural partials in my tea or the ocean.
A pretty watering can on a stand – to give love and life to all those houseplants.
Fresh, seasonal flowers or folliage, in an simple pot.
Glass or stone soap dishes and dispensers – far more elegant to adorn ones sink with.
Fancy manual salt and pepper pots – these are currently on my wish list. I am on the look our for antique brass wind-up ones as I think they’d be equally fun and pretty. But please, buy anything but those awful noisy battery grinders
Good quality ramekins, baking and casserole dishes from charity shops – two of my most used cooking pots were only £2 each from my local chazza – so solid and heavy, perfect for a pie for two and they will last forever.
Table lamps with toggle pulls – Maybe its just me but if I’m turning the same bedside lamp on and off every day for the next few years, I want to feel a classic pull – not feel around for a plastic switch I can never find – and certainly not controlled by a switch, remote or automated by an app
Fabric I want to touch – like beautiful curtains with texture, pattern or colour to suit me home and mood. If my curtains are going to cost me a chunk, I want to be able to open and close them by hand to touch the fabric itself. By doing this, I will also silently congratulate myself on selecting such glorious fabrics for myself. I personally, would not enjoy opening and closing my window treatments at the distant touch of a button, however convenient it may seem.
So make charity shops, antique fairs and your grandparents loft, your new favourite place to shop for quality, nostalgic and gorgeous homeware.
So, whilst I’m not going to attempt to live off grid just yet (although a flock of garden chickens may be in the pipeline next Spring), but for now I’m just changing the little things, appreciating the forgotten things, and noticing how these are all actually really BIG things.
And if this post resonates with you, and you’d love a home filled with treasure over technology, contact me and we can talk about how to help you fall back in love with your interiors.
