All posts tagged: wabi sabi

How to embrace autumn

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Autumn has arrived in my part of the world and I feel my spirits lift on my walks, when I take in the beautiful scenery of leaves that are turning into every shade of red and yellow. The mornings are becoming crisp and even though the weather is mild at the moment, one has the feeling that in no time at all it’s time for wooly mittens, scarves and coats and summer is a mere memory. How do I approach the change of the seasons? As I’ve mentioned earlier I became inspired by Wabi Sabi, when I visited the home of Elissa in New York, on my travels to explore what a home means to people*. Wabi Sabi is a Japanese philosophy that embraces the transience of life, whether nature’s changes, the different phases of human existence or the imperfections found in objects. The keyword that has worked for me is the word embrace. I do so love that word! I found that in actively changing my thoughts about a change I don’t particularly like or …

Wabi sabi in Brooklyn

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East Williamsburg in Brooklyn is an area that’s becoming more residential as factories and warehouses move out. This is where Elissa Ehlin lives, and she shares her home with her husband Jay Leritz, Cougar their son, and their cat Pretty Perfect. The low-rise buildings around their home are covered in imaginative graffiti by internationally renowned street artists, and theirs is no different. They have lived here for eight years and have transformed what previously was an auto repair workshop in an industrial building into a very personal home. The extensive construction work that this has required, they did themselves with the help of friends. Elissa is an enamelist by profession like her husband, and they have one of their two studios in the same building. This atmospheric home has exposed wood beams, brick walls and metal beams, wooden floors, rustic plank stairs and a serene colour scheme. It’s set up on two levels with an open plan living room and kitchen on one floor. A mid-century conical fireplace is in one corner of the room. …