In The Cantina

Otherwise known as Dave and Doe's house where every possible surface has had a rich patina of color and art applied to it. Dave and Doe are both artists and being in their house is like walking into the most vibrant playground of texture and surprises. The most prominent style is a Mexican folk art mixed with comics.

I could sit in their kitchen (referred to as the "cantina") for hours just to bask in the cool religious iconography and skeletons. Hanging out in their house reminded me of the great potential for a home to become a reflection and a joyful funny monument to what makes us most happy. Why play it safe in the one place that is yours? So often we view our home as the place to create "peacefulness" and often we choose colors that are soothing and calm so that our house is a get away from the rest of the world.

But when I'm sitting in Dave and Doe's vibrant kitchen I want to know how come so few of us think of our home as the ultimate playground? Or a place to seek inspiration the kind of inspiration we get from travel and museums? Or why so few of us decorate our homes in a way that offers amusement and thought provoking conversation? Why should we play it safe at home in our decorating? The one place we can do what we want to in.

In my mad scurry to find employment when we returned from our trip I almost forgot my new resolve to start planning the transformation of my personal space into a completely personal space. Not something likely to end up in Sunset magazine but something likely to make me feel alive and energized.

Lord knows we have a tough road ahead of us for both obvious reasons and reasons you don't even want to know about. Life is ever shifting and rearranging itself. My house should be a place not just of peace and rest, because after a certain point that just sounds funereal, but a place of fun and vibrancy, a place to wake up and feel alive in.

Thank you Dave and Doe for the huge nudge in my fat ass- I intend that when we finally drag your bones up here for a visit you will feel equally good in my home as I did in yours.