Home Essentials

I like to think of our home as a retreat where our state of being, mind and sometimes nature are cultivated by three essentials: atmosphere, well-being, and productivity.

When we’re not travelling, I’m a really homebody person. I love the feeling of coziness, serenity, and privacy. I can find entertainment or bliss within our home, and specific rooms or home staples contribute to this magical feeling.

Atmosphere
Growing up in a traditional family, I’ve carried over some of the influences to our home, such as house cleaning and cooking. Our home decoration is full of many flavours and inspirations from all over the world.

Household Etiquettes
The home is sacred, and whoever comes over may take their shoes off. In Vietnamese culture, this action is a sign of respect to the establishment and to the people who inhabit it. We wear barefoot or slippers indoors. I’m a little clean freak to a certain degree and still give weird glares at my đẹp trai every time he steps onto the living room carpet with his slippers.

Decor
Our travel experiences inspire our home decoration and feel concentrated in our living space. That’s the most colourful room in our home. Our couch is full of blue and yellow cushions. Both colours represent our happy place: the sun and the sea. We have cushions with pineapple designs that we bought in Hawaii. I have a big fan hung up on the wall above the couch. That’s the statement piece of the room. Our library has a bit of everything: fiction, non-fiction, works by philosopher friends, cookbooks, travel books, drawing journals, mangas, board games, Hello Kitty plushies and Mexican artisanal Otomi dolls. Our books celebrate culture and are in various languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Vietnamese. We have a few frames around the house, all photographs or digital paintings from friends. The rest of our home is pretty minimalistic.

Well-being
We love a good vibe, and I’m the most dedicated of us two who puts a lot of thought into creating a great ambiance.

Mood
In addition to a clean home, I value a clean state of mind before sleeping and when waking up. A lot happens daily; we’re bombarded by noise (work, news, social media, etc.) Our best practice to eliminate all of this noise and inside voices (especially me) is to have a bedroom stripped to its core as much as possible. Our bedroom has only space for the bed, fairy lights and a curtain. It’s all neutral tones (beige, brown, white). A little touch like this impressively gives me the impression that I sleep on a cloud, yet cozy. There is no television, and one will never be in our bedroom. Less gives us more peaceful rest. I love the first seconds of my mornings when I gently wake up and see the sunlight peeking through the curtains. It’s my little piece of heaven.

Aura
Especially when fall and winter come here, I love lighting candles of different sizes and aromas around the house. That extra touch of warmth makes it more joyful to spend nine months of cold weather. I always get excited to buy candles whenever I spot them at the stores. There are never enough candles! I’m also a little obsessed with incense. I appreciate a clean home with a lovely fragrance. After our trip to Vietnam, I’ve been seeking lemongrass scent. I cannot get enough of it. We have incense in the living space, diffuser in the bathroom and the vanity studio (the other half of the bedroom space). I appreciate that feeling of clearing the air from any “bad vibe/spirits” through an aroma.

Productivity
Following the pandemic, I’ve been working from home almost permanently. It’s the ideal circumstance for someone as homebody as me. That said, I had to find ways to stimulate my mental and physical health while working from home.

Vibe
I love music and search for less mainstream songs and new artists. I don’t memorize lyrics or know an artist’s career path and albums in depth, but I can admire a good beat and melody. It’s about how music makes us feel and move. I’m sensitive to that aspect. A good vibe for me would be Emotional Oranges or Cannons on any given day. I’d play Charlotte Cardin or Aiza when I need motivation to endure a challenging day. I’d go with Kali Uchis or Sofia Thompson when I want an internal connection. My empowering song at the moment is New Woman by Lisa feat Rosalía. And my replay song at the moment is Te Vas by Lolita Fisher. Like our library, my playlist contains multilingual songs (English, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese). I enjoy listening to music from my phone or laptop, but let me tell you that it’s life-changing when music is playing on Bose.

Efficiency
Many elements in our home connect well-being and lifestyle. During the pandemic, when I started working from home, I realized that my body couldn’t handle sitting on a chair for an extended period. I have a standing desk that I can adjust up or down whenever I feel like working while standing on my feet. I also use an exercise ball as my chair to train my posture. This set-up has significantly impacted my health for a better version. I also have a yoga mattress next to my desk that I roll out every morning for a workout before the day begins.

Projection
We're hard-working people, and we spoil ourselves harder. What's better than treating yourself to a trip?! We have specific suitcases for nearby trips and for faraway trips. They stay still next to our main closet. There's a reason why it's organized that way. I'm not going to lie; I pack my suitcase more often than I take out my running shoes. Priorities!