Wealth and interior design

I’d like to talk about wealth. Not money, but wealth. Since I started my career in design, I have been fascinated by the concept of redefining what it means to be a wealthy person.

I think most of us equate wealth to the size of our homes, which sometimes leaves us (at least being from the west of Canada) with large and disproportionate empty spaces placed without any contextual sense.

An acquaintance of mine recently put in an offer on a 5-bedroom house, a 40-minute drive from the city centre. When they told me their offer was accepted, I was happy that they’d achieved something that they’d wanted… there’s something to be said about a place to really call your own. But my immediate following thought was why? Would I want to live in a 5-bedroom house all by myself? I feel lonely enough living downtown in one of Canada’s largest cities.

I’d like to propose that we define wealth instead in terms of connection and safety, in most senses of each word. It’s a quality-over-quantity debate, at the end of the day.

For nearly ten years as a designer, I have led with the substance of what it means to be human… the truths and vulnerabilities of each of our behaviors, our preferences and values. Someone who upholds beliefs of modesty or timidity will inspire a different design than someone who prefers to, for example, ask for forgiveness and not permission. Our idiosyncrasies are what makes us each rich, but we all have modern-day homes that portray us as the same person.

One of Antoni Gaudi’s Casa Mila knobs

Maybe I was duly influenced in my study of midcentury architects crafting entire systems – envelopes, interiors, and landscapes – with anthropometry and ergonomics in practice. Among other solutions, cast door handles shaped like silly putty crushed in the palms of our hands and lower-height-than-average door frames to accommodate the 5th percentile inhabitant. It was beautiful the way they tailored homes to fit our bodies and habits, and it is without surprise that these are the homes with heritage designations and their photos in textbooks. They are buildings taught as precedents in schools and there’s a reason we replicate them time and time again.

I completed a project years ago on slow living, particularly as it applied to gastronomy. I relished in articles about intentionality and rich sensory experiences (had with others, in most cases). I will never forget the overarching sense of calm made possible via increased care, rest, and connection to ourselves and each other.

Does peace come naturally to us? Is it the kind of thing that we seek out? Have we possibly taught ourselves to expect the opposite?

I’d love to experience a world where our nervous systems are not thrashed and we realize we have the time and energy to do the things that we each love to do. This is wealth to me… it’s not living beyond your means or keeping up with the Jones’. It's not keeping up with anyone. It's not a race at all. It's just you and your needs and desires, and an abundance of tools at your disposal to help you fulfill them.

Wealth is possessing the capacity to slow down and make decisions from a place of empowerment and awareness. Not just design decisions, but all decisions.

Solutions at Cave will always be provided for you, not your neighbour. The idea of emotional safety that we press essentially refers to a highly-tailored space that is most appropriate and most supportive for you, and how you move through the world.

What makes you feel rich?