If you’re a responsible citizen, you’ve probably become pretty acquainted with the objects in your home by now. We notice what gets the most daily love, what’s collecting dust, what comforts us, what irritates us. As a stoic who hasn’t bothered to decorate in the two(!) years since moving in, I thought I could survive lockdown without letting my possessions inform my emotions. But after a year of frustration, I’ve surrendered. The reality is, furniture influences the daily flow of our lives, in turn shaping our mood, our choices, and ultimately our identity.
Think for a moment about your couch. Unless you’re in a studio apartment, you probably have one. How often do you use it? Do you eat on it? Sleep on it? Work on it? Is it the centerpiece of your home? The invitation to guests to stay a while; a symbol of your social life? Or does it more realistically represent your solitude; as the sacred place where you binge on Netflix and get your revenge bedtime procrastination? T…