I started Chrysalis Interiors with a mission of using design to love on people. And to be honest I felt a little silly saying it. I know someone’s not going to die if their living room is empty and they have no decor but it felt like a mission God had given me. I said yes but I still didn’t completely understand.
As I’ve started this journey it’s become clearer how important this actually is to people, how much of a difference it can make. I was recently in Big Bend National Park and it was gorgeous! No one visiting Big Bend and witnessing the vast beauty there is to take in there would argue that it doesn’t do something for their soul. Just like God has given us the overwhelming beauty we find in nature, we have the opportunity to create and share beauty in our homes.
I’ve had customers tell me that they now love their homes, that they enjoy being in the space. I’ve met a recovered drug addict who said that being in a beautiful space can help with recovery. That a lot of addicts come from broken environments that were unkempt and rough – not beautiful. And being in a similar environment while recovering can be triggering. I’ve seen how kids respond to decor. How they embrace it, love it, want to use it.
“Beauty is a gift that communicates worth, that says to the recipient, you are precious, worth not just clothing or sheltering, but delighting. You are meant for joy.”
A friend shared a post @sarahwanders wrote with me recently that talked about how she had come across a piece of art at the VA and the placard said it was commissioned as part of a project to renew an area of run down housing. She wrote:
“Imagine the difference it must have made, probably often on a subconscious level, to the residents who daily passed something made specifically, and only, to bring beauty and grace to their living. I really think that the gift of art like that communicates value, care, even a kind of honor to those to whom it is given. I know that there are countless other ways such care must be even more pragmatically expressed as well (leak free roofs, solid foundations). But a dear mentor of mine always talks about the way that our preparation for guests, especially beauty, witnesses to the value we place upon them as people and I kept thinking of this as I thought about this gate.
Beauty is a gift that communicates worth, that says to the recipient, you are precious, worth not just clothing or sheltering, but delighting. You are meant for joy.”
Don’t underestimate beauty! While food meets the need of our stomach and clothing meets the needs of our bodies, beauty meets the needs of our souls. Beauty says – you are worthy of joy. You are seen and loved! I’m so excited to be on this path and I’m sure I have more to learn and understand about our need for beauty. How important is beauty to you? Where do you make it a priority in your life?
