Summer Reading – A place to call home
Summer Reading Recommendation
(10% off with the discount code SUMMER10)
If you are looking for a good summer read – look no further for inspiration. I would like to share with you the Story of my book A Place to Call Home and how it came into being.
A client recently sent me a lovely review of my book “All I can say is the description of your book does not do it justice. The pages are filled with fascinating wisdom from decades of seeking knowledge and your experiences since…”
She advised me to let people know a little more about the journey of its evolution and give an insight into the layers of very practical knowledge it contains. So here goes……
The birth of a book
Writing has been a source of creative expression for me for many years; writing blogs, newsletters, magazine articles and putting together course material for feng shui design workshops and training courses.
I very much followed in my mothers footsteps training first in beauty therapy, aromatherapy, reflexology, touch for health and taking many additional courses in complementary health and well being. I then expanded my training into the build environment, studying interior design while at the same time undertaking an extensive feng shui practitioners training. While doing my work experience with an eco architect he described my journey as very logical, evolving from working on the physical body to working on the outer skin – the built spaces we occupy.
I began writing my book several years ago as a labour of love not knowing where it would lead. As I worked on the chapters pulling together my knowledge of complementary health therapies, interior design and feng shui and healthy homes I taught workshops on these various topics, honing the expression of this knowledge into accessible and relatable “chapters”.
Hay House Prize Winner
In 2019 Hay House UK ran a writers workshop in Dublin for the first time. I was delighted and immediately signed up, as I have been a follower of Louise Hay since my mother first gifted me her book “you can heal your life” back in 1990. At the weekend the participants were treated to talks about various aspects of writing and publishing from Michelle Pilley from Hay House UK and Reid Tracey from Hay House US and a variety of very talented authors from the Hay House “stable” and beyond.
As part of the process of taking part we were all invited to submit a book proposal to Hay House UK. We were given guidelines on how to do this, which in and of itself is invaluable information.
All of the proposals were reviewed and given feedback and in November that year, two were awarded prizes – mine was one of them! This gave me the encouragement to go ahead and bring my book into being.
Divine Timing
Divine timing (and Covid) intervened and with 2020 I was afforded the time and space to really focus on writing. The universe guided me to a wonderful team of people who each brought their expertise to bear in polishing and organising my book into its present form. Shout out to Elaine O Neill (writing coach extraordinaire), Collette Sandler (book designer), Clem Flanagan (Red pen vigilante – editor) Dena Shearer (photographer) and Bronwyn (Printcom) I was determined to support other small businesses in the process of producing my book and to make it as earth friendly as possible. My printer sourced 100% recycled paper and devised the proportions of the book to minimise waste in the printing process.
In December 2021 my book finally came into being – what a delight!
Earth Friendly: Inside and out
A full colour 256 page guidebook which covers all aspects of holistic feng shui design: Layout, orientation, colour, lighting, feng shui and living in harmony with nature, scent, natural living and space clearing. Asking the question what makes a house a home? In this book, Edel teases apart the theory to uncover practical and very accessible ways to deeply connect to our own innate sense of what home means.
My book explores “What makes a house a home?” Is it the location, the building proportions, the furnishings, colours, smells, the people who share the space? Or could it be something deeper – a sense of belonging, of the space feeling like it’s made for you?
In this book, I tease apart the theory to uncover practical and very accessible ways to deeply connect to our own innate sense of what home means for each of us, our own perfectly unique expression. Blending feng shui with modern interior design is the way to cultivate a space where you can be you – a place that truly feels like home.
With chapters on :
- Creating a space to be you with a sense of belonging and acceptance; what does “home” mean to you? Does your own home reflect and support every aspect of that?
- Harnessing the energy of your home; looking at all aspects of its design – location, form, orientation, layout, proportion, scale, balancing unity and variety to create interest.
- Hidden in plain sight; imagery, mirrors and ornamentation – how everything we surround ourselves with in our homes is in constant conversation with us, impacting on our energy.
- Work the room; a room-by-room analysis and advice including special attention to the home office in terms of layout, furnishings, colour, clutter, stressors and atmosphere. Outdoor spaces are also included here.
- Flying colours. Colour energetics and colour in interior design; our emotional response to colour, colour and health, how colour effects how we experience spaces, its visual “weight”. We run through the seven colour spectrum exploring each colour in turn. Finishing with exploring colour in interior design, colour and light and how each colour impacts an interior.
- The scent of home. The intentional use of scent to cleanse and uplift atmospheres; from incense to essential oils, scent has been utilised over the millennia to purify and enhance living and working spaces. To imbue them with atmosphere and also to improve the general health and well-being of the occupants. We take a detailed look at how this works and how we can easily harness this very powerful sense to create balance and harmony in our homes and our lives.
- Living in harmony with nature; Feng shui examines the harmony and balance found in nature and mirrors this into our built environments by creating a flow of the five elements of water, wood, fire, earth and metal throughout. This mirrors the cyclical flow of energy in nature, ensuring that there are spaces to expand our energy and be joyful and creative and others to feel more relaxed, tucked-in, calm and enfolded.
- The Balanced home; Practical application of feng shui- feng shui provides us with an energetic prism through which to view our homes. There is an energetic connection between each area of our homes and the various energies in our lives. For example relationships harmony, creativity, life-path, family, abundance, recognition and clarity and health and balance. We go through the application of this process with a practical, easy to apply approach.
- Healthy home=healthy body; in our modern world there are many aspects of our built environments which our bodies find stressful. We run through some of these and easy practical remedies to mitigate for them. Space clearing; Over time everything that happens in a space builds up an atmosphere which hangs in the air like psychic cobwebs. In this chapter we explore practical and easy to follow methods to cleanse and uplift the atmosphere of our homes so that they feel supportive and uplifting.
- Connecting heart and home; Creating a home to feed all of the senses; sight, sound, touch, smell, taste and our sixth sense of connection and belonging.
- Natural home; recipes to get you started!
This is a book you can pick up and open on any page to inspire you to connect more deeply to your environment and deepen your sense of belonging there.
