Michelle Ogundehin is an authority on interiors, trends and style. She is an influencer who believes that the sense of home can be important to emotional health and physical wellbeing a concept that she has expanded upon in her book, Happy Inside: How to Harness the Power of Home for Health and Happiness. This, of course, is essential during a time when homes double up as sanctuaries as well as work-spaces

Q & A

In Happy Inside, you talk about a movement where people live below their means so they can save and retire early. But with the idea of home we all tend to go overboard on our budgets. How do we balance the two?

The FIRE movement (the acronym stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early) is about prioritising what's important to you. Practitioners aim to work and save hard in their 20s and 30s so they can retire at 40 and live simply, and free of debt. And in a world where it seems that the home is being progressively reduced to somewhere we get ready to leave in the morning and collapse back into at night, because of the frenetic pace of life, it's a reflection of more people asking themselves if the constant striving for more is really what living is all about?

We are bombarded with a surfeit of choice at every turn: new must-haves, hot trends and bigger, faster, upgraded everything, so easy to become distracted into believing that you need all, or any of this. Instead, all it does is to take you away from an honest examination of what you and your family actually need for the way you authentically live your life.We must learn to lean into what we have, not what we lack; really taking the time to understand what makes us happy; and then mindfully choosing everything that surrounds so that it contributes positively to our lives.

The concept of throwing out what is not required is proposed by Marie Kondo. You also advocate discarding things; if things have to be repaired, they shouldn't be piled up but done immediately. Then do you agree with her ideas of discarding non-essentials?

Marie Kondos point of view focuses only on the creation of a tidy home, which isnt necessarily a happy one. My more holistic clutter-clearing philosophy stems from a desire to limit the distractions that surround you while increasing what supports you, so that you can focus fully on living a purposeful life. It's not about a home devoid of all possessions. I feel very strongly that your things are the talismans of your life, they tell your story, and they should be cherished as such.think you should keep everything that triggers memories and records significant moments, and some of these may be sad, but this is your story. When we fully accept our stories, we are free to be our authentic selves. Besides, being wrapped in a comfort blanket of memory is not the same as wallowing: the former respects where you've come from, the latter is getting stuck there.

The sort of things that need to be let go of are obvious broken things, anything you're indifferent to, practical but never used things, unnecessary multiples but then the key is how to carefully curate, and contain, what's left.

How can one develop homes as nurturing holistic spaces especially during a lockdown?

I believe that the purpose of our journey through life is to learn to become happy inside. In other words, to achieve a sense of balance and contentment, instead of reacting to stress, we are able to weather inevitable curve balls with a more thoughtful outlook. We can only ever gain mastery over ourselves as individuals, but the impact of that can be far--reaching. And it's my sincere opinion that taking charge of the space in which you live is a very good place to start. What surrounds you can make or break you. The recently enforced global lockdowns demonstrated the power of our homes to affect our well-being did you feel safe and supported, or trapped and suffocated? But the good news is, you can reverse engineer this, mastering yourself by mastering the space in which you live. In this way, your home can become your most powerful ally; your secret superpower in an increasingly uncertain world.

Theres also a trend to declare Pantone colours. What do you think must dominate in our homes: trend or preference?

Trends driven by most large companies are there to sell products. The only trends worth watching are those driven by culture, as these reflect what is actually happening in the real world. An example might be the increasing mainstream acceptance of the benefits of meditation, yoga and other such pursuits designed to align mind and body. Eventually these larger, more interesting swings of the trend pendulum find expression in other creative disciplines such as fashion and design, but as the inimitable Coco Chanel once said, "fashion is what's out there, but style is what you choose."

I love this quote because it underlines the importance of making your own decisions about what to wear and surround yourself with based on self-knowledge. But this isn't necessarily easy. Whats easy is to follow what everyone else is doing, but this is no path to peace. Thats why my book starts with a Chapter called Awakening. Its a guide to really starting to understand what lights your personal fire.

Vintage is a dominant trend in clothes, accessories and more. How much will it dominate homes?

It depends on your personal taste! Generally speaking I believe we are collectively moving towards recycle, re-use and repair as a way of being that makes sense. We must be sustainable. And there are so many great pieces of vintage furniture that are beautifully made, and designed to last, its scandalous not to make good use of them.

Many can easily be updated for a new generation too with fresh upholstery, renewed wood stains or a new coat of paint. Theres something quite wonderful about giving old pieces a lease of new life and incorporating that history into your home.

HAPPY INSIDE: HOW TO HARNESS THE POWER OF HOME FOR HEALTH AND HAPPINESS

MICHELLE OGUNDEHIN, PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE; Rs 2,186

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Finding peace within - India Today