Home Tour: the glamorous bohemian home of Amelia Widel

Many of you who have been following me for years know how in love I am with my grandmother. I dedicated my book to her and pretty much everything I do is inspired by what she taught me about the art of living. My grandmother is glamorous, a Francophile who lived in Paris for years who had a love affair with New Orleans and because of that became a total eclectic bohemian. When I came across this home tour, I instantly felt like this would be the modern day apartment of my grandmother's tastes. Mostly because her favorite color is blue, her love of collected and layered art, Parisian style antiques, the bohemian light fixtures and hints of femininity. Then I found out that the owner of this home is named Amelia, which is my grandmothers mothers name and she absolutely loved her mom. Such a sign. 

Everything about this space just gives me such good vibes. Interior designer Amelia Widel decorated this space with such personality and style, I am so in love with it. What inspired me about this woman is that she left her career in interior design, to launch her own line of furniture, Melimeli. You must check her stuff out, its beautiful. 

Let's now take a look at her home. I can't help but notice the plants throughout and how they give such good Feng Shui. I am also very drawn to the layered artwork. Artwork is always going to speak to your personality, so when you choose art you want to pay attention to what it says about you. 

Colors speak as much as artwork does. This beautiful muted blue gives a certain essence to the bedroom. I don't know what it is but I believe that soft blue walls are the BEST backdrop for antiques. It just is the right color to really make the wood pop in its most beautiful way. 

My shoes never fit in my closet and I have so many so I am inspired by this display as a way to display mine. 

All the colored velvets are calling my name. . .here are a few of my favorites: 

styling by Saša Antic & photos by Andrea Papini for Elle Decoration

Feng Shui: 7 reasons your home needs more green

Our home environment is always going to work for us, or against us. It's up to us to continually enhance our environment so that we are supported to lead balanced lives. When we are living in a home that supports us, we can more effectively. . .kick butt in life. 

We can decorate our surroundings to achieve, success, better health, happier relationships, etc. In my book, Blissful Living, I share easy ways you can glamorously upgrade your environment to get anything you want more of in life. I just love talking about Feng Shui.  There are a million and one ways to use Feng Shui to enhance your home, today I am going to talk to you about one of my favorites, greenery! 

Connecting with Nature. There is something about nature that can totally increase our happiness levels. Just think about how amazing it feels when you go for a walk outside amongst water and trees. You connect with nature and it fills your body with vibrancy and life. When you fill your home with plants, you are bringing nature to you. 

Removing stagnant energy. Plants are living, breathing creatures. When a plant is in your home, you are bringing in living energy. This is like getting fresh air into the home, its moving and it gives life force directly into your environment. 

Combating electromagnetic energy. For those of us who work from home, plants are quite literally the most essential ingredient of our home office. We sit at our computers, televisions, etc. which give off all kinds of negative radiation. Plants powerfully combat these negative radiations. *I always like to place lucky bamboo on the desk area for a little extra goodness. 

Increase memory & performance. The mere presence of a plant in an area where you work can boost your memory, learning capacity and overall performance. Studies have shown that plants in the workplace have increased employee performance by 15%. 

Enhances your calming & nurturing side. When you are caring for, watering, and nurturing your plants at home, it brings out your nurturing abilities. Habitually using your nurturing energy is said to increase your happiness. 

Give energy to a particular area of your home. Let's say you want to enhance the communication in your home between family members. You can place plants in those areas where communication happens so as to bring new energy to that zone. This can also stimulate romantic energy in the bedroom, health in your kitchen, etc. 

Inspire balance + harmony. Not only do plants literally purify the air we breathe, in Feng Shui, the color green is associated with balance, relaxation, harmony, prosperity, freshness, etc. Surrounding yourself with the color green will enhance your overall well being. If you don't have any green in your home decor and aren't really feeling like painting your walls emerald, just add in some plants. They work like magic. 

The best part about plants is they literally go with every look and style. They only enhance the beauty of interior design. Which is why you see them becoming more and more popular these days. A while back, the fiddle leaf fig tree was all the rage. Just one of those in the corner was all you needed for a beyond chic look. 

Now layered plants are EVERYWHERE. It's like the more, the merrier. It doesn't matter whether indoor or outdoor, they will dramatically enhance your decor in such good ways. I'm craving plants in my home more and more. 

Images: sabon | Vogue Living | homesbycaz | herz and blut | habitually chic |