However things turn out in our beautiful country, it will still be true that for many, economics have a serious impact on choices, ours included. No aspect of home life has been spared- except surprisingly for one: Luxury. As it turns out, lack of money has not made nearly the dent in lifestyle that I would have thought. Examining the relationship of money to luxury, I found that there basically isn't one.
Truly if anything, our lifestyle has improved. In stubbornly maintaining a standard of charm and grace in everyday life, we have rediscovered the obvious. Luxury is not a trapping of wealth; it is wealth. As it turns out, money- although absolutely necessary- is not actually very important. Austerity or no, the sumptuousness of daily life seems ever to be increasing.
It is not so much the depression era ethos of my great grandmother, but the ethos that led Scarlett O'Hara to make a grand ball gown of velvet drapes that has inspired this reckless but so far very effective approach to home economics.
"Nothing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should."
-Julia Child, My Life in France
A beautiful lifestyle is the product of form- not money- living your life in away that maximizes every possibility for pleasure, and giving the everyday a sense of occasion.
 |
| Part of a Tea Set my Grandmother Marcella gave me when I turned sixteen |
Here are some measures that have made our home life ever more beautiful and festive even as we seem to have ever less-
Having something indulgent in the house:
The more humble the meal, the more spectacular the dessert. Put a tower of baroque coffee meringues (about 75 cents) on the table, and no one is going to feel deprived having lentils for lunch.
The more humble the meal, the more spectacular the dessert. Put a tower of baroque coffee meringues (about 75 cents) on the table, and no one is going to feel deprived having lentils for lunch.
Displaying copious amounts of everything beautiful and edible:
Towers of luminous fruits everywhere give a sense of opulence, make us feel like we are living in a Willem Kalf or Pieter Claesz. A massive 4 tiered tray from a junk shop, laden with seasonal fruit, dominates the balcony (its scale defies photographing).
Towers of luminous fruits everywhere give a sense of opulence, make us feel like we are living in a Willem Kalf or Pieter Claesz. A massive 4 tiered tray from a junk shop, laden with seasonal fruit, dominates the balcony (its scale defies photographing).
 |
| Silver wine bottle coaster, used for everything but wine. |
Using nice things, meaningful things:
In a particularly lean week, I thought- "Why are we using this 'McIkea' tray when we have a cabinet full of old family things?" Why indeed? I got out all the silver (mostly plated), polished some, and left the blue patina of mystery on others. I tell you, the week felt a lot less lean after that. It is not just their beauty; my grandfather's meticulous cocktails were served from these trays. (Are you too young to have heirlooms settled on you yet, or maybe constantly changing countries? Go to the junk shop/antique store. Buy exotic tableware in your travels. Have beautiful, unique, idiosyncratic things that are yours, and yours alone. Have things, plain or fancy, cheap or dear, that you love.)
 |
| Chinoiserie Bowl, Athens Bazaar, 7 Euroes. |
 |
| Tray from my Grandmother's house, charmingly tarnished with the silver plate wearing thin. |
The logical extension of "Using nice things"- making an occasion of life. A household, for one or for six, has its own culture, and this is worth cultivating. Having tea from a mug is a different experience from pouring it into a cup on a saucer from a tea pot. Admittedly, it is less efficient to make a tea tray. If efficiency has its say we will be passing around a flask of Jack in lieu of cocktail hour (Nothing against flasks- they give a warming sense of occasion to an night swim, or a winter's hike). Ouzo mezze,
cocktail hour, a breakfast tray at 11 when the morning's tasks are finished, afternoon tea with finger sandwiches- these don't lose their sense of occasion on repetition; they gather importance, shaping your household's culture. This contributes to culture at large- exuberant living cannot just stop itself at your threshold.
cocktail hour, a breakfast tray at 11 when the morning's tasks are finished, afternoon tea with finger sandwiches- these don't lose their sense of occasion on repetition; they gather importance, shaping your household's culture. This contributes to culture at large- exuberant living cannot just stop itself at your threshold.
 |
| Tray a recent gift from a friend who visited Istanbul. Tea glass I brought from that same airport, in transit earlier this summer. The leaf is from a Japanese importer in San Francisco. |
 |
| 11 o'clock breakfast. |
A lifestyle of pleasure and indulgence gives stability and satisfaction. It is difficult to dwell on what you don't have (money, for instance) when you are enjoying the beauty of all you do have. It may also make it easier to see what others need. We are hearing a lot about the hard times our beautiful country is having, and that's all true. Most of us know where we are sleeping tonight though, and what we are having for dinner. Being able to think of others is the finest luxury of all.
More on living very, very well with not much money:
Loved this post.
ReplyDeleteThank you- have a beautiful summer!
Delete