SoulSpace: Creating a Home That Reflects and Inspires You

Enlarge Image Image Gallery In "SoulSpace," Xorin Balbes shares his eight-stage SoulSpace process to help you create a home that reflects and celebrates what is essential about you. Empowered with the self-knowledge that comes from the process, you will discover fresh ways to declutter, refresh and enhance your living space. Image Courtesy New World Library

The following is an excerpt from "SoulSpace: Transform Your Home, Transform Your Life" by Xorin Balbes (New World Library, 2011). The excerpt is from the Introduction.

Where do you live?

This is one of the most common questions we hear, and we always have a ready answer: “I live on this street, in that neighborhood, in this town or city or country.”

I invite you to consider the question in a new way.

Where do you live? Where do you feel alive? Where do you feel safe, peaceful, hopeful, and supported? Where can you explore your hobbies, think, learn, and love? If your home is just a temporary holding pen where you leave your things during the day instead of a beautiful space that makes you feel safe and calm every time you walk in the door, something is wrong. Your home is more than a place where your possessions are — it is a place where your body can recharge, where your passions can be fulfilled, where you can safely explore yourself and your desires, and where your soul can rest, be inspired, and soar. Home is about satisfying our basic animal needs: eating, sleeping, seeking shelter. But it is also about achieving transcendence on earth through our other needs, the ones that are the basis of our humanity: beauty, love, and creativity.

For the past ten years, I have been redesigning homes with one purpose: to assist the people who live within to create the kind of space where they can flourish instead of just exist. My mission is to weave my wish for peace, beauty, justice, passion, and rejuvenation into all my projects with the intention of inspiring others to live a more soulful, compassionate, and beautiful life.

Consider the following scenarios.

1. As you open the front door, the glow of warm light beckons you inside. You set your bag on a handmade table near the door and slip off your shoes, placing them and your coat in the neatly organized hall closet. The serene, beautifully appointed living room draws you in. You sink deeply in to a soft, comfortable chair and drape a finely knit, cozy throw over your legs. The sky, visible through a large, clear window, is soothing. A feeling of calm and revitalization washes over you. You close your eyes and enjoy the quiet luxury of a catnap before preparing a light supper. You’re home.

2. As you open the front door, the knob rattles. It’s loose again. The door sticks, and you have to force it open with your shoulder. You make a mental note to call the super. You stumble into the dark hallway as you grope for the light switch. The bulb blows out, leaving you in a gray wash of dim light. The hall closet is crammed to capacity with coats, sweaters, and things you haven’t seen in years. You throw your coat on a living room chair instead. The seat cushion is faded and worn. The air in the room is stale. A feeling of stress and irritation washes over you. You’re home. You look around at the clutter and decide to put your coat back on and grab a bite to eat at the local diner.