Living life in comfort with all that reflects your personality

Shereen Shabnam

There is one thing I do not compromise on and that is sacrificing comfort for the sake of style or aesthetic. Several times we have had guests over whose own homes are minimalistic with white bare spaces and some have mentioned in the past that the many different libraries in my living room make the place messy.

I point out that when I moved to the UAE, more than half my boxes were full of books and we as a family spend more money on books than anything else. There was no room for compromise for anything else because it gives my home a warm ambience and a lived-in look. I have never understood the clinical look of people's private homes for the sake of aesthetics.

Every piece of furniture, accessories and art in our home has been over the last two decades accumulated organically and reflects our travel adventures, people we have met and experiences we have had. It is part who we are as our shelves contain books from my Communications and PR degree, Human Science studies, my Masters in Literature while my Archie comics collection is a library on its own.

My husband, a University Professor and a stage Actor has his books on teaching English and scripts from the many stage plays he has performed in. My daughter's library is a bit more interesting as she is an avid reader and delves into different type of books including work on her latest craze related to Manga and Anime.

In the same vein, I also do not sacrifice comfort over style - from the clothes I wear and the shoes I buy. I think we place too much emphasis on what other people think in our day to lives. Sometimes we need to evolve and grow at our own pace without letting people influence how we set up our home, what we wear and how we look. Only then we can say we live a meaningful life on our own terms and I am glad we as a family choose to live around items that brings us warm memories instead of decluttering to fit in with the current craze of how our private space should look like.

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