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WORK TITLE: Happy Starts at Home
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Fremont
STATE: WA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
www.happystartsathome.com; (206) 465-4825 https://www.happystartsathome.com/about/ http://seattlemag.com/rebecca-west-how-happy-starts-home
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Received degrees from University of Washington.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Interior designer and author. Seriously. Happy. Homes., Happiness-Director, CEO, and founder. Worked variously as a ballroom dance teacher and Peace Corps volunteer.
AVOCATIONS:Magical realism novels, traveling, cat videos, costume parties.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Rebecca West did not start off her professional life as an interior designer. Rather, she originally studied Community and Environmental Planning and Geology at the University of Washington. She then moved on to lead classes in the subject of ballroom dance, as well as volunteer with the Peace Corps. It wasn’t until the end of her marriage that West also gained the impetus to switch careers as well. She realized that in order to reclaim her happiness and her life following her divorce, she needed to redecorate her home into something completely different. Thus began her interest in interior design, as well as her resulting career. She is now the manager and founder of Seriously. Happy. Homes, an interior decorating company.
Happy Starts at Home: Getting the Life You Want by Changing the Space You’ve Got serves as an extension and explanation of West’s approach to interior design. It is also her debut book. She explained the purpose of the book in an interview on the Seattle website, which was conducted by Brigitte Long. “Your home needs to support the life you’re trying to live, the relationships you form, all of this,” West said. “You need to feel good waking up, empowered to take on the day, as well as feel good returning home to that space at the end of the day.” As such, Happy Starts at Home offers readers tips on how to reclaim their lives as well as convert their homes into more inviting and comforting spaces.
While West’s inspiration to pursue design came at the heels of a divorce, Happy Starts at Home is meant to offer guidance to all readers, regardless of where they are in life. West breaks her approach down into multiple steps. The first encourages readers to think seriously about what attributes they would require in their “ideal” home. From there, West offers advice on how to achieve that ideal by doing a bit of decorative shuffling. West helps readers along with thinking about and setting specific goals through numerous activities sewn throughout the book, such as worksheets and personality tests. One Publishers Weekly contributor remarked that “West’s tone is consistently positive and motivating.” A writer in Kirkus Reviews said: “The author offers readers a good opportunity to slow down, regroup, and move forward with a better understanding of how their homes relate to their psyches.” They concluded that the book is “a pleasant blend of self-help and home-design theory.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2018, review of Happy Starts at Home: Getting the Life You Want by Changing the Space You’ve Got.
Publishers Weekly, April 16, 2018, review of Happy Starts at Home, p. 88.
ONLINE
Seattle Magazine, http://www.seattlemag.com/ (October 1, 2016), Brigitte Long, “Rebecca West on How Happy Starts at Home,” author interview.
Seriously. Happy. Homes. website, https://www.happystartsathome.com (August 6, 2018), author profile.
Rebecca West lives in a cozy home in Seattle that she made over from scratch with her husband. Together they turned a run-down, fire-damaged bungalow into a place that is as great for hosting a party for sixty people as it is snuggling up by the fire with a cup of tea. While she does love to travel, she’d rather be at home with her cat and a good book than anywhere else on earth!
She's helped folks create happy homes for over a decade, but never set out to be an interior designer. Before she launched this career she got degrees in both Geology and in Community and Environmental Planning from the University of Washington, spent time in the Peace Corps, and enjoyed several fabulous years teaching ballroom dance. It was only after a divorce in 2007, when she needed to turn "our home" into "her home," that she started her interior design company with a desire to help others move on in life without moving out. She doesn't care if her clients ever buy a new sofa, she just cares that their home is working for them.
She can't resist a costume party or a cat video, loves to read magical realism novels, and picked her own last name.
Rebecca West on How Happy Starts at Home
A chat with the Fremont-based interior designer about her new book
BY: Brigitte Long | FROM THE PRINT EDITION | October 2016
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Rebecca West
Interior designer Rebecca West says a well-organized home is a happy home
An interview with Fremont-based interior designer Rebecca West, author of Happy Starts at Home (Bright House Books), who says a clean and well-organized home has benefits far beyond its walls.
Your book explores the philosophy of how our living spaces affect our lives. Can you elaborate a bit on what you mean by “happy starts at home”?
Your home needs to support the life you’re trying to live, the relationships you form, all of this. You need to feel good waking up, empowered to take on the day, as well as feel good returning home to that space at the end of the day.
Whether you’re a homeowner, apartment renter or condo leaser, what are three small steps that can be taken immediately to increase the positive impact of a home?
The first thing should be to get rid of all obstacles in the home. This means getting rid of gifts that you hold onto out of guilt but don’t really like, expensive purchases you feel you should keep but they don’t make you happy, etc. Rearranging the furniture is a great way to see things from a new perspective, and lastly, add a fresh coat of paint. This can transform a space.
Are there any specific challenges you find with clients living in the Pacific Northwest?
One way to combat our constant gray weather is to incorporate a lot of texture in your space. Nubby quilts and fluffy throws add dimension. In small spaces, you don’t want a lot of small things; this reads as clutter. You want fewer, larger things that all do their job. Having items that are scaled correctly for the room and are artful is very important.
West designed this condo for a couple who downsized from their family house, but wanted to keep key elements of their previous home in their new, smaller space.
What are the common mistakes you see your clients make in how they attempt to organize and lay out their homes?
Scaling is the biggest one. Small rooms don’t need a small rug and a small lamp and small artwork. One perfectly sized rug and lamp add art to a smaller space.
What’s the biggest misconception your clients have when it comes to approaching how to organize their homes?
That homes have to be perfect! It’s much more a matter of taking small steps and making your home incrementally better. People let the fear of perfection prevent them from even starting anything. Another big misconception is that you can buy a cute organization system and then, magically, you will be organized. This is not the case. You need to first figure out what needs to be organized and determine a system based on this.
Tips to declutter…an apartment?
Choose pieces with multipurpose design, like coffee tables that double as storage, or tables with folding ends that change from workplace to hosting area.
…a condo?
Many people are extremely concerned with blocking the view. It’s OK to put furniture in front of floor-to-ceiling windows! Keep chairback height at around 32 inches and don’t be afraid to layer with an arc lamp, for example.
…a house?
In homes, stuff tends to collect over time, so create a schedule to get rid of things. This is great to do around the holidays, as it can double as a gratitude exercise. It’s important to create a cycle of energy in the home that is annual so that things flow out as well as in.
I never planned to be an interior designer”
Rebecca West – Founder, CEO, and Happiness-Director at Seriously. Happy. Homes.
Our founder (and seriously happy leader) Rebecca West may have had a Pinterest-perfect dorm room with matching carpet, bedding and window treatments, but she never planned to become an interior designer. Instead, she got a double degree from the University of Washington in Geology and also in Community & Environmental Planning.
“Making design my career never crossed my mind. I was a science-and-civic-duty kind of gal.
design wasn’t ‘serious’ enough for me.”
After graduation, she joined the Peace Corps and taught environmental education to grade-schoolers in Nicaragua, with not a throw-pillow in sight.
So how did she end up founding a design company? After returning from Nicaragua she settled down into adult life with a husband and two cats, and life seemed pretty perfect… but a few years later life changed and she found herself going through a divorce. Continuing to live in the house they’d once shared, she felt trapped within the walls of her old marriage.
“I mean, every day I was waking up to the colors we painted on the walls together, eating at the dining table we’d inherited from his folks, sleeping on the bed we’d shared. Living there took what already felt awful (getting divorced) and made it ten-thousand-times worse.”
So she decided to make some changes to her home. While she made some horrible decisions in those first few experiments in design, (it turns out black paint is not a great color choice for a ceiling), in the process she learned that no design decision is life-or-death.
“even if some of the stuff was ugly, at least it was MINE. I no longer felt trapped in my past.”
She sold the old furniture and replaced it with Craigslisted stuff she loved. Before long she’d changed the whole space, and it stopped reminding her of her “failure.” Now it whispered of joy, possibility, and hope. She could once again walk in the front door and feel that she was home.
“That was it. I realized that design isn’t just fun, It’s Transformative. And I needed to tell everyone…
Paint and pillows *can* change the world!
So, she started up a design company determined to help other people feel happy in their homes too. Ever since, she and her team have been helping folks carve out little corners of happiness in a big and challenging world.
“I didn’t start this company to one day grace the cover of architectural digest, or impose my taste on anyone. I JUST wanted people to recognize the power they have right at their fingertips, and to put it to use. I say – ‘Don’t like the world around you? let’s do something about it!’
seriously, life is short. Why be surrounded by STUFF WE HATE, that keeps us tied to old versions of ourselves?
We can’t control everything is this world, but why not, at the very least, Be happy at home?”
Happy Starts at Home: Getting the Life You Want by Changing the Space You've Got
Publishers Weekly. 265.16 (Apr. 16, 2018): p88.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Happy Starts at Home: Getting the Life You Want by Changing the Space You've Got
Rebecca West. Bright House, $13.99 trade
paper (212p) ISBN 978-0-9976237-0-3
In this unusual, original self-help guide, interior designer West shows readers how to use their home "as a tool to make change happen in your life." It's not just about getting organized; West writes that one's home can be "the key to better health, better sleep, better relationships and an all-around better life." It worked for West--after her marriage ended, she repainted the walls of her house and refurnished (with help from Craigslist); as a result, she "transformed how I saw my future" and embarked on a new career. West's rules work, she says, whether readers are postdivorce, empty nesters, or parents trying to set limits for their kids. The process starts with "defining your perfect place," and she provides a number of helpful quizzes, activities, and worksheets to help. West's tone is consistently positive and motivating ("Say Yes to New Adventures"), patiently guiding readers over hurdles big and small, ending with a simple four-day approach to home reorganization. "You don't have to know how," West reminds readers, but "only have to take the next step," a smart reminder as readers prepare for change. (BookLife)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Happy Starts at Home: Getting the Life You Want by Changing the Space You've Got." Publishers Weekly, 16 Apr. 2018, p. 88. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536532774/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=52fd5632. Accessed 28 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536532774
West, Rebecca: HAPPY STARTS AT HOME
Kirkus Reviews. (Apr. 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
West, Rebecca HAPPY STARTS AT HOME Bright House Books (Indie Nonfiction) $13.99 1, 29 ISBN: 978-0-9976237-0-3
In this debut design guide, West presents remodeling as a means for life improvement.
Our homes reflect the best and worst of our inner selves, asserts the author, as they encourage us to pursue our goals: "Your home can be the key to better health, better sleep, better relationships, and an all-around better life," she says. But West points out that "Your home can also lock you into a damaging relationship, drain your energy, and devour your money." Decorating and remodeling can truly improve people's lives, she says, but only if they go into it with honest self-examination. In this book, she asks readers to more deeply consider the psychology of home improvement rather than simply going out and buying whatever they think will make them happy. The author roots each decision in biography, not property, urging readers to consider what environments are most amenable to sleep and fitness and to long-term career and family goals; she also addresses how to refresh a home after one's kids leave for college or one's marriage ends. By considering the economic, emotional, and aesthetic weight of home improvement decisions, the author aims to help readers create not only a renewed physical space, but also a rejuvenated approach to life. West writes in a soothing, enthusiastic prose style that's more reminiscent of a self-help book than an interior design manual: "it's important to figure out just 'who' it is you are living with. Unfortunately, many of us are living with bullies that keep us in a state of stress and prevent us from living an abundant life." The chapters are full of questionnaires that will help readers to discover their deeper motivations. In one section, for instance, readers must list each item in a room, identifying who chose it, when it was last used, and the emotions that they associate with it. Decorative decisions are also analyzed; bare walls, the author says, might mean "a lack of commitment to this place, this life, these relationships." Some may find the book's amateur psychology a bit facile, but its underlying message is a useful one. The author offers readers a good opportunity to slow down, regroup, and move forward with a better understanding of how their homes relate to their psyches.
A pleasant blend of self-help and home-design theory.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"West, Rebecca: HAPPY STARTS AT HOME." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A534374999/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=16e8cffa. Accessed 28 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A534374999