Many Catholic homemakers were enthused by the publication of Theology of Home a few years ago. The book, by Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering, offered a spiritual and philosophical exploration of the meaning of our homes. Replete with large photos, there was an opportunity for decorating inspiration.
Much of the writing was reflective and engaging, which is to be expected given Gress’s writing ability. The homes featured, however, were not of a style that all of us found personally appealing. Many of them just looked so very California, which is not something that offers a great deal of inspiration for someone who does not care for the California aesthetic.
A worthy effort, Theology of Home was not the decorating companion that some hoped it would be. Put simply, maybe that wasn’t the goal of the book, so it is not necessarily a fault. However, some of us look around our homes and wonder how to elevate the environment without spending quantities on extravagantly expensive home furnishings and art.
Enter: Interior Life Home. A fledgling production of St. Louis IX Art Society, a New Orleans-based non-profit focused on beautifying ordinary Catholic homes, the show offers inspiration for average people. The St. Louis IX Art Society is focused mainly on cultivating relationships with local artists and curating works of art for Catholics who want to enrich their homes with beautiful religious art. In addition, the group offers “innovative, light-hearted programming and commerce platforms that bring together the very best of Sacred Art, interior design, decor, and entertainment.”
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Interior Life Home HGTV-style decorating show recently launched. The first episode, in which host Jaclyn Warren introduces the concept and accompanies the Flores family on their gathering room reimagining, is charming. There are some corny moments, but the show comes across as willing to be kitsch in order to follow through on a concept.
The show is helpful in several ways: First, the spiritual focus helps offset the rampant materialism of much of the home decorating industry. The play on words in Interior Life Home is brilliant.
Second, the first episode of the show zeroed in on a single room in a family home. Rather than a dramatic home renovation totaling tens of thousands of dollars, the modest proposal addressed a single room and applied nothing more than furniture, drapery, and décor. The most invasive they got was replacing a light fixture. For normal people in their ordinary homes, sledgehammering walls and completely reimagining the layout is not realistic. It’s refreshing to find a group that encourages appreciation for an existing structure and demonstrates how much the atmosphere can be improved by tweaking the superficial elements that are easy to change.
Third, the show, which features a family in Louisiana, showcases the contentedness that makes the South so grand. We Yankees who venture in the direction of the Equator can be mystified by the joy that Southern families take in their ordinary lives. The good news is, it is contagious. Hopefully, even through the screen. Watching a family take delight in the simple pleasures of some low-cost bookshelves stacked with spiritual reads and sacred art is much more inspiring than watching a hideous and overpriced HGTV monstrosity take shape as disordered people work out their psychic turmoil on their physical surroundings.
Interior Life Home. Watch it for some fun and inspiration!
