“I have always been deliberate about creating a beautiful home, but with the pandemic, being forced to slow down and stay in, home was literally my only sanctuary. So, I have had a renewed passion for blending the indoors with the outdoors.” – Aiesha Panton, Pussbackfoot

At the dawn of the new year, in the midst of a pandemic, home is not only where the heart is but it is also possibly the only place where many of us feel entirely safe. For those of us with the blessing of having a roof over our heads, we’ve become acquainted with the true meaning of gratitude. Nearer, my God, to Thee, the home is the place to be. Therefore, if we must stay home, we must make it in all aspects our sanctuary by bringing some garden soul to the spirit of the interior.

Creating your sanctuary

According to event designer and interior stylist Aiesha Panton, “Home is the place where you close your eyes and wake up every single day. You have to create moments of love, magic and peace. It’s the overall peacefulness and joy for me. There are obvious benefits of having greenery indoors, apart from reducing carbon dioxide. It literally reduces stress levels spiritually, mentally and physically when you have it around you.”

Making magic: Bringing the outdoors inside

According to Panton, “Bringing the outdoors inside is something that I’ve always done, even before it was intentional. From I was a little girl, I would collect dried breadfruit leaves to decorate or make art or pick gerbera blooms from the garden to place in my room or carry for my favourite teachers at school. I naturally fell into the love of flowers through the resulting beauty of my mother’s green thumb.”

She adds, “I just don’t like things that are ordinary. I want to take things that people consider to be ordinary or consider to be nothing and make them special or highlight them for the beauty that they already are. I am literally walking around looking at the same things I’ve seen before in a different way and that inspires me to take it and show it in a new way… adding or creating value where there is perceivably none. It is one of the things that motivates and inspires me.”

As we all create our home sanctuaries, highlighting the extraordinary within the simplicity of ordinary is something that we can all be inspired to do. Panton illuminates the concept by explaining that “many of us love flowers and plants, we are happy to get a plant and place it in a corner or put a bunch of flowers on a table, but we don’t really invite their beauty and benefits into our home to truly transform our spaces and daily lives”.

For those of us who are not blessed with her natural affinity, there’s an unpretentious “how to” make this magic happen to pussbackfoot. According to her, “Think of the places where you spend the most time. For example, if you’re spending a lot of time on your couch, think: How do I make it cosy? It’s the mundane things. Think: How do I make it most special? Think of the ways that you can add little things. If you appreciate magazines or art or coffee table books just think of how to place things into those spaces because that’s what resonates with the soul.”

To Pussbackfoot

As we spiritually renew and replenish with the advent of this 2021, may Aiesha Panton’s use of everyday outdoor greenery to create soulful harmony with the home inspire you within your own sanctuaries to continue to enjoy the quietude and serenity in mindfulness. This year will be better than the last… to pussbackfoot!