If Clothes Make the Man…

Certain clothes make us feel a certain way and we behave differently depending on what we wear. When I wear work boots, I want to work and I definitely don’t want to hike Hickory Hammock in high heels. So this idea got me thinking… Does how we decorate our home affect how we feel about ourselves and our environment?

Take a minute and look around your house. Does it reflect what’s important to you, who you are and where you’d like to be?

When I looked around my house, as much as I love Florida, there was very little that represented my state. I had some books about Florida and a couple Seminole Indian dolls. That was pretty much it. Even my garden was comprised of maybe five or six native plants. I actually had more things from England than I did Florida. Why didn’t my home better reflect the Florida I love? 

Thus began my search. I went to home goods stores hunting for Florida accessories. It was frustrating. A typical conversation went something like this…

“May I help you?” the friendly sales woman asked.

“Yes. I’m looking for some Florida accessories for my home.”

A momentary blank look was followed by, “Oh, you mean like palm trees and shells,” she said, brightly.

“Well, is that all you have?”

“I think we might have some alligators, flamingos and maybe some dolphins.”

“Do you have anything distinctly Florida, like our orchids or some of our butterflies?”

She showed me some pillows with butterflies that only exist in someone’s imagination. The orchids are also of types not found in Florida. There are about 250 orchids native to the United State and about 50% of those are found in Florida; some are only found in Florida. The American Orchid Society is even based in Florida. As beautiful and important as orchids are, we have very few accessories with them. You have a much better chance of seeing a pillow with a lilac bloom, a lily of the valley, a tulip or a rose.

“Nothing with ghost orchids?”

“What?”

In general, you will find only those things which can be found in many other states: hibiscus flowers, shells, herons, pelicans, sea turtles, sand dollars. As full of exotic, beautiful, unique species as Florida is, it has been mostly ignored by the designers.  That was about to change.

When I told my former boss that I was going to launch a home accessories business to promote the unique beauty, history and culture of Florida, he said, “Nobody cares about Florida, Julie.”

I’m betting he was wrong.