SoulSpace: Transform Your Home, Transform Your Life -- Creating a Home That Is Free of Clutter, Full of Beauty, and Inspired by You
Los Angeles interior designer Balbes begins his helpful first book by describing the eight SoulSpace stages and how a modest interior renovation can make major changes in an individual’s life. Rather than meander from room to room, the author uses his clients as true-life examples in each one of his stages. Keeping a never-worn wedding gown, for instance, hampers one woman’s personal growth; a comment from Balbes epitomizes his philosophy about that problem: “If it is beautiful but makes you feel lousy, let it go.” He points to the power of positive thinking through objects; his partner Jason, once a Broadway actor, reconnected with his award and begins realizing success. Balbes also advocates maximizing the kinds of items and events that transform a living space, whether it’s the creation of a mood board, the answers to an interior’s issues (like noisy neighbors or low-lighted areas), or the celebration of a space meant to live and love in. --Barbara Jacobs