Why Slow Living is Good for You and Your Home Environment
Feeling rushed? No time to catch your breath? Experts share what slowing down can do for our lives
Giulia Zappa
25 February 2021
Collaboratore Houzz Magazine. Design nerd, giornalista, copywriter e docente di comunicazione, collaboro con il mondo della carta e del web per progetti editoriali e di marketing.
Collaboratore Houzz Magazine. Design nerd, giornalista, copywriter e docente di comunicazione,... More
‘Slow living’ is no longer a novel concept. Having first appeared a decade ago as an antidote to the stress of busy daily life, it’s now established itself as a major trend. We talked to professionals in a variety of sectors – architecture, interior and garden design, ceramics and life coaching – about how they’re addressing many homeowners’ desire to slow down. They suggested ways to treasure every aspect of the experience of slowness, and how you can incorporate slow living into your home.
Slow living was rediscovered – if it was ever truly lost – through the element that perhaps most unites us: food. Started by Carlo Petrini in Bra, Italy, in 1986, the Slow Food movement emphasised the necessity and beauty of a shift to a more convivial and unhurried (dining) experience.
After Petrini, English-speaking countries took the reins, theorising the need for a return to a slower pace and linking food to other areas of life. Many authors have used the word ‘slow’ as an acronym for Sustainable, Local, Organic and Whole.
After Petrini, English-speaking countries took the reins, theorising the need for a return to a slower pace and linking food to other areas of life. Many authors have used the word ‘slow’ as an acronym for Sustainable, Local, Organic and Whole.
Create a slow home
It’s a small step from food to lifestyle and home furnishings. Décor that’s all about a slow pace, centring on the rediscovery of traditional materials and techniques and emphasising a close connection to nature, has been particularly visible in industry publications in recent years.
It’s a small step from food to lifestyle and home furnishings. Décor that’s all about a slow pace, centring on the rediscovery of traditional materials and techniques and emphasising a close connection to nature, has been particularly visible in industry publications in recent years.
The slow home is not just about décor – it’s an entire philosophy. Australian interior designer Natalie Walton describes how you can incorporate slow living into your everyday life in her book Still: The Slow Home (published by Hardie Grant Books).
“The first and simplest way is to consume less – it’s perhaps the most important tool at our disposal,” Walton writes. “Secondly, we can also consider the idea of ‘localisation’, a concept developed by economist Helena Norberg-Hodge, who argues that living locally is one of the most effective countermeasures to globalisation.
“Our homes are ideally placed to support and promote these ideas, with everything from the materials we source in construction to how we fit out and furnish them,” she continues. “The choices we make don’t have to be at the expense of creating a space that feels warm and welcoming, though. Instead, they can actually make us feel better about how and where we live.
“Thirdly,” she adds, “when we choose to connect more with nature, it becomes a bigger priority in our lives.”
“The first and simplest way is to consume less – it’s perhaps the most important tool at our disposal,” Walton writes. “Secondly, we can also consider the idea of ‘localisation’, a concept developed by economist Helena Norberg-Hodge, who argues that living locally is one of the most effective countermeasures to globalisation.
“Our homes are ideally placed to support and promote these ideas, with everything from the materials we source in construction to how we fit out and furnish them,” she continues. “The choices we make don’t have to be at the expense of creating a space that feels warm and welcoming, though. Instead, they can actually make us feel better about how and where we live.
“Thirdly,” she adds, “when we choose to connect more with nature, it becomes a bigger priority in our lives.”
Construct with care
Many architects are responding to their clients’ desire for slow living with tailored projects. Eight years ago, Italian architect Stefano Ghiretti decided to settle down in one of his favourite regions, Salento, in Apulia, southern Italy, where he spends his time renovating traditional masseria farm complexes.
“Architecture has always been slow because, regardless of lifestyle, the conception and execution of construction processes requires slowness: the term ‘slow living’ is a somewhat commercial label today,” he says. “It is true, however, that compared to the frenetic pace of construction in certain parts of the world, slow architecture can be understood as an act of care, taking the time necessary to build one’s home out of the reusable materials onsite. In this sense, it’s the slow process of a renovation that’s not focused on profit.”
Many architects are responding to their clients’ desire for slow living with tailored projects. Eight years ago, Italian architect Stefano Ghiretti decided to settle down in one of his favourite regions, Salento, in Apulia, southern Italy, where he spends his time renovating traditional masseria farm complexes.
“Architecture has always been slow because, regardless of lifestyle, the conception and execution of construction processes requires slowness: the term ‘slow living’ is a somewhat commercial label today,” he says. “It is true, however, that compared to the frenetic pace of construction in certain parts of the world, slow architecture can be understood as an act of care, taking the time necessary to build one’s home out of the reusable materials onsite. In this sense, it’s the slow process of a renovation that’s not focused on profit.”
Salento is emblematic of the shift to a lifestyle withdrawn from the materialist world and the hectic pace of everyday life. “The desire for rural living is the reason behind Salento’s explosion in popularity in recent years,” Ghiretti says.
“In addition to the many requests for masseria to be used as second homes,” he continues, “lots of Italians and foreign nationals – especially from the UK – want to move here to transform their lives and settle down in houses that are in contact with nature, where they can have gardens, use worm composting, raise animals and enjoy the changing seasons to really connect with the earth.”
“In addition to the many requests for masseria to be used as second homes,” he continues, “lots of Italians and foreign nationals – especially from the UK – want to move here to transform their lives and settle down in houses that are in contact with nature, where they can have gardens, use worm composting, raise animals and enjoy the changing seasons to really connect with the earth.”
Stay local
How does architecture respond to slow living? How can we identify the design practices that can help us slow down?
“The answer is using local models and architectural typologies, those that have always served this kind of function and lifestyle,” Ghiretti says. “It’s important to use local materials and insert salvaged elements whenever possible, while recovering the spaces that were there before and converting them to serve other functions.”
Outdoor living is another essential component. “Here, where the climate allows it, it’s important to create a very strong relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces, maximising contact with nature so that 50 to 60 percent of your time is spent outdoors.”
Find a garden designer in your area and create a peaceful haven at home.
How does architecture respond to slow living? How can we identify the design practices that can help us slow down?
“The answer is using local models and architectural typologies, those that have always served this kind of function and lifestyle,” Ghiretti says. “It’s important to use local materials and insert salvaged elements whenever possible, while recovering the spaces that were there before and converting them to serve other functions.”
Outdoor living is another essential component. “Here, where the climate allows it, it’s important to create a very strong relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces, maximising contact with nature so that 50 to 60 percent of your time is spent outdoors.”
Find a garden designer in your area and create a peaceful haven at home.
Grow and nurture
Slow living is therefore intimately connected with the yearning for greenery and nature, which gets lost in cities, where nature is often scarce and lifestyles are accelerated.
Can plant care be a secret weapon for finding a slower pace? That’s what we asked Elisabetta Cavrini who – along with her husband, Michele – runs Gardenstudio, a Bologna-based business specialising in terrace and garden design.
For Cavrini, experiencing greenery takes perseverance. Plant care yields results only over time – which every living organism needs in order to grow. “You get the greatest benefit from greenery not when you surround yourself with it, but when you take part in its growth. Not everyone experiences the innate pleasure of living with and caring for plants; it’s something very personal, which only takes shape over time.”
Slow living is therefore intimately connected with the yearning for greenery and nature, which gets lost in cities, where nature is often scarce and lifestyles are accelerated.
Can plant care be a secret weapon for finding a slower pace? That’s what we asked Elisabetta Cavrini who – along with her husband, Michele – runs Gardenstudio, a Bologna-based business specialising in terrace and garden design.
For Cavrini, experiencing greenery takes perseverance. Plant care yields results only over time – which every living organism needs in order to grow. “You get the greatest benefit from greenery not when you surround yourself with it, but when you take part in its growth. Not everyone experiences the innate pleasure of living with and caring for plants; it’s something very personal, which only takes shape over time.”
This is why she suggests that skeptics try growing just one plant in a pot. Cultivating and seeing a plant grow is an experience that can have surprising effects even on the biggest doubters. “Trying to grow a plant, having an active hand in its development, concentrating on it and understanding its development allows you to align with the rhythm of nature: today I sow, tomorrow I water, and only after that will the plant germinate,” Cavrini says.
“There’s value in seeing something that grows with your care or perishes because you don’t understand it or haven’t done enough. In nature, as in life, not everything is always successful, so taking care of something green allows you to understand instability.”
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“There’s value in seeing something that grows with your care or perishes because you don’t understand it or haven’t done enough. In nature, as in life, not everything is always successful, so taking care of something green allows you to understand instability.”
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Connect with others
“We also underscore that caring for nature brings about a result that’s not only personal but collective,” Cavrini says. “It’s an added environmental value for the city, a beautiful thing for those who see it. In a sense, growing plants is an act of great generosity.”
We asked if she had any advice on how to get started. The answer? Taking your time. “It’s better not to go over your head; always start with a comfortable, easy project, so you can have continuity and see the results over time,” she says.
“We also underscore that caring for nature brings about a result that’s not only personal but collective,” Cavrini says. “It’s an added environmental value for the city, a beautiful thing for those who see it. In a sense, growing plants is an act of great generosity.”
We asked if she had any advice on how to get started. The answer? Taking your time. “It’s better not to go over your head; always start with a comfortable, easy project, so you can have continuity and see the results over time,” she says.
Listen to yourself
Born and raised in Paris, but now based in the hills of Florence, Sandrine Kom is a Slow Life coach. She created this speciality by linking the themes that have always interested her both privately and professionally. At the heart of her practice are authenticity, the importance of listening to that inner voice that all too often gets pushed aside, and the rediscovery of full quality of life.
“I’m a nutrition coach,” she says. “Over the course of my professional career, I realised that people who came to me were using food as comfort, to respond to their chronic lack of time for living and listening to themselves. It was this observation that gave rise to my vision for a form of coaching dedicated to slow living. I practice it in combination with ‘slow-living yoga’, a very slow style of yoga that allows us to get back in touch with all the messages our body sends us continuously, but which we never want to listen to.”
For Kom, slowness became a way to put the things that are really important back into focus and address neglected needs, like the need for rest. “We’ve been raised to be very violent with ourselves, to do everything quickly, to feel guilty if we waste time and aren’t productive. Slowing down is a way of focusing on calm and concentration, an attitude that’s necessary in order to keep up with the intense rhythm of our everyday lives.”
Born and raised in Paris, but now based in the hills of Florence, Sandrine Kom is a Slow Life coach. She created this speciality by linking the themes that have always interested her both privately and professionally. At the heart of her practice are authenticity, the importance of listening to that inner voice that all too often gets pushed aside, and the rediscovery of full quality of life.
“I’m a nutrition coach,” she says. “Over the course of my professional career, I realised that people who came to me were using food as comfort, to respond to their chronic lack of time for living and listening to themselves. It was this observation that gave rise to my vision for a form of coaching dedicated to slow living. I practice it in combination with ‘slow-living yoga’, a very slow style of yoga that allows us to get back in touch with all the messages our body sends us continuously, but which we never want to listen to.”
For Kom, slowness became a way to put the things that are really important back into focus and address neglected needs, like the need for rest. “We’ve been raised to be very violent with ourselves, to do everything quickly, to feel guilty if we waste time and aren’t productive. Slowing down is a way of focusing on calm and concentration, an attitude that’s necessary in order to keep up with the intense rhythm of our everyday lives.”
We asked her to share her vision of a slow home and a slow approach to living. “The house is our nest, a sacred place, especially because not everyone has one, and that’s a fact we often take for granted, because we were born into the right part of the world,” she says. “We have to take care of this house, not so we can show it off at its best to our guests, but because the act of cleaning and tidying it are synonymous with taking care of ourselves.
“I really like simplicity and common sense, which can be developed in small adjustments,” she continues. “First of all, many people sit at tables with the wrong kind of light, which detracts from the enjoyment of what they are eating, or perhaps at a table that’s too high or on a chair they sink into. These are all elements that create disharmony. Contact with natural materials, primarily wood, is very important. I like to use straw baskets in the fridge, they relax me and inspire me to cook.”
She recommends a small practice to regain a sense of wellbeing and harmony with our natural rhythms. “Walking around barefoot, or in socks in winter, is, in my opinion, a form of nourishment that allows one to immediately have better posture and be more aware,” she says.
“I really like simplicity and common sense, which can be developed in small adjustments,” she continues. “First of all, many people sit at tables with the wrong kind of light, which detracts from the enjoyment of what they are eating, or perhaps at a table that’s too high or on a chair they sink into. These are all elements that create disharmony. Contact with natural materials, primarily wood, is very important. I like to use straw baskets in the fridge, they relax me and inspire me to cook.”
She recommends a small practice to regain a sense of wellbeing and harmony with our natural rhythms. “Walking around barefoot, or in socks in winter, is, in my opinion, a form of nourishment that allows one to immediately have better posture and be more aware,” she says.
Provence-based ceramic artist Florence Pauliac agrees with the need to escape the hectic pace of the world. “Slowness is not a quality valued by our society. Starting in childhood, we have to respond to deadlines imposed by external pressures without our individual pace being taking into account. Slowness, on the other hand, offers the opportunity to go deeper over time, to dwell on the details, to go back and let each aspect of a project ripen.”
The name of her workshop, Slow Ceramic Studio, reflects her desire to rediscover time. “I wanted the name of my atelier to reflect my perception of the world, which is based on slow living,” she says. “In my work, this translates into pieces that respect my rhythm of life and that of the seasons, which leaves me time to pet my cat and look at my garden. What I make in my workshop reflects these elements.”
The name of her workshop, Slow Ceramic Studio, reflects her desire to rediscover time. “I wanted the name of my atelier to reflect my perception of the world, which is based on slow living,” she says. “In my work, this translates into pieces that respect my rhythm of life and that of the seasons, which leaves me time to pet my cat and look at my garden. What I make in my workshop reflects these elements.”
Pauliac believes that making ceramics is an excellent way to approach slow living. “First of all, there’s a whole series of steps inherent in making ceramics – modelling, drying the pieces, first firing, surface processing, glazing, second firing, and so on,” she says.
“I made a choice: to produce little and do it slowly. Each piece I make is unique. The stages of its creation follow one another into my full awareness, while I leave room for the unexpected,” she says. “Taking my time allows me to create something deep, with renewed meaning.”
Tell us…
Have you incorporated any of these ideas into your home? Share your experiences in the Comments.
“I made a choice: to produce little and do it slowly. Each piece I make is unique. The stages of its creation follow one another into my full awareness, while I leave room for the unexpected,” she says. “Taking my time allows me to create something deep, with renewed meaning.”
Tell us…
Have you incorporated any of these ideas into your home? Share your experiences in the Comments.
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Even though I enjoy travel with my husband, I am really a home body at heart. I can't wait to try slow yoga. I decided a long time ago to simplify our home life and eliminate stress with a plan. First of all we only own one credit card, and we do not carry a balance. How do we do it? First of all we do not own expensive cell phones with high monthly fees. Yes, it's a smart phone, but it only costs us $28 for two months! We eat out once a month at best. I am an accomplished cook and there is nothing like a great home cooked meal. I do my own manicures and pedicures, and after 20+ years of having my hair professionally cut and colored every 4 weeks I started doing it myself. Another hint - take a shopping break - stay out of the mall, stop on-line shopping, and shop your closet. I created a capsule wardrobe and when I do shop I buy only quality classic clothing and wear it for a long time. If you want to get rid of stress just add up how much you spend on the above things for a year and think of how better you could use that money. I remember a few months ago as I was leaving our local Trader Joe's, I saw at least 15 girls standing in a line waiting to get into a nail salon - they were all looking down and playing with their phones. I wanted to pull up and yell, unless you have a fully funded Roth, or 401K, get out of that line! The parking lots at chain restaurants are packed, stop doing that as well. Try to enjoy some of the simple pleasures in life like going for a nature walk every week, every week put on a big pot of soup, clean and declutter your home, and take some deep breaths. Don't get me wrong, we live a full life - just prior to covid we were in Italy on a family trip, have spent extended trips to Ireland, love spa vacations, own 3 paid for cars, and we are mortgage free. It's all due to developing a plan, and I think we can owe it all to slow living.
Many good ideas here. As we are going into our 2nd winter of COVID, we must do whatever we can to find inner peace. Home - reduce clutter, keep it clean, Food - try to eat fresh and local when possible, and enjoy more plant-based foods. Avoid prepared foods, as these contain so many additives. I am always calm after cutting vegetables for a salad or a soup. There are so many good ideas for warming stews and chowders now. Have plants in your home. Find joy in seeing them grow, and better yet, if you can nurture pots of herbs and salad greens. Today my amaryllis are in full bloom. Here in Zone 9, they will bloom again in my garden. As many of us need to economize now, look at what's no longer essential in our lives. The idea of a budget that is no longer stretched to the max is calming. Intellectual growth is important. Spend some time in researching some subject that's new to you.
My husband and I decided to take a slow day or Sabbath once a week. A year ago we moved into my parents older home on a bit more than an acre in the Pacific Northwest. The house and the property had been let go and needed quite a bit of work. So we jumped in and started working. We initially put up a fence. Fencing in a portion of the back yard. We have two standard poodles who were well trained in suburban living but not neighbors without fences. Now a year later we wish we would’ve fenced the whole property. And we found out that chain link fence cannot simply be moved, once strung it’s very difficult to reuse. This is just one of lessons we learned. We worked hard every weekend never stopping for lunch and practically killed ourselves, while still maintaining our jobs. At some point in late spring when the gorgeous weather calls out to you here in PNW, I suggested a Sabbath to may husband. One day of the weekend with no big jobs or day full of errands and minimize screen time. A day to just be. Enjoy the yard, each other, our dogs and to watch our improvements. To slow down and really take the time to plan the project and all of the elements necessary. We learned a lot watching the sun and shadows for placement of plants and veggies. We found quiet and busy spots on our property and have many great plans for a yoga deck, a hot tub pergola, an herb and veggie raised garden. It’s a lot but we’re taking it slow and letting our property, the weather and our intuition guide us.