Growing up, I was always told foods were either “cooling” or “heaty.” So when I was on Apartment Therapy whiling the day away I saw an article on Warm and Cool personalities when it comes to home habits and that naturally caught my attention.
The article describes Warm folk as people who “worry about clutter and organizing, and who tend to obsesses (sic) much more about their homes and love The Container Store. They are often personally warm as well, being friendly, generous and extroverted socially. Their demon is excess and attachment to things and people.”
In contrast, Cool people “do not broadcast their issues as much, partially because they are far more private and far more embarrassed about the failures of their home. More highly strung by nature, cool people are seen as sharp and smart, and they tend to delegate their problems to others if they can, because they feel clumsy dealing with the physicality of their own home. They do not feel great attachment to objects, and are good at avoiding clutter. Their demon is excessive thought and over attachment to ideas, while losing touch with people.”
I tried to place me and The Husband, and honestly I feel like I am a bit of both, but about 95% Warm: I love the Container Store (thank God we don’t have one I’d be REALLY broke) and I like the thought of organization. I do obsess about my home, and I am a quasi-hoarder with catalogs and magazines. I can’t bear to throw them out because, well, what if y’know?
I look at this and I go "ooh! How fun!" (Source)
The Husband however leans more Cool – not too inclined to hosting get-togethers too much, when he has an idea he is determined to follow through with it (one of his strengths that I find so sexy), and he’s a killer de-clutterer. He’s all about eliminating the stuff we have but don’t need and he’s all about the “weeding.”
This is also appealing, very ideal but not as realistic for me as it is for The Husband. (Source)
Apartment Therapy recommends that Warm people weed and that Cool people should plant and I agree – I need to be better about letting things go and sometimes I do wish The Husband were more receptive to hanging out with friends we’ve lost touch with a bit more on top of spending time with the ones we see regularly. That said, I do feel like we make a perfect combination because he reins me in and I force us to be more sociable and it’s a wonderful balance.
Now that I’m more conscious of this I’ll need to harness our strengths and work on our decor more. My goal is to maintain the order in the house so we can have people over on a whim and not frantically throw things into our bedroom if the occasion arises!
This is what I feel is a good compromise of a room - not too many knick knacks, and not too sparse. (Source)
Worth a shot right?
