1-Sentence-Summary: Joyful talks about the power of small things in our lives, from colors, shapes, and designs, to nature, architecture, and simple everyday occurrences on our happiness and how we can harness simplicity to achieve a meaningful life filled with joy.
Read in: 4 minutes
Favorite quote from the author:
Growing up in a world with colors, shapes, textures, and many other aspects that make life itself may seem like something rather boring or mundane for the everyday person, including me or you.
However, if we would just take a minute and pause our highly demanding schedules, maybe we could see it. Joyful explores the simple, yet remarkably beautiful aspects of design that make up the world we live in.
Even though we develop tunnel vision as we advance in life, it’s never too late to reconnect with nature and admire its colors and shapes. The author suggests that this might be just what’s keeping all of us from appreciating life for what it is.
Care to explore three of my favorite lessons from the book and find out how to find joy in the little things you see on the street? If so, here they are:
- Bright colors and minimalist features make up a spacious, breathable home.
- China came up with Feng Shui, which is a highly valuable concept in designing welcoming homes.
- People want to find the weird and funny aspects of a situation, as we’re naturally drawn to joy.
Colors and designs may not seem like a thing worth writing about, but trust me that after exploring these lessons in detail, you’ll change your mind about that.
Lesson 1: A bright home with minimalist touches will feel more airy and fresh than a common accessorized space.
When it comes to designing your new home, colors and shapes are a few of the most important elements. Bright, open spaces with minimalistic features and designs can help keep your home comfortable and inviting.
Colors are also an important part of the design process. Use bright colors to open up your space and create an airy feel. These aspects of your home can either make it feel open and inviting or closed in and cramped.
If you’re looking to make the most of the space you have, you’ll want to keep an eye on both of these elements. When it comes to color, brighter shades can help create a sense of openness.
If you want a minimalist feel, then bright colors may be just what you need. However, if you want to incorporate more features into your living space, there are plenty of choices available in neutral shades as well.
As far as shapes go, rounder forms tend to promote an airy feeling while sharp angles tend to create more enclosed spaces with less airflow between them.
Keep in mind that minimalism is more about living with less than it is about being cheap with furniture and home appliances. Minimalism means being happy with less, avoiding consumerism, and idea that maximizing your possessions will give you joy.
Lesson 2: The Chinese had a strong sense of harmony that is still used in today’s design concepts.
The Chinese people came up with a remarkable concept, namely Feng Shui. In a nutshell, it is about creating a living space that feels harmonious and inspires you to live peacefully. By placing certain objects in specific spots in your house, you too can achieve that sense of harmony.
Chi is the energy that flows through any object, so it’s highly important for us to maintain it in design if we want to stay in harmony. One classic principle of Feng Shui implies placing large and tall objects or matrimonial beds in the center of the room, to allow movement of any type to flow naturally.
Another great idea to incorporate into your designs is playfulness. Working with textures, shapes, and colors allows people to innovate and feel more creative when they spend time in those environments.
Think of your home as a reflection of yourself. Keep in mind to also make it breathable, and enjoyable to live in, and don’t spend money on unnecessary things that won’t improve your life in the long run. Moreover, try to include light objects in a minimal design and leave room for air to flow around when you decorate.
Lesson 3: People are naturally attracted to odd, yet funny visuals and creations that inspire awe.
Humans are generally used to everything life has to offer in terms of colors and designs. However, once in a while, certainly remarkable creations manage to surprise even the toughest of critics.
Such creations leave us in awe, making us realize how much life is about unique characteristics. Some examples include the world’s wonders, beautiful natural landscapes, man-made buildings, or even small creations like a butterfly.
If you take each characteristic piece by piece, they no longer seem so remarkably beautiful. It’s the color, shape, design, and texture of each piece, that combined together give value to creation.
That’s how you’ll want to think of everything you design, from your house to your outfits, and even your life! Speaking of outfits and colors, let me give you another example of how tiny details regarding the two can shape an entire environment.
You see, people are naturally attracted to odd visuals and quirkiness, and so colors have great power over us. Imagine that you’re in a serious meeting where everyone feels tense and anxious, and you suddenly notice your boss wearing rainbow socks.
Now, that’s a tension reliever! Imagine he shows them off to everyone else in the room. The meeting automatically becomes more relaxed and it’s all because of colors. We may not realize it, but these tiny details have a huge impact on our daily lives.
Joyful Review
The first thing you notice when you walk into a room is its color. They have the power to make us feel happy or sad, tense or relaxed, or even inspire us. Colors, designs, shapes, and the small details of life are powerful!
This is what Joyful is all about. The book manages to highlight how tiny aspects of life can mean so much when we take the time to think about them, how colors give life meaning, and how we can make the most out of these nature-given creations in our life.
The book is definitely worth reading, as it teaches you how to adopt minimalism in your life, how to decorate your home to make the most out of it, how to use colors to relieve stress and anxiety, and many more valuable ideas that will change your life for the better.
Who would I recommend the Joyful summary to?
The 26-year-old aspiring interior designer, the 34-year-old person who wants to redecorate their house, or the 40-year-old person who has an affinity for Feng Shui and the power of design.
Last Updated on October 24, 2022
