TEEW #26: How to Make Your Temporary Home Feel Like Home

Listen on: iTunes │Spotify │Stitcher│ YouTube

As expats, we’re used to changing homes. But we also know how important it is to feel well in our own four walls, especially when the outside world is filled with challenges.

During the pandemic, our homes have become the main backdrop of our lives – it’s where we eat, sleep, work, socialize and retreat. So what can we do to make the most out of it without wasting time, money and energy? What do I need to look out for and what other things won’t actually make a big difference?

Meet Renata

This is what I discuss today with Renata Carvalho, an interior designer and owner of RGC Projects. Having lived twice in the US, as well as in Italy, Mexico, Argentina and her home country, Brazil, she knows the good and bad of living abroad. After receiving her marketing degree in Brazil and enjoying 25 years of a very rewarding and truly global career in advertising, she decided it was time to transform her lifelong hobby of interior designing into her new profession.

Her interior design studio specializes in residential design services for the expat community. Renata is dedicated to helping individuals and families to feel at home wherever they are.

You’ll learn:

practical things you can do to make your temporary home feel like home
what “wellbeing items” are
which interior decor items you should splurge on (and on which others you shouldn’t)
some unique decorating ideas when the budget is tight
how to help your children settle in and feel good in their new home
how interior design can affect our emotions
the ways in which the concept of home has changed in the past year
and more!

I hope this episode will leave you inspired to shake things up a bit in your home and add that special something to it!