Alexandra Stoddard Quotes & Sayings

We can finish a house, but never a home. Once you fall in love with a house, you find continual pleasures in fixing it up and making innovations that satisfy your creature's comforts. — Alexandra Stoddard

Colors are important. People are in clinical depression whether they are on medication or not. Neutrals are another form of medication. — Alexandra Stoddard

The rooms that are lived in are the ones we find most comforting. — Alexandra Stoddard

When a person quietly reconciles himself to all the contradictions that life offers, and can comfortably ride out or flow between the banks of pleasure and pain, experiencing them both, but getting stuck in neither, then he has achieved freedom. — Alexandra Stoddard

Our lives are made up of time, and the quality of our existence depends on our wise use of the moments we are given. — Alexandra Stoddard

If we have authentic, honest, earthy materials in our houses, we'll be more authentic, honest and natural. — Alexandra Stoddard

Your past is something you cannot change. You can't live it; it's dead. — Alexandra Stoddard

You can't be a resource for others unless you nourish yourself. — Alexandra Stoddard

Slow down. Calm down. Don't worry. Don't hurry. Trust the process. — Alexandra Stoddard

My mantra is: Let there be happiness in my soul, and let me share it with the world. — Alexandra Stoddard

Letter writing is a habit that allows us to explore new trails all our lives. Each day is a fresh new adventure when we regularly send and receive letters. — Alexandra Stoddard

I urge readers to experience things that they love and give up things that are not working. — Alexandra Stoddard

Living well is a courageous act. — Alexandra Stoddard

We can live closer to our dreams if we are willing to dream them. And we can create a life as we want it to be. — Alexandra Stoddard

The home is the center of your soul; it's a total reflection of your inner life. If you have a dreary home, it means you are dark inside. — Alexandra Stoddard

Happiness is the first principle of life. Happiness basically means well-being. It is always good and always a choice ... We need to make the choice to be happy in a particular situation, just as it is, and at a given moment. — Alexandra Stoddard

What we love we grow to resemble. SAINT BERNARD T — Alexandra Stoddard

Move your feet in the direction that is most favorable for your living up to your full potential. — Alexandra Stoddard

An inspired letter can be as riveting as a stare. It can move us to tears, spur us to action, provoke us, uplift us, touch us. Transform us. When written from the heart, letters are dreams on paper, wishes fulfilled, desires satisfied. letters can be powerful. — Alexandra Stoddard

The world is extremely interesting to a joyful soul. — Alexandra Stoddard

If we could make our house a home, and then make it a sanctuary, I think we could truly find paradise on Earth. — Alexandra Stoddard

I feel very strongly we are spiritual beings in a physical body, and we should make our surroundings as beautiful and soulful as possible. — Alexandra Stoddard

Unused rooms are such bad feng shui, really bad energy. — Alexandra Stoddard

I'm an interior designer from the soul. It's not about just putting things in a room. It's much deeper and broader. It's about self-discovery. — Alexandra Stoddard

Our painful experiences strengthen us in becoming more empathetic, more caring, and deeper human beings. We grow in depth of understanding, with greater appreciation for the miracle of life. — Alexandra Stoddard

The supreme good - to examine everything - a life which was not devoted to such research would not be worth living. Happiness would thus consist in their never-ending quest. PLATO — Alexandra Stoddard

My message is that happiness is the first principle of life. But you must choose it. We all have pain, but suffering is a choice. You can be happier if you make some changes in your life. — Alexandra Stoddard

Being a mother and grandmother is the best of the best in my life. My grandchildren multiply the joy my daughters bring me. — Alexandra Stoddard

I love people and care about them, and I felt I had a gift to cheer people up. If I could get into their homes and make their environment more attractive, they'll be happier, and it would be very rewarding for me. — Alexandra Stoddard

The 'art of tea' is a spiritual force for us to share. — Alexandra Stoddard

Always remember your brilliance. — Alexandra Stoddard

This may shock you, but the most important person in your life is you. You are meant to be 'full of yourself. — Alexandra Stoddard

Put a picture of yourself as a child in view somewhere, to remind yourself to be playful. — Alexandra Stoddard

I want my readers to find their own way. — Alexandra Stoddard

As we try to envisage what the world will be like for our grandchildren and imagine who will inherit the good and bad we leave behind, we pause to think of those who have shaped our attitudes. We pay homage to those spirits who have expanded our potential for understanding the unique circumstances of our lives and who have given us hope and courage to be strong and live bravely. We will always be fascinated by the thoughts of others, and by the way they have expressed their truths and insights, because they are the real teachers. They have shared with us the truth as they have experienced it. — Alexandra Stoddard

The only life worth living is the one we take responsibility for choosing. — Alexandra Stoddard

How we feel about ourselves as we read the newspaper, set the table, wash the dishes, recycle the trash and wash our clothes ... is essential to our overall happiness and well-being. — Alexandra Stoddard

I think of myself as the little girl Renoir painted with the watering can. I loved the garden colors. — Alexandra Stoddard

I don't want to go anywhere; I don't want to leave anybody behind. Happiness is right here, right now, in this world, in this room. I am happiest wherever it is that I am. — Alexandra Stoddard

Letter writing allows us to be alone yet connected. We need a certain amount of solitude in order to have true ideas to communicate. But few of us desire solitude all the time ... Yet solitude is what makes us contemplative and receptive, more aware of life's gifts and our own special blessings. — Alexandra Stoddard

Be mindful of the very moment you are living. Start exactly this second. You don't wait until the children get out of the house or when the sun comes out. Create something better. — Alexandra Stoddard

We choose how enthusiastically we live our time alive. — Alexandra Stoddard

A home should be an intimate autobiography of the things that you like. One of the things I'm so keen on expressing is that, if you don't do it for yourself, if you're always seeking affirmation from outside, you'll never have a home. It'll just be a house. — Alexandra Stoddard

Life is too short for you to be the caretaker of the wrong details. — Alexandra Stoddard

I get all dressed up in fuchsia, looking like a clown, and show pretty pictures to people. — Alexandra Stoddard

The correct word is like any small detail - it enhances life. — Alexandra Stoddard

Our home, just like our garden, evolves. We experiment, try out different things and new colors until we feel content. Try to keep the metaphor of home as garden in your consciousness. — Alexandra Stoddard

When I'm the happiest, my desk is not neat. It has lots of pens and the books I love. It gets messy when I'm in the flow. So many houses are so neat. — Alexandra Stoddard

To take what there is, and use it, without waiting forever in vain for the preconceived - to dig deep into the actual and get something out of that - this doubtless is the right way to live. HENRY JAMES T — Alexandra Stoddard

I find that through all my work, I really get to see and feel energy, health and vitality between people and their surroundings and how they interact with each other. — Alexandra Stoddard

Don't feel you have to buy something to sit in or at. Buy something you are emotionally attached to and build your design around that. One Matisse cutout poster could provide you with your whole color scheme! — Alexandra Stoddard

My grandfather was a Methodist preacher, and my father was an unsuccessful businessman. We didn't have status or wealth. — Alexandra Stoddard

I want to fill my mind with life-enhancing, positive, beautiful memories. The dark experiences can remain buried without a funeral. — Alexandra Stoddard

Each of us must become impassioned, finding meaning and self-fulfillment in our own life's journey. — Alexandra Stoddard

Puttering is really a time to be alone, to dream, to get in touch with yourself ... To putter is to discover. — Alexandra Stoddard

What we do today, right now, will have an accumulated effect on all our tomorrows. — Alexandra Stoddard

Make your physical surroundings as beautiful as possible. — Alexandra Stoddard

I like people to really get a feel for the house before they do anything to it. — Alexandra Stoddard

What you think and do now builds.
Value this moment.
Be patient.
Smile often.
Love the process of living each minute fully.
Your presence is a source of strength
and an inspiration
to people you spend time with.
Give your greatest gift
your full attention,
yourself. — Alexandra Stoddard

Beauty, like love, makes us happy, but we have to be keenly receptive to the seduction. Until — Alexandra Stoddard

You're not going to be dreary on the inside if you're not dreary on the outside. — Alexandra Stoddard

Be kind to yourself, to others and everything around you. — Alexandra Stoddard

You can sometimes avoid costly mistakes. Paint a corner of the room a certain color to see how the light affects it. Or buy just one yard of an expensive fabric to see how you like it in your room. — Alexandra Stoddard

Aristotle wisely reminds us, "It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied." When — Alexandra Stoddard

We can raise our sights high when we're willing to break free from being conformists who live a conventional life simply because we are too afraid to express our uniqueness. — Alexandra Stoddard

We all have neighbors. Greet them on the sidewalk or in the elevator, but try not to peer through their windows. Windows are to look out from, not into. — Alexandra Stoddard

The choices that make a significant difference in our lives are the tough ones. They're not often fun or easy, but they're the ones we have to make, and each is a deliberate step toward better understanding who we really are. — Alexandra Stoddard

When you leave a beautiful place, you carry it with you wherever you go. — Alexandra Stoddard

I want to inspire through example. I hope my books motivate others to open doors and windows that will help them to embrace their own truth, light and joy. — Alexandra Stoddard

Style really comes down to what makes you feel good. — Alexandra Stoddard

Unhappy people make me feel like I've done something wrong. — Alexandra Stoddard

When I was little, I got to pick my hair ribbon from my mother's collection that hung over her dressing-table mirror. I have an entire room of ribbons in my New York apartment. — Alexandra Stoddard

Feeling at home with ourselves and being able to create a spirit of place that nourishes us physically, emotionally and spiritually is a goal worthy of our highest priority. — Alexandra Stoddard

I have my clothes made in Hong Kong, but I love Shangai Tang in New York. — Alexandra Stoddard

You learn to give up what's not working and surround yourself with things you love - not what's correct or proper. — Alexandra Stoddard

Being a decorator allowed me to see what about people's environments made them happy. And what things they could do to have more light and color and joy in their daily lives. — Alexandra Stoddard

I want to listen to Beethoven and Mozart. I want to read the best minds. I want to live with uplifting art. I don't want to live a grubby life. — Alexandra Stoddard

We have to establish time boundaries and learn how to say no. — Alexandra Stoddard

I find it soothing to take something wrinkled and make it smooth. It feels anticipatory. It's what I do before a celebration. And nobody bothers me when I'm ironing. — Alexandra Stoddard