A mother is the builder of a home and the first teacher of her children. Her home is where she teaches the lessons of love, so her children know how to love each other. I am a mother and have raised four beautiful sons. I have taught them how to love and respect people - especially women - as they would their mother. They were brought up in a home that connected us as a family.

The design elements of our home helped us connect and were integral to how we functioned. Over time I came to realise how conducive a thoughtfully designed home was towards the happiness and joy of our family - right down to the walls, flooring, windows, roof and front door. A homes floor plan should be a true reflection of how you want your family to live and interact. 

I wanted to be able to see my family. I wanted a garden to grow flowers, herbs and fruit trees so that my family could see greenery and appreciate the blue sky. I wanted my family to see colour when inside too - real colour, not monotones of grey like a winter sky. Through my journey as a mother, I have come to realise that colour grounds us as human beings. Children especially respond to colour. Colour is happiness, and we must be confident through the use of colour in our homes.

I wanted my children to see order and efficiency - to create an environment that reflected our family virtues of unity, love and respect so that they felt safe and protected. Now I appreciate that excellent design uses the theories of form follows function to create holistic spaces. These spaces bring families together but still allow the individuality of the family to operate within them in a way that is both relevant and contemporary.

Our home needed to adapt to our needs and create harmony and grace to our daily lives. A room that started as a nursery could then become a reading room for me to have some quiet time away from the children while they had time with their father.  The laundry needed to keep up with a growing family!

I wanted our culture to be reflected - a kitchen where I would create beautiful, healthy meals, not just to nourish bodies, but to nourish minds and souls. The kitchen and meals area was the heart of our home. It became the area that breathed the most life as my sons would do their homework under my watchful and gentle eye while I prepared a meal. This was the time I most cherished, as I was always felt visually connected to them.

Good design should have no boundaries when it comes to embracing the cultural relevance of its owners. A home should be able to exemplify its occupants by being different. Every person is different as is every family. A home should be designed to adapt to its occupants, not the occupants needing to adapt to a home. A thoughtful design should achieve this.

A day in the life of a mother can be long and hectic requiring unconditional love, support and patience. Families need a home that inspires peace and beautiful memories where a mother can teach her children.

Our home is the foundation stone of humanity.