📙 Part 2: Describe a place where you can relax

This episode's vocabulary

Express (adj.) - clearly and intentionally stated.

To unwind (verb) - if you unwind something that is wrapped around an object, you unfasten it, and if it unwinds, it becomes unfastened.

Tradespeople (plural noun) - people who buy and sell goods, especially people who own a shop.

To the letter (idiom) - if you obey instructions or rules to the letter, you do exactly what you have been told to do, giving great attention to every detail.

Colour therapy (noun) - a form of therapy that uses colour and light to treat certain mental and physical health conditions.

Skirting board (noun) - a piece of wood that is joined to the bottom of a wall where it meets the floor.

Windowsill (noun) - a shelf below a window, either inside or outside a building.

Chilled out (adj.) - relaxed.

Questions and Answers

R: Oh, I really love my new bedroom, which I designed and decorated with the express purpose of being a place to unwind in. Needless to say, it's in my house, which I also redesigned and decorated myself with a lot of help from different tradespeople I should add. They were amazing and gave me lots of advice, which I followed almost to the letter. I really wanted a place I could sleep easily and deeply in. And I read up a lot on colour therapy, which is the use of colours to influence your psychological state. So bright colours would make you more energetic, neutral colours make you more focused, and darker colours reduce how energetic you are. With that in mind, I had the room painted Oxford blue, which is a very dark blue and makes you feel relaxed. It doesn't cover everything. Since the skirting boards, the shelves and the windowsills are all still white to break up the colour in the right places. But overall, this particular, I suppose shade, creates a very chilled-out environment. Perhaps too chilled out, to be honest, I have trouble getting up in the morning. When it comes to how often I'm there, I mean, it's my bedroom, so I'm there for at least eight hours every day. And probably more since I have a home gym installed there. That's also rather relaxing in a weird way. Because I know I have all the things I need, along with all my clothes and desk space to work on things and move around throughout the day if I need to. To say more about how I feel there, I mean, I'm running out of words for relaxed, to be honest. It's just a great space. And I love it. I'm not a very good interior designer. But I think I made some great choices. And I'm very grateful for all of the help I got making my dream a reality. If I could change anything about it, I might move the furniture around a little bit to make it easier to move. But it's not been a problem so far. So that's perhaps something to think about in the future when I have more stuff.

M: And what about your friends? Do they like this place?

R: They haven't been yet but they will when the house as a whole is finished.

M: Hey, thank you, Rory, for your story!