Mood is like odour, it will pervade a room before it can be traced to its source. But you usually recognize it as soon as you enter. At some point in our lives, most of us find that the mood - the culture and atmosphere - of a particular time or place come to mean a lot of us for whatever reason. We immerse ourselves in books and films relating to our interest, or surround ourselves with item that emit some of it essence.

The minute you step into a holiday cottage you may feel a sense DEJA VU because in many small ways it reminds you of your grandfather house - something to do with the steepness of the staircase and the way the window open and the colour of the upholstery. Then you may realize that house of that era always excite you. Any mention of that period in books and magazine seems to leap out at you, you find yourself drawn to furniture in shops that seems somehow familiar. Very often re-creating such an atmosphere becomes the unspoken goal of your homemaking.

Even when you find yourself drawn to a particular period in time or a place that you have never experienced - the world of the early American settlers, or life in a Russian city during a winter - the feeling can be just as intense.

Look at the picture of rooms from different countries and historical periods and choose the culture with which you feel most affinity. You may find the fabled life of Indian emperors immensely attractive and slip into a reverie just looking at the image on the page. Or perhaps you simply enjoy the bracing spiritual order and practicality of the nineteenth-century Shaker communities. Is there another mood that captivates you? When and where would you like to have lived and why? Do you enjoy Egyptian art? Does the hand-to-mouth life of a Scottish crofter answer a need in you to pit yourself against the elements? Write down your choice, and up to three key words that describe the atmosphere with which you feel most kinship.

I`m not suggesting that you literally decorate your home as if it were an Egyptian palace, or log cabin or Indian shrine (although many people are happy to do just that). Rather, you should think about what the culture means to you in terms of its style and its value. The pace of live, the way interiors were illuminated, and the importance of food and nature, religion and hierarchy. What does it remind you of, or make you wish you had? Adventure,romance, security, novelty and authenticity are all common cravings. Of course, you could simply like Egyptian turquoise or Easter Island statue on a material level. But a cultural fondness that is hard to dislodge can be well rooted in some deeper meaning.