Your home should be a haven of zen, the place you come to relax and escape the stresses of life. It should ooze tranquillity and make you forget your overflowing email inbox or unrealistic expectations from others as soon as you walk through the door.
But, often our home can cause us more pain than peace. Between work and trying to maintain a social life while keeping everyone else happy, we don’t have enough time to make our house/apartment/cottage/igloo the hyggeden we want it to be.
Here are some quick and simple things you can do right now to make your home instantly calm.
Infuse with sandalwood
Create a beautiful self-care routine by infusing your home with grounding sandalwood essential oil as soon as you get home. Light a candle, incense or use an essential oil diffuser. This ritual will help you separate the stresses of the outside world with your arrival into your home and safe space.
Buy yourself flowers
There’s no reason to wait for someone else to buy them for you. Having fresh flowers in the house is a great way to brighten up the space (and your mood) plus buying them yourself means you can get your favourite every time!
Burn palo santo or sage
If you’ve had a particularly bad week, remove the negative energy by burning some palo santo or sage. This symbolic act will help you feel like you’ve got a clean slate and will allow you to move on from anything that might be holding you back or keeping you stuck in the past.
Tech-free zones
Overlapping cords, buzzing and beeping, and little red lights can be enough to strip any space of calm. Create areas in your home where technology is not allowed. Save this space for your yoga mat, plants, comfy cushions, books, kids play area, blankets, etc. You don’t need a huge house to be able to do this, you can create a cosy little corner even in the smallest of apartments.
Go au natural
Inviting nature into the home is a great way to minimise stressful vibes. Plants are great, but even photos or paintings of natural scenes are perfect for inducing relaxation. Using earthy colours such as greens, browns and beige when decorating are a great way to help you create a grounded space.
Keep it light
A dark, cluttered space may have you dreading coming home and you’ll want to escape when you’re there. Create a home you’ll never want to leave by making it as light, airy and organised as you can. While you can’t create natural light in a space that has none, there are things you can do to make your home seem lighter. Avoid dark coloured furniture and create more space by getting rid of chunky pieces. Invest in mirrors and lamps which help lighten darker corners.
Get organised
Spend some time organising your paper work and go through your wardrobe to get rid of anything you haven’t used in a while. Categorise things so you’ll know exactly where to find it. It may seem tedious but after hopefully a few hours, it’s done and you’ll be so relieved!
