Listening to how we feel at home
How you feel in your home is vitally important to your overall sense of happiness.
This statement resonates very deeply with me, perhaps because I’ve spent some time re-establishing my own space. On a very personal level, I have learned that by listening to my inner voice and surrounding myself with things in my home that make me feel comfortable and secure, rather than by what is expected or in style, I achieve and maintain a sense of personal satisfaction and calmness that settles out as comfortable happiness. I have answered my own question of “do you know how to make your home feel happy?” with “yes, I am happy to say that I do”. And you can too!
Rather than focusing on the functionality that items in our home have, we sometimes put value in securing things that we perceive will achieve us status in the eyes of others or meet current style trends, completing ignoring how we actually feel living in the spaces we create.
With recent world events, many of us have found ourselves spending a lot more time at home than in past, both indoors or in our personal outdoor spaces, giving us a great opportunity to focus on making sure our home is both nurturing and inspiring.
How you feel in your home is vitally important to your overall sense of happiness.
Scents play a fundamental role in our over all feeling of happiness. Herb and fruit based scents such as mint, lemon and grapefruit are a fantastic choice to keep the kitchen smelling fresh. Warm scents such as amber and vanilla create a cozy and welcoming aura in the living room, and in the bedrooms where calm and tranquility is the goal, lavender works well to promote a good nights sleep. I incorporate infusion of scents in may ways throughout the rooms, including soaps, room sprays, diffusers, candles and atomizers. I encourage you to try subtle hints of scent throughout your home and take note of the mood it may evoke within you.
Setting aside time for relaxation is important. Lowering the lighting and the volume of audio devices throughout your home in the evening hours will help prepare your mind, soul and body for sleep.
Colors also have effects on our mood, with research indicating that yellow and pink are mood boosters. It isn’t necessary to paint an entire room yellow ~ but consider painting your favorite neutral color on the walls and then accessorize with cushions, vases and pictures in a mood boosting color throughout the room. This can be done in an alternating theme as well, based on changes in season, etc.
8 tips to create a happy home
- Make the most of the natural sources of light in your home by decluttering windowsills and opening blinds and window coverings.
- Select colors throughout your home that make you feel positive and happy; for some of us this is a calming palette, while for others it is a vibrant one.
- Tidy up your spaces before the end of each day, thereby gifting yourself a clean, fresh space to wake up to every morning.
- Open windows to let fresh air in and ventilate your spaces regularly; choose scents for your home that are pleasing and uplifting to you.
- Create a calm, restful bedroom space where you can relax and unwind at the end of each day.
- Create a ‘screen free’ time in your home in the evenings, giving everyone a welcome opportunity to step away from technology and to choose an alternate way to interact or spend their time.
- Fill your spaces with air-purifying plants… they’re really good for your soul too.
- Find a hobby, something that you can spend a bit of time daily doing, and dedicate yourself to it. Writing, painting, reading, training a new pet, refurbishing old items are a few ideas among many.
I encourage you to take some time to sit in your home, or wander through it room to room, and listen to how you really “feel” within the space.
Does this space make you feel good? Do you feel relaxed and happy here? Does your home reflect the style of space you want to spend time in? If you can answer yes to these questions, you’ve achieved an important goal by knowing how to make your home feel happy.
My hope is that the tips I’ve shared will help you to answer these questions in a positive way and foster a desire within you to create an even happier feel within your own home.
I’m a proud mom, a friend to many, and have a profound belief in human kindness.
My goal to live a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life includes my love to write about things that resonate with me. My gift to you is sharing my perspective on living a happy life.
xx
