Busy Life? Here’s How to Make Home a Little More Serene
Carve out a place where you can pause now and then to appreciate life’s quiet luxuries
Replenish yourself by creating a place of peace at home where you can relax, meditate, or simply kick back with a glass of wine or cup of tea. From adding inspiring art to setting up a welcoming seating area for one, here are 10 ideas to pick and choose from to invite more tranquillity into your home.
Be a plant collector
Just the sight of plants can soothe frazzled nerves, and a house with plants has cleaner, fresher air, which has positive health benefits. But beyond either of these reasons, collecting and caring for plants can be a stress-relieving pastime. Consider orchids or another plant that enjoys being misted, and make an after-work habit of tending to your plants.
Green up with feelgood indoor plants
Just the sight of plants can soothe frazzled nerves, and a house with plants has cleaner, fresher air, which has positive health benefits. But beyond either of these reasons, collecting and caring for plants can be a stress-relieving pastime. Consider orchids or another plant that enjoys being misted, and make an after-work habit of tending to your plants.
Green up with feelgood indoor plants
Choose artwork that makes you feel peaceful
Artwork, perhaps more than anything else we bring into our homes, can evoke a strong emotional response. If you want to cultivate a serene, peaceful mood in your home, pay close attention to how a piece of art makes you feel – and intentionally choose to display art that makes you feel calm and relaxed.
Artwork, perhaps more than anything else we bring into our homes, can evoke a strong emotional response. If you want to cultivate a serene, peaceful mood in your home, pay close attention to how a piece of art makes you feel – and intentionally choose to display art that makes you feel calm and relaxed.
Consider colour
Colour can have a huge impact on our experience of a space – but that doesn’t mean it has to be colourless to be calming. Colour is personal, so spend time getting to know how colour (or a lack of it) affects you, and intentionally choose your home’s colours to create a tranquil feeling. For some, an all-white space would be the ultimate in calm and relaxation, while someone else may get that same calm, cool feeling in a rich mineral-green room.
Colour can have a huge impact on our experience of a space – but that doesn’t mean it has to be colourless to be calming. Colour is personal, so spend time getting to know how colour (or a lack of it) affects you, and intentionally choose your home’s colours to create a tranquil feeling. For some, an all-white space would be the ultimate in calm and relaxation, while someone else may get that same calm, cool feeling in a rich mineral-green room.
Create a comfy reading nook
A solo spot where you can relax and read, write in your journal or simply sip a glass of wine and look out the window doesn’t need to be elaborate to entice. If you tend to crave R&R during the afternoon, position your nook near a window with a lovely view. If you’re more likely to use your nook in the evening after dinner, choose a warm and cosy corner with a good lamp nearby.
See more cosy nooks
A solo spot where you can relax and read, write in your journal or simply sip a glass of wine and look out the window doesn’t need to be elaborate to entice. If you tend to crave R&R during the afternoon, position your nook near a window with a lovely view. If you’re more likely to use your nook in the evening after dinner, choose a warm and cosy corner with a good lamp nearby.
See more cosy nooks
Layer on tactile textures
Especially if you spend much of your workday looking at screens, reconnecting with your senses is a wonderful way to ground yourself and relax once at home. Think of adding a soft wool rug, tactile leather pouffes, fluffy faux furs and knitted throws.
Especially if you spend much of your workday looking at screens, reconnecting with your senses is a wonderful way to ground yourself and relax once at home. Think of adding a soft wool rug, tactile leather pouffes, fluffy faux furs and knitted throws.
Embrace the season
There is beauty to be found in every season, from the lush flowers and abundant produce of summer to the stark elegance of bare winter branches.
A few subtle tweaks can be enough to help your home shift with the seasons. Swap a photo or artwork in a frame, rearrange vases and decorative objects, or make a display with a few seasonal finds from a nature walk or the grocery store.
There is beauty to be found in every season, from the lush flowers and abundant produce of summer to the stark elegance of bare winter branches.
A few subtle tweaks can be enough to help your home shift with the seasons. Swap a photo or artwork in a frame, rearrange vases and decorative objects, or make a display with a few seasonal finds from a nature walk or the grocery store.
Simplify the bedroom
Of all the rooms in a home, the bedroom is the most important to keep calm and simple.
To encourage deep, replenishing rest, keep computer screens out of the bedroom, and layer the bed in natural fibres like crisp linen or cotton sheets and thick wool blankets.
If you have overhead lighting, put the switches on dimmers so that you can turn down the lights before bed.
Set your bedroom up for a better sleep
Of all the rooms in a home, the bedroom is the most important to keep calm and simple.
To encourage deep, replenishing rest, keep computer screens out of the bedroom, and layer the bed in natural fibres like crisp linen or cotton sheets and thick wool blankets.
If you have overhead lighting, put the switches on dimmers so that you can turn down the lights before bed.
Set your bedroom up for a better sleep
‘Reset’ your home each week
We can have the best intentions to keep our homes clean and serene, but when a really busy week happens, it can be tempting to allow the temporary setback to become permanent. Instead of letting a particularly busy or stressful week derail your efforts, set a weekly date to reset the mood in your home. Spend a little time cleaning up and sorting the week’s mail, open up the windows to let in some fresh air, and treat your house to a bouquet of fresh flowers. Then sit down, light some candles, pour yourself something yummy to drink – and enjoy your tranquil space.
TELL US
How do you recharge at home? Share your favourite idea in the Comments and see what others do.
MORE
Read more about making your home healthier
We can have the best intentions to keep our homes clean and serene, but when a really busy week happens, it can be tempting to allow the temporary setback to become permanent. Instead of letting a particularly busy or stressful week derail your efforts, set a weekly date to reset the mood in your home. Spend a little time cleaning up and sorting the week’s mail, open up the windows to let in some fresh air, and treat your house to a bouquet of fresh flowers. Then sit down, light some candles, pour yourself something yummy to drink – and enjoy your tranquil space.
TELL US
How do you recharge at home? Share your favourite idea in the Comments and see what others do.
MORE
Read more about making your home healthier
Relaxing with a cup of afternoon tea, either alone or while catching up with a friend, sounds lovely – but how often do you actually make it happen? A special corner of the living room stocked with a pretty teapot and favourite cups can serve as a reminder to make time for teatime.