Life outside can be stressful. Work is frantic and exhausting; Commuting is a terrible thing to have to do. And running errands is the opposite of relaxing with off-work hours.
Coming home should be like arriving in an oasis of calm. But your house is disorganized and disheveled. The decor is dated, and Feng shui sounds more like the leftover Chinese that’s been sitting in the fridge for a week.
You can create a serene home by taking some time to organize and redecorate. It is not as hard as you think to have a house you look forward to coming home to.
In this article, we will go over some ways to make your home a retreat from daily life stress.
Use Water
No matter what style of decor you go for when creating a serene home, a must is to bring in some indoor water features.
Nothing soothes the mind like the sound of water. Seeing water flowing also has a great effect on the mood. You can put up wall-mounted water fountains, a small floor fountain, table fountains, or indoor water fountains to create a greater effect within the room.
They create white noise, which will cancel out all the loud noises from the outside world and create an oasis effect. The sound is meditative and stresses relief.
All these benefits are great, and then there is the bonus of how it looks. You can go for something Asian-inspired if the rest of your decor is Eastern. If you like the Mediterranean feel, then there are those with terracotta that would fit right in. It doesn’t matter what kind of decor you have; there is the perfect water feature for your home.
Add The Right Colors
There is no question that colors have a huge impact on our mood in general. You may be happy with the colors of your home now, but if you put some thought into adding some accents with mood-improving colors, then your house will actively make you feel better when you come home.
You could also paint your walls in these colors to amplify the effect.
Warm colors like red and orange are known to improve your mood. These base colors may be too garish to decorate with, however. Something like a burnt ochre or rumba orange are shades that will look great and not be too bright.
Use Lighting Properly
If you work in an office, you are undoubtedly bombarded by bright, fluorescent light all day. This is probably one of the biggest factors that lead to your stress from work.
When you get home, your lighting should be gentle and soft yet still bright enough to see what you’re doing.
A light dimmer is a great thing to have for lots of options. Keep it bright when you are trying to do something where you need the light. Then turn it down to a soft glow when you are watching TV or sipping a glass of wine.
Bring In The Wood
Getting out in nature is an instant mood enhancer. When you live a busy life, it can be challenging to find the time to get out in the woods or mountains, though.
Bring nature in by adding wood to your home. Reclaimed wooden tables with some light distressing are both beautiful and calming. Wooden light accents or coffee tables are ideal for adding those natural touches. Too much wood may not look good from a decorating standpoint, however.
Wood can be very grounding when used correctly. Make it the predominant theme, if you like, but try to avoid wood panels and wood furnishings as that will be overwhelming.
Go Green
As is the case with wood and water, plants will help you bring the calming effect of nature into your home.
The green color helps you destress. Even the quality of your air improves when you have plants in the room.
It would help if you had some tall plants using space in some of the corners of the house. Then, put some small pots around as accents on shelves, end tables, and window boxes.
Even caring for your plants can be a stress-relieving activity. When you come home from a long day and use that time to water and trim away the dead leaves, it helps you feel like there is something at home waiting for you. And when some of the flowers, the smell is wonderful, too.
