Life can be pretty hectic. Between the chaos of work, the endless crowds of the city streets, and the traffic you face whenever you get behind the wheel, there’s a lot to deal with.
As the one place you have complete control over, your home should be a place of solace and relaxation. It’s somewhere that you can escape to after work or stay in when the stress of everyday life is starting to get to you.
So, what happens if your home life isn’t as peaceful as you’d like it to be?
Even if your relationships with family members are fine, and you have all the essentials in place (like a working kitchen and bathroom), there’s still a chance that something is missing. We’ve put together these quick tips for creating a peaceful home to help you.
Knowing the barriers to a calm, organized home
The first step in designing a tranquil home life is knowing where issues lie.
There are some barriers to a calm, organized home that could be getting in the way of complete relaxation for you and your family.
These include things like:
- Clutter: Psychological study proves that clutter has a significant impact on mental health. Excessive mess in your house frequently leads to feelings of stress and overwhelm. That stress can even impact your physical health.
- Sources of stress: Sources of stress are things that upset you in your home. For instance, if you’re getting over a bad breakup, it’s probably not a good idea to keep the other person’s personal possessions around.
- Problems you’re trying to ignore: Problems that you’re trying to avoid will bother you – whether you’re aware of it or not. These problems might be anything from a dripping tap to a stain on your carpet that you haven’t dealt with yet.
- Embarrassment: One of the most valuable things anyone can do for their mental and emotional health is spend time around loved ones. If you’re embarrassed by the state of your home, you’re more likely to shut people out, which leads to isolation.
- Confusion: Even if you don’t believe in concepts like Feng Shui, it’s important to have a strategy for organizing your belongings. When you place the things you own anywhere, you end up struggling to find the things you really need.
People often make the connection between an untidy home, and a messy mind. If you don’t know how to transform your home to create a more peaceful space, then you’ll struggle to get the rest and relaxation you need in your everyday life.
How to create a peaceful home
Maintaining a clean and peaceful home makes you feel more relaxed and energetic at the same time. It ensures that you can focus on the important things in your life, rather than constantly worrying about mess and disorganization.
1. Reduce and organize
The first step in creating a calm and organized home is getting rid of the clutter. If you’re familiar with the KonMari method of tidying, then you’ll know that one of the best ways to sort through your things is to start one category at a time.
Pick a category that you want to deal with, like books or clothes, and get rid of anything that doesn’t “spark joy” for you.
Once you’ve reduced the number of items that you have in your home, figure out where you’re going to put them. Don’t just shove your items into any drawer or cupboard with extra space. Give everything you own its own home.
This will make it easier to find what you need in the future.
Organizing your belongings is also an excellent opportunity to experiment with ideas like Feng Shui. While not everyone is convinced by the practice of Feng Shui, making little changes to your home environment could make a big difference.
2. Create a space for relaxation
Every part of your home has a purpose. Your bathroom is where you get clean and soothe your stresses away with a relaxing bath. Your kitchen is where you prepare nutritious meals. So, where do you go when you want to relax?
Most people think that their living room is as good of a place as any. However, this is also the location where you go to watch television and entertain yourself.
If you want a space where you can wind down, then set one aside. It might just be a chair behind a Shoji screen where you can read books and meditate.
Make your relaxation space as comfortable and appealing as possible. Blankets and throw cushions can make you feel more at rest when you go here for a few minutes after a stressful experience.
Arrange the objects in your relaxation zone however you choose and feel free to switch things around to see how it makes you feel. This is a place that’s just for you.
3. Experiment with plants and aromatherapy
There’s more to designing a peaceful home than having a comfortable area where you can cuddle up with a few cushions. True relaxation often comes when you know how to understand and respond to all of your senses.
An environment that includes natural elements and plants brings a positive outlook on life and boosts people into feeling more alive and active.
For instance, a lot of people believe that aromatherapy is the key to true tranquility.
You probably have a scent in mind that makes you feel more relaxed almost immediately, like lavender, for example. Aromatherapy research suggests that you really can reduce stress just by surrounding yourself with the right smells.
While oils and incense sticks are a great start, it’s even better if you can bring some plant-life into your life. Bringing some of the outdoors into your home is an excellent way to encourage better happiness and more energy.
It sounds a little crazy, but research shows that indoor plants really do make people feel happier. Even plants that don’t have a scent could make a huge difference to your home life.
4. Replace the screen time
Let’s face it, most people won’t be willing to detach themselves from their screens permanently. We live in a world where a relationship with technology is pretty much essential.
You use computers and tablets at work, check your smartphone several times every day, and even talk to your speaker.
However, if you want to make your home more peaceful, it might be worth taking a step back from the technology every now and again. Too much exposure to things like stressful Facebook posts and annoying emails really does influence how you think and feel.
At the very least, try setting aside a period before you go to bed each night when you can shut off your phone and stop paying attention to any alerts.
Go on “do not disturb” mode if you have to or leave your phone outside of your bedroom and use a traditional alarm clock instead.
There are plenty of thing you can do without gluing your eyes to a screen, like listening to your favorite music, or reading a book. A relaxing bath before bed is a great way to reduce your feelings of stress too.
5. Improve your sleep quality
Speaking of settling down before bed, a great home life starts with a good night’s sleep.
If you don’t have time to transform your entire home with new, more tranquil settings, then start by focusing on your bedroom. Get rid of anything in your bedroom that might disrupt your sleep, including televisions and other electronic devices.
Think about the things that keep you awake at night, like outdoor noises, and look for ways to fix the issue. White noise machines and earplugs are often more helpful than you’d think.
You can create a peaceful home life in your bedroom by:
- Using a humidifier and thermostat to control the environment in your room.
- Installing dimmer switches for light before bed.
- Investing in blackout curtains.
- Using an alarm clock that wakes you up with sunrise, rather than a sound.
- Keeping pets outside of the bedroom.
6. Creating a calm and peaceful home
Designing a peaceful home where you can feel comfortable, tranquil, and confident is the key to giving yourself some control over your day to day life.
Most of the time, you can’t do much about the environments you find yourself in. We’re constantly overwhelmed by panic at the office and stress in traffic.
The very least you can do is make your home a place where you can relax.
Don’t forget to check out our other articles for more tips on how to make the most of your home and improve your wellbeing too!
ReWired: ReThink Your Life.
