10 Tips For How To Create Calm Spaces In Your Home
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Color
This is the easiest way to create calm spaces in your home. The colors you use in the space can make a huge impact on how you feel in the space. And no, I am not talking about only using neutral colors and white paint. Even colorful spaces can be calm. If you are someone who thrives with a lot of colors, use them. If you feel you are most creative and alive when you are surrounded by a lot of colors, embrace that.
I do always suggest pops of colors around your space and not on the bigger areas like the walls. That way, there is room to “breathe” (for lack of a better term) between the pops of color. Some less bold colors on the bigger surfaces can make the bolder colors really shine in the space. Colorful spaces can be calm and soothing if done the right way.
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Textures
What textures do you find calming? Wool? Sherpa? Mohair? Wood? What things do you find soothing through touch? We all have those things that give us goosebumps when we touch them. For me, it is certain kinds of Sherpa material. There are a few others that I just can’t touch without getting the shivers and goosebumps. Some velvets do that to my mom. Choose textures in your space that make you want to walk right in and touch them. Those are the textures that will make your space calm for you.
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Organization
When you closed your eyes at the beginning of this post (and I really hope you did), did you see a lot of clutter in your dream home/space? Were all the surfaces consumed with stuff? I am going to guess they weren’t. A lot of stuff and clutter will not make for a calm space or home. There is so much to be said about organization and organized spaces. I could spend an entire post just on that. For now, I am going to direct you to my Organization Challenge HERE to get you started. This guide will walk you through your entire home and help you get organized in a timely and easy manner. We can’t have calm homes with cluttered spaces. They are like oil and water. They don’t mix.
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Smells
I am obsessed with the smells in our home. I won’t even cook certain things because I don’t like the way the smell lingers in our home afterward. That’s a little over the top, I know, but it is true. Having your space/home smell good is part of having a space you want to spend time in. There are all kinds of ways to make your home smell great (sprays, candles, essential oils, etc.) but keeping a clean home is the start that is essential.
A good cleaning routine will ensure all surfaces are cleaned regularly. Adding scents on top of a space or home that needs a good cleaning is like spraying perfume/cologne on a person after a tough and sweaty workout (and deodorant wasn’t applied before the workout). You are trying to mask something that needs to be cleaned first. Adding the scent over that can be counter-intuitive and make a good scent smell foul or just not pleasing.
I have a free weekly cleaning checklist HERE that will help you get on a cleaning schedule so when you do add a favorite scent by a candle or essential oil scent to your home, it is being highlighted and it isn’t being used to mask other smells that need to be taken care of first.
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Noise
What do you want to hear in a calming space in your home? Is it soft music? Your favorite music? Water? Whatever it is, make sure to set up the space to give you that. Maybe you add an Alexa/Echo speaker (I love ours). It could be a record player for your vintage records. Maybe it is a tabletop fountain. There are so many sounds that can be calming. You just have to choose yours and add that to the spaces in your home.
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Lighting
Lighting can make a big difference in how you feel inside a space in your home. Candlelight is great for setting a calm space. Overhead lighting and lighting that comes from floor and table lamps are different. They all serve their purpose for different things. Think about the lighting in your spaces and set it up according to what makes you feel calm.
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Decor
When you closed your eyes at the beginning of this post (again, I hope you really did that), what did the decor look like in your dream home/space? What kinds of things were in the space? Vases? Art? Throw pillows? Think about the things you saw when picturing your ideal calm space and make sure to add those things into your home. By the same token, if you didn’t see the things that are in your home now, maybe it is a good time to edit and get rid of some of the decor that isn’t serving you any longer.
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Think Nature
Nature can bring so much calm to all of us. If we think about some of our favorite vacations and places we like to go to unwind, a lot of time the nature scene around those places is what keeps calling us. If you like the ocean, the sand, the woods, the mountains – whatever it is, add those elements into the spaces in your home. Maybe it is a photo or artwork that incorporates nature in some way. Maybe it is a vessel filled with heart rocks and sea glass you have found on your favorite beach. Whatever it is, add some natural elements to your spaces.
Image via Wooden Earth Cutlery
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Perfect Doesn’t Live Here
This is probably my favorite of all the tips. Perfect doesn’t live in a calm and serene place. There is no such thing as perfect. Do not strive for perfection in anything you do in your home. You will always be changing things and making adjustments as you see fit. Believe me, I struggle with perfectionism. I am learning there is no such thing in so many areas of life. Don’t put that extra stress on yourself when setting up calm spaces in your home.
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How Do You Act?
How do you want to act in a calm space in your home? Is it watching TV? Are you reading a book by a fireplace? Are you snacking and perusing through your favorite magazines? How do you act in this calm space? Take that into consideration when you are thinking about how to set up this ideal calm space in your home.
