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| Happy family at home image by Monkey Business Images, thanks to Shutterstock |
Your home is supposed to be
your sanctuary, but when you return to it in the evening and there’s piles of
clutter, wet washing and arguing kids, it can feel like your own personal
torture chamber.
Bringing order and harmony
to your household is as much a mental and emotional exercise as a physical
process, but let’s start with the physical for now, as it’s the easiest way to
get the ball rolling.
Start on the clutter
Piles of mail, books,
papers, toys and plates create emotional pressure. They’re silently screaming
at you to sort them out, but often, you don’t know how or where to start. Just
start on one pile and forget about the others. Can’t decide which one? Pick the
one nearest to you and just do it.
Create a calm outdoor space
Whatever the size of your
garden, you can make it better and more inviting by raking the leaves,
scattering some wildflower seeds on the borders and fixing that gate (finally).
If you worry about people letting their dogs poop on your lawn or near your
gate, or about cold-callers knocking at the door, visit the my security sign website to see
if you could use one of their customised outdoor signs.
Change the internal décor
Have a look around your
home – are there any walls or corners that haven’t been painted in forever? Are
they looking dingy and neglected? Are some of the colours dull or
stress-inducing – headache gray, eye-watering yellow? Think about how these
spaces would look and feel with some new shades in them. Colours have psychological impacts,
so think about what you want to achieve before collecting swatches.
Make your special sanctuary motto
Think about the activities,
feelings and atmosphere your sanctuary supports and creates, then try to put
them into words. For example if you love to retreat to your garden to relax with a trowel and a
dog, then create a short motto, something like “Paws and smell the roses”, that
keeps that feeling in mind.
Bring the outside in
There
are lots of indoor plants that can improve health and wellbeing by helping to absorb the various toxic gases that
come off from household appliances and furnishings. These plants also bring a
little bit of nature into the space, promoting a sense of freedom and
relaxation. Opening the windows whenever you can will also help to flush out
stale air and lift everyone’s mood.
Create definite and discrete zones in your
home
If you divide your home up
into resting areas, techy areas, play zones, cooking and study zones, and
provide visual and tactile cues to remind you of which zone you’re entering,
these cues will work on your subconscious. As soon as you enter the rest and
relaxation zone, you’ll soon start to feel stress and worry lifting from your
shoulders. Similarly, when your teens walk into the study zone, they’ll get their revising head on!
Start off with baby steps
No-one’s asking you to
complete this transformation in a day, a week or even a month. Just start off
with what you can manage – move a desk that was once piled with letters and
ironing into the study area, for example.
Remember, mall steps still take you forward…
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