The idea of decorating your home to help restore unbalanced energy and bring prosperity and peace to a home or office is centuries old – Feng Shui. But you don’t need to follow the rules of Feng Shui or interior designers to create a haven for you and your family. Nor do you have to spend a great deal of money. Small changes in your home can have a big impact. And the reason they do is because they are completely personal to you and your needs.
“So where do I start?”, you say.
The first place to start is where things bother you the most. And once you declutter, you will uncover the real problem areas.
Decluttering is a very important part of changing how you feel in your home, office or garage. Utilizing your storage areas in a more efficient way, helps to relieve the stress of always having to sort through messes to find something or storing things in an inconvenient place.
We often don’t realize all the “little” things in our lives that create stress. We seem to focus only of the big ones – job challenges, raising kids, health issues. But if you sat down and wrote out all the things about your home, garage or office that bother you and never seem to work, the list would be much longer than you imagine.
The more “small” things you can sort out, the easier it is to handle the stress of larger challenges. Having an organized, uncluttered space allows you to relax, wind down and separate yourself from the outside world to rejuvenate and destress.
Clutter and broken things are always on your mind even if you don’t notice. It overstimulates your brain and drains your mental and emotional resources. It’s a visual nagging reminder of all the things you have yet to do.
Imagine going out to your garage to start a project and everything is tidy and easily found. Now imagine going out to the same garage where you have to root through tools, left over items from your last project, garbage bags that didn’t get put in the cans….
Now, everyone has their own level of tidiness that works for them – it’s not one size fits all. Perfection is not the goal but attending to the basics and respecting yourself and your space makes life a little less stressful – and we could all use a bit less stress.
Colour is another very important part of feeling at ease in your space. Whether it is wall colours or items in the room, things that please us by design, colour or memory treasures, are important parts of making your house your home. Perhaps you like different styles and colours – each room can be it’s own “personality”. Rooms of different colours allow you to have different emotional experiences, one can be calm, another more lively, or you may be the type of person who prefers all rooms to blend in to each other. Listening to your intuition is important when choosing colours – take your time and trust yourself.
Room Design – Another idea to consider is how you would like to use each room. Although homes are designed for traditional uses, using rooms in a way that supports your lifestyle is important. Setting up furniture in different ways also gives us new views which can help with our creativity as well.
Do you enjoy having lots of friends and family over, are you more introverted and do very small or one on one gatherings, do you work from home, are you casual, traditional, formal, eclectic? Knowing your preferences and working with them is more important that trying to follow the latest styles or trends. Perhaps the dining room would be better suited to a family room or somewhere that your can create art, music or enjoy other hobbies. Be as creative and adventurous as you would like!
When you no longer have to follow the “rules” of the best way to set up a home, you will feel freer to be yourself. Our homes are much more than places to live and hang our hats. They express who we are and what matters to us. We reveal more of ourselves in our homes than anywhere else.
Textures, furniture style, lighting, full or spacious rooms are all a personal choice that affects your ability to enjoy your space. Coordinated style, various styles – only you know what pleases you.
Furniture Style – How you use those special pieces of furniture in your rooms is also up for grabs. Perhaps you have some older family cabinets or wardrobes that you love but haven’t been able to repurpose yet. How can you use them for something other than what they were made for? Could they be painted and used for storing clothes, books or blankets – I personally have a beautiful, older solid wood entertainment unit I use for pants, purses and baskets of odd items. You can add shelves, drawers or rods to accommodate your needs and make things more interesting.
Your home is where you get to be you – not who you think you should be. And the best thing is, it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. You already have many things in your home that you love and they don’t have to go. Rearranging furniture, using pillows, fabric and plants in different ways, possibly a little paint is all you might need. I’m the type that will change around a room several times a year and seldom spend money on a new look. Throughout life we change and grow and sometimes our home needs to change with us.
Don’t know where to start or stuck in the middle of a project – overwhelmed with too many things – send me an email and let’s talk about how I can help.
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47 Questions Coaching & Consulting 