Home is where the heart is, so they say. And there is nothing so beautiful as being in love with your home. If you have a blog or work from home from time to time, you need the space to be welcoming and beautiful too. Because you spend more time in it, it is even more important to keep it serene.

When life is hectic, you know that you can close the door, kick off your shoes and sink into your couch. Or light some of your favourite candles and sink into the bath. You want your home to be somewhere to support and nurture you. But you have to give that love to get it back. And it is more than just the aesthetic, but it helps if it pleases you to look at.

There are always going to be jobs that need doing around the house, some you can do yourself and some you’ll need to hire someone in to do for you.

So here are some tips to get your home feeling like a warm, safe place every time you step inside.

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Clutter

If you have children or even a busy life, then sometimes clutter just happens. From piles of unread leaflets that have come through the door, to bric-a-brac collecting on the stairs. It can feel like once you have tidied one bit, the next will need to be done. We know now that clutter can have a substantial mental impact, and we don’t even notice until the space becomes clean again. Picking up storage that is only to be used to quickly pack away clutter, and always sorted on a set day of the week will mean that you n longer have to spend time every day sorting and putting away. Instead the weekend, perhaps everyone will take their items from the box and put them away neatly.

Colour

The colour of your walls can make a significant impact on how you feel. The right colour scheme can often be a challenge, though. So think about what colours make you feel great. Light lavenders, whites, and pale blues and greens are often the most calming. And as you are going for zen, then try to choose colours that make you feel that way. Before you commit to anything use some colour tester strips and play with how they look for a few weeks. If there is a colour you are repeatedly drawn to, then you have your answer.

Odd Jobs

Every house has a range of jobs that people put off. It is time to get them done and clear that mental load. If you have peeling paint or chipped wood, it is time to hit the internet and find a tutorial on how to help you fix it. For bigger jobs, get the right professional in. For plumbers use a service like mrrooter.ca/toronto, and electricians can be found quickly via YELP too. Get them taken care of and cross them off your list.

Bedroom

If the rest of the house feels like a beautiful, relaxing space, but your bedroom is messy and in need of some love. Then you have to focus some time there. Make sure that you have a hamper big enough to put your worn clothing in so it doesn’t end up on the floor or a chair in the corner of the room. Think about the calming colours you have used elsewhere in the house and see if you want to extend that into the bedroom.

Plants

Flowers and plants play a much more influential role in your home than you might think. A blogger from https://lamouretfleurs.com says that having flowers at your room reduces anxiety and depression and make you happy. If you purchase the right ones, then they will clean your air, smell gorgeous and provide a sense of calm. But there is something more exciting and impactful about plants. Green, as a colour, makes us more productive. So if you work from home, then having green plants around where you like to work can make a big difference to you. If you have trouble keeping plants at their best, then you can consider succulents, parlour palms and snake plants. They don’t need as much attention to stay green and happy.

Purpose

If a room doesn’t have a purpose, it is much harder to decide what should be in there, and what should be done in there. If you have rooms that are multi-purpose, then consider if they need to cater to everything. If you create individual spaces for certain things, like a corner for work, or a space for painting, then you open up more of your home – to yourself. You can move out of the workspace, into the creative space, or from the shared living room space, into a ‘you’ space – you can create a flow that works for you and your lifestyle. In fact, you can create a new way of living in your home if you choose to.

Defining the roles and the purpose will give you a clearer idea of how you want to decorate and accessorize the space.

Balance

Less isn’t always more. There is a balance to be had in every home. You can play around with lighter and darker pieces of furniture and colours, having polished or brushed metals and complementing that with plants and wood. Look for symmetry, and shapes that work together and flow well. Consider what it is that you want to make a feature in the room, and how you can use shapes and space to draw the eye to it.

Light

There is no substitute for natural light, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t fill a room with different tones of bulbs in order to create specific moods. Using amber, or copper industrial style bulbs will give a warmth that can make a place feel cosy and contained. This works exceptionally well in the evenings, and during the winter. If you don’t have an open fire, the shades of the bulbs can mimic those red and orange tones.

Where possible use something light like voile or a thin curtain or blind for your windows. This will help to maximise the amount of light that can flood into the room.

A neat trick you will often see if the use of mirrors and highly polished items used to bounce the light around even more. You will need to angle the mirrors in a specific way, but there are many online tips about how to maximize the light from a mirror.

Comfort

If you have a particularly comfortable sofa, but the covers are in need of some care. Then there are a few things you can do. If you are lucky enough to have removable cushions, you can replace them with some of a different colour. If they aren’t, then you can check out the tutorials for creating new ones. If you are pretty great with crafts, you can practice dying different fabric types, and then when you are confident you can do it on your sofa.

Nature

Although you already have plenty of nature in the form of plants, you might consider some other natural touches. Natural materials like rock, stones, crystals and wood are not only interesting to look at, but they bring a new aspect and feel into the room. Many people believe that crystals and precious gems have special energies and meaning that you can benefit from when you have them placed around your home.

Movement

There are some things that are completely serene, and if you have the room for them, you should see if they work for you. Fish tanks are particularly amazing for this. The blue of the water, the bubbles moving gently through the water, and of course the fish. You might decide you don’t want animals in your home, and robotic fish will still have that soft movement that is so relaxing to watch. There are also ornaments with spinning balls, propelled by water that make the babbling sound and are mesmerizing.

If you have a window that faces the garden, you could also choose to have a water feature fitted. The soft babble of the water, and watching it sparkle in the summertime is something that can’t be beaten. People have an affinity with water, the ‘blue effect’ is something we get when we see the water. It gives us a sense of calm and relaxation, which is why we can spend so long looking out to sea and watching rivers ripple on by.

When you are looking to create your ideal home, you don’t have to rush, you can take it slowly and do it room by room. Putting thought into what you want to see and what makes you happy. The colours that you know make you calm and relaxed, placing and lighting scented candles, having spaces around the home for you to work or relax are all perfect. Creating a home you adore, is a very personal thing, surround yourself with what makes you happy, and you will love coming home every day.