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Sometimes our homes are a haven of respite and tranquility. Other times they are bustling with chaos and activity. In an ever increasingly busy world, finding balance and a sense of calm is a priority for most of us – especially within our homes. You need your space to be a home you love to live in: You need your home to be a haven.
How we live inside the four walls of our homes plays a huge part in the lives we live outside the four walls. For instance, if you feel anxious and overwhelmed by your job, your community, extra activities, responsibilities, etc, then you need your home to be a place of rest and relaxation. Here’s how you can begin to achieve your goals and create a home you love to live in no matter what the outside world holds for you.
Choose A Base Color Palette
Color palettes are always the first place to start when creating a home you love to live in. Without a set color palette, you may find yourself buying items that don’t coordinate well or work well together. To create a home you love to live in, you want to create a cohesive space where one room easily flows into the next.
Whether you choose dark moody colors like burgundy, navy, and chocolate or caramel browns, or lighter colors like creams, whites, taupes, and accents of black, you want to pick a base color palette and stick with it throughout your home. If you choose a base color palette, adding in touches of uniqueness to each room can come from one additional accent color to make that room special.
For instance, choosing a calming neutral color palette of taupe, black, cream and white allows you to use that color story throughout your entire home. At which point, you can add accents of green in one room, accents of blue in another, and still accents of burgundy in another. But the underlying color story continues to be represented throughout the entire space.
Bonus: Having a base color palette makes decorating for the holidays a breeze! You can add in touches of winter greenery, mercury glass, traditional Christmas colors, or metallics like silver and gold that will overlay the holidays in a way that is utter perfection.
Take Inspiration From Places You Feel Calm
We all have those places where we feel calmness. Personally, for me it’s always near the water. For you, it could be a mountain cabin, the beach, a lakefront house, or a city high rise. It doesn’t matter where you find your sense of calm, the point of the exercise is to take inspiration from the places you feel calm so you can create a home you love to live in.
The most important things to look for are textures and colors. If your place of calm is the beach, look for natural textures like jute rugs, cool silk pillow covers, or lime-washed woods.
Maybe a cabin in the woods is your place of calm. Then look for rough-hewn darker woods, darker, moodier colors, and natural landscapes of nature.
If your place of calm is a city high rise, then go for start contrasts like black and white or black and gray color schemes. Look for minimal lines in furniture, and keep decor at a minimum. You can incorporate luxurious velvets, cool wood tones, and incorporate a modern design.
To create a home you love to live in, take inspiration from places you feel calm and work to recreate that feeling in your space.
Honor Areas for “You” Moments
The Bedroom
We all begin and end our days in our bedrooms. That is why it is so vitally important to create personal, intimate spaces and to honor areas for ‘you’ moments. From adding a cozy throw at the foot of the bed to including luxury items like faux fur pillow coverings, velvet shams, or calm mood lighting, having little luxuries in the bedroom are the ultimate pathway to creating you moments.
If you have space for an armchair tucked into a corner with a drink table and reading light, then by all means, add one! Having a place to take off your shoes at the end of the day, sit down a cup of tea or beverage, and just breathe in the tranquility is a sure-fire way to love the home you live in.
The Bathroom
But what if you live in a small space where there is no room for an additional chair? Then look to the second most intimate place in your home: The bathroom. Creating a well organized, calming space to get ready for your day, or your night, can be just the ‘you’ moment you’re looking for.
January white sales are a great time to replace well-worn and time-loved towels and wash cloths, and bedding. It can be expensive to try to replace everything at once, so take stock and prioritize your purchases. Maybe you would prefer a new set of plush towels; maybe a set of sheets. The point is to begin to create moments of luxury that are just for you.
Having a place to go where you can be alone with your thoughts for a few stolen moments is priceless in today’s world. Those quiet you moments are part of the equation when it comes to creating a home you love to live in.
Foster the Feeling of Togetherness
When you’ve had your moment of silent reflection at the beginning or end of a busy day, it’s time to focus your thoughts toward feelings of togetherness. Whether it’s sitting by the fireside watching the last embers of the evening, or enjoying casual conversation with a loved one, the living room / family room is the place where memories are made together.
Look for ways to transform your space into one that encourages comfort, easy living, and …togetherness. Find or create spaces for people to linger. Maybe that’s adding in a few floor pillows for lounging, a sheepskin run, or a cozy footstool to relax with. Even if you don’t have a fireplace, you can create the ambiance of one by designating an area on a bookshelf or coffee table to collect a display candles.
One way we can created a ‘fireplace’ in our apartment is by collecting a couple dozen battery operated ‘real flame’ candles and placing them in staggered heights on the bottom shelf of our coffee table. On the top of the coffee table we have a small set of tea light candles, and an outdoor lantern we place an indoor fire pit inside of. If we are in the room watching television, reading, or just watching the sunset, this display gives the very real ambiance of having a fire place.
Whatever way speaks togetherness to you and your family is the way you should focus on creating. Creating a feeling of togetherness is definitely on the pathway to creating a home you love to live in.
Remember the Heart Of the Home
The kitchen is where we prepare meals, create memories, and gather around the dinner table. In order to create a kitchen you love to live and work in requires a few intentional thoughts: organization, smart storage, and streamlined processes. That’s a lot to ask of a kitchen, isn’t it? It is a lot to ask for, but it isn’t an impossible task.
Minimize First
The very first thing you must consider is the sheer amount of stuff you have in your kitchen. If you open your drawer and have to shuffle through knives, serving spoons, and spatulas, then it may be time to declutter. I recommend emptying out every drawer and assessing every single piece. I know it sounds like a lot, but trust me, it is worth it. You’ll be surprised by how many tools you have that only serve one purpose, and maybe only once or twice a year.
Clearing the unnecessary clutter will allow you to streamline your cooking and and will make cleanup a breeze.
Streamline Second
The next thing to consider are your processes. I can’t tell you how many times I walked all the way across my kitchen to get pot holders or serving utensils before I thought to simply move them to where I needed them! Maybe this has happened to you, as well.
I encourage you to look at your kitchen, not as if you were newly moving in, but with fresh eyes that are well acquainted with how you live in your home. Are the drinking glasses near the refrigerator? Is the silverware near the dinnerware? Are your cooking utensils within reach of the range?
Here’s one most people don’t think of: If you have a built in pantry that is simply too small, or too deep to be functional, maybe rethink that space as more of a ‘storage’ area.” Rarely used things like slow cookers, roasting pans, or stand mixers can easily be slid to the back and pulled at when needed. A shallow pantry closet could hold dinnerware and glassware, placemats and napkins, leaving those kitchen cupboards for food storage that can be more easily kept within arms reach. Just because something is intended for one purpose doesn’t mean you can’t switch it up to fit your purpose.
Look for ways you can streamline your processes and make your life easier. That’s what this exercise is all about: Ease of living as you create a home you love.
Organize Last, But Organize Always
Once you have minimized belongings and streamlined processes, it’s time to put organization into practice. Having baskets and well thought under cabinet storage is always helpful, but having bins for organization only goes so far. Keeping up with organization is a daily task. Making sure like items are stored together, utensils and appliances are assessed regularly, and parting ways with unnecessary items is a never-ending responsibility. But it is one that is worth it.
Tasks like keeping coffee mugs and glassware together is a simply daily chore. Looking through appliances and utensils should be done at least monthly. Trust me, there’s no feeling like knowing where things are when you need them, and having a place to store them properly when you don’t.
Work to Live, Not Live to Work
When the Covid pandemic swept the world by storm, I heard a colleague say, “We used to work to live, now we live at work.” What he meant was that our homes became our work places. And while some of us have gone back into the workplace, many of us have chosen to work from home as a continued practice.
In many ways it is a beautiful opportunity, but in others, we can find ourselves constantly looking at a messy desk, a beckoning laptop, or the temptation to check email “just one last time.” Putting boundaries around our work and personal time is an absolute non-negotiable when it comes to creating a home you love to live in. None of us want to to live at work. We simply must have personal time and personal space.
Look For Inspiration
So what do we do when it comes to work spaces within the home? First, we must look for inspiration. That means surrounding your work area, be it desk, dining table, or sofa, with things that inspire you; inspire creativity, inspire productivity, and inspire availability. We want to be available mentally and emotionally to do quality work. Likewise, we want to be productive or creative in our tasks. In order to be our best, we must surround ourselves with things that inspire those qualities.
Seek Out Comfort
Secondarily, look for furniture that is comfortable and, if possible, stylish. If you’re sitting at a desk that isn’t the right height for you, your body will repay the favor, believe me. The same is true for your desk chair. Maybe you need a seat cushion, a sheepskin throw to make it cozy and warm, or maybe you simply need a replacement. Whatever the case, create a comfortable space to work in that keeps you going throughout your day.
Protect Boundaries
Thirdly, set boundaries on what you allow yourself to see. What do I mean? Well, having a laptop out on a table or desk all day and all night is a visual reminder that something is waiting for you, someone is waiting on a reply, a task was left incomplete, or chaos ensued somewhere. At the end of your work day, be diligent to put away any and all reminders of work for the evening. Whether you work at a dining table or a desk tucked in the corner of your bedroom, put away all reminders of your work day in order to truly relax and enjoy a home you love to live in.
Practice Patience
Rome wasn’t built in a day, friend. And whether you have been on a life-long journey to create a home you love to live in, or you’re just beginning, practice patience. Be patient with yourself, be patient with your budget, be patient with your style. These things must evolve with you as you evolve and your home evolves. Practice patience, work diligently, seek inspiration, and you, too can create a home you love to live in.
Additional Resources:
- Myquillyn Smith | Nesting Place
- Melissa Michaels | The Inspired Room
- Bre Doucette | The Gift of Home: Beauty and Inspiration to Make Every Space a Special Place
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Creating a home you love to live in is the ultimate luxury, friend. Wherever you are on your journey, remember to take your time, think about the importance of your home as haven, practice patience, and don’t forget to forward your mail!
