Put simply, your home should be a safe space for you to find refuge in – a place where you can relax and unwind after a hard day at work. And while you can’t do much about your neighborhood, you can change the inside of your apartment or house. Since your interior design choices have a big impact on how you feel in your place, it’s essential that you spend some time assessing whether your decor has a positive or negative effect on your mental health and mood.
Changing your interiors can seem daunting, but you actually don’t have to do much to achieve peace and calm. Read on to discover a few simple decorating tips that can help you create a personal stress-free sanctuary in your home.
1. Use a Neutral Color Palette
There’s a reason why spas primarily use muted, neutral colors – they are soothing, calming, and far easier on the eye than bright colors. Although colorful interiors can bring joy and a youthful feel, they can also be somewhat overwhelming.
Neutral color palettes like beige, off-white, taupe, or cream, promote a sanctuary-like aesthetic. What’s more, shades of warm colors such as tan, browns, and faded yellows can break up a sterile ambiance – adding subtle warmth to any room. If you’re worried that this may look boring, try to work with different textures, patterns, and fabrics to enhance visual interest in any space.
Quick Tip – It Takes More than Home: Beyond decorating your home, you need to actively work to combat stress. This could mean a daily walk, some meditation, or yoga, just do whatever it takes to get to that place.
2. Leverage Light to Your Advantage
It goes without saying that ample natural light is best for creating an inviting, calm, and pleasant atmosphere. But unfortunately, some homes don’t have large windows and require extra lighting to brighten up the space.
Avoid only using overhead light, and instead, utilize different types of lighting in every room. From ambient, natural, and task lighting, you can create different moods by brightening your interior. A calm space will require more subdued lighting, so be sure to invest in a few pendants, sconces, or floor and table lamps, and don’t forget to make good use of candles. Additionally, you can opt to install dimmers that take your overhead lighting from bright and alive to subdued and calm. It all depends on the aesthetic you want to create, of course!
3. Create Color Clusters
While stress-free sanctuary in your home should have primarily subdued colors, you can add a splash of joy by creating color clusters. Use some bright accessories and home decór items that spruce up your place in subtle ways without being overpowering. Candles, pillows, pottery, artwork, throws, and decorative items work great when they are clustered together to create a focal point in your room. Plus, whenever you feel like you want to restore your monochromatic color palette, simply store that cluster of color away. This allows your space to be flexible, and you can update it year round.
4. Soften Your Space With Textiles
Textiles, such as velvet, suede, and knits, give your home a cozy feel. From beautiful slipcovers to ultra-soft pillows and stunning drapes, textiles can bring calmness and ease to your space. Accents like rugs and throw pillows are great since they are inexpensive and easy to swap out once they start looking and feeling worn out. Update these items regularly to create a clean, cohesive look.
5. Keep Your Place Tidy
It goes without saying that clutter will prevent your place from feeling like a stress-free sanctuary. Fortunately, it’s easy to contain your things in organizing units like baskets and bins. Get rid of things you no longer need, and organize everything else neatly in storage boxes, tucked away out of plain view to create a clean, tidy environment.
6. Scent the Air
Spas usually use scents to create a sense of relaxation and well-being. You can opt to use fresh flowers, scented candles, burn incense or set up diffuser sticks with natural aromas like chamomile or Eucalyptus to give your space a pleasant smell.
7. Invite the Outdoors In
Green plants, an arrangement of branches, or fresh flowers in water add warmth to your home. They exude the tranquility of nature and are excellent when going for a calm, sanctuary-like look and feel. You can always opt for dried flowers or low-maintenance houseplants if you’re worried about taking care of them on the regular.
Quick Tip – Revel in Company: With your newly stress-free space, use it as a venue for good company. Being around loved ones is a great way to appreciate life, vent, and simply distract yourself.
8. Display Family Photos
Your refuge should ooze lots of love and positivity. One way to do that is by displaying photos of your family and friends. They exhibit happy memories while taking you to pleasant times in your life. What’s more, framed photos don’t just remind you of people that matter but are also beautiful decorations that enhance your interiors.
9. Add Warmth Through Candles
Candles are wonderful for adding warmth to your home. Their soft glow helps you relax and brings you a sense of peace and calm. From lighting them up in the morning to using them while you meditate or do yoga, candles are great for creating a soothing ambiance every day.
Quick Tip – Separate Work and Relaxation: If you’re working from home, make sure to keep some separation between your work station and your areas for relaxation, or you could prevent yourself from ever truly winding down.
Conclusion
Spa-like quality can be achieved in your apartment or house with a few simple tips and tricks. From using neutral color nuances, ample daylight, and soft textiles to scenting the air, it doesn’t take much to create harmony at home. All that’s left for you to do is add some beautiful and soothing home decor to transform your space into a truly relaxing and stress-free sanctuary.
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