Take a quick look around you home. How relaxed, recharged, and happy does your space make you feel?
Because we’re all still (groan, we know!) spending a lot of time at home these days, we’ve got some great ways to make your home a more positive space from Laura May, digital editor at Just Another Magazine.
Your home environment should be a sanctuary where you can relax, recharge, and be most at peace. But this isn’t always the case. Many home environments feel cramped, creating a negative atmosphere that induces symptoms of stress.
Not to worry though! In this article we explore the following four ways you can make your home a more positive place to live:
- Clear the clutter
- Embrace structured simplicity
- Make neutrals pop (and let in the sunshine)
- Bring the outdoors inside
Read on as we explore these tips and help you create a more positive home space.
1. Bring the Outdoors Inside
Caring for plants and flowers has lots of relaxing properties — but have you dabbled with the idea of creating your very own indoor garden? Bringing the outdoors inside is a chance to get creative and be at one with nature.
According to an article by Forbes, greenery in your home reduces stress and can make you feel better. This is because indoor plants improve concentration, naturally purify the air around you, as well as improve your overall mood.
Best of all, many plant species require little fuss to look after, meaning you don’t have to be an experienced gardener to experience the benefits. With simplicity firmly in mind, here are some popular and widely recommended house plants:
- Japanese peace lily
- Blue star fern
- Fishbone cactus
- Spider plant
- Aloe Vera
While being aesthetically pleasing, these various options are well adapted to home living and are particularly resilient, which means you can create a positive, nature-filled environment without the stress or worry of a more difficult species.
2. Clear the Clutter
Clear space, clear mind — a mantra that pairs a clean home with living a stress-free life.
Sometimes decluttering your home environment is all you need to make a more positive space. After all, trying to do work surrounded by a mess or tucking into a good book amongst yesterday’s laundry is enough to distract anybody.
While organized mess might benefit some personalities, unwieldy clutter is claustrophobic and overwhelming to many others. Spending time clearing the clutter around your home (home office included) makes your space feel calmer and more purposeful.
With this in mind, it pays to be clever with storage, especially if you’re dealing with confined areas like a long narrow living room, given you have less space to hide the mess. Instead of sweeping it all under the carpet, however, you’ll find many interior decorator experts (as in this article from FurnitureBox, for instance) recommend you make use of vertical space — this is because bookcases, shelves, and other cabinets can store and display anything you want without taking up much surface area.
3. Embrace Structured Simplicity
Cleared the clutter and still feel restricted? After months of lockdown living and working from home, you’ve likely grown tired of the same old scenery.
Monotony certainly doesn’t nourish the soul or mind, so now is the time to redecorate while still being mindful of a stripped-back, minimalist style. After all, loud accents and busy furniture aren’t conducive to creating a positive space either. Instead, you should embrace a trendy approach to home-living known as structured simplicity.
Structured simplicity refers to a popular Nordic design that adopts one core principle: create a refreshing, positive space devoid of clutter you can proudly call home.
Hence the name, structured simplicity places composition at the heart of design; your space should not feel crowded or loud, but rather well-planned and heartfelt. You should look to incorporate personal, happy memories like family pictures, cozy sinking sofas, and faded tones to help create a positive, relaxing environment.
4. Make Neutrals Pop (and Let in the Sunshine)
The aforementioned structured simplicity is at the heart of a clutter-free, positive home environment. But that is not to say you shouldn’t look to add a splash of color to brighten your day. After all, experts such as Healthline document that natural color and light increase the release of serotonin in your body, otherwise known as the happy hormone.
Picture nature and what do you see? Crisp blue skies, lush green forests, and white-capped mountain ranges? Neutral and pastel colours are the best way to represent nature in the composition of your home environment — so do your best to make them pop.
You can achieve this by incorporating lots of greens and blues into your layout: paint the walls, embrace accessories like pillows and throws, as well as take inspiration from what you see outside. But don’t overlook neutral tones either. Whites and greys are fantastic neutral colors that open up space for a classic, clean finish — this provides the illusion of a larger canvas in what may otherwise feel like a small, cramped environment.
Moreover, you should also look to let in the sunshine and a little fresh air by drawing curtains and opening a window or two. Ample access to sunlight and fresh air can alleviate depression symptoms, helping you feel brighter and more positive at home.
Making your home a more positive space is a great idea, especially after months of lockdown living. From clearing the clutter and embracing structured simplicity to making neutrals pop and adding some greenery — this is how you reclaim your home and make it a more positive space. —Laura May
Laura May is Digital Editor at Just Another Magazine. At Just Another Magazine they write about beauty, fashion, lifestyle, travel, trends and anything else that matters to their readers. Name throwing you off? Don’t take it too seriously — they intend to stand out from the crowd whilst creating content in their unique style.
