Love Your Home Again

Our home should be our refuge. It’s the one place where we should be able to find the most peace and comfort. Having gone through the pandemic lock down you may have found your home feels more like a prison. You need to change that mindset and make your home the refuge and place of peace it’s supposed to be. What can you do to make your home a place you look forward to coming to after a long work day? Think about what home means to you.

Your home; your refuge should be filled with things that you love. Whether you live alone or have a family; you still need the sense of belonging and ownership. If your home is not your favorite place; do something to make it so. Make some changes to make you love your home again.

Person wearing gray and white socks near brown fireplace — Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels

Warmth

As we head into the colder months of the year, warmth is something that is of utmost importance. In Texas we really worry most about staying cool in the summer months, but even then, I like to feel cozy when I’m relaxing. I keep a throw blanket on my chair and most nights it finds it’s way to my lap. There’s just something about feeling warm that brings comfort.

Certainly when the weather turns, having a home that provides efficient heat is a must. I talk about this often, having a home that is not sealed up tight can wreak havoc not only on your comfort level, but on your energy bills as well. If you have cold air seeping in through old windows and doors, it’s almost impossible to warm your house up. If your house is insufficiently insulated; the same thing occurs. Places like https://replacementwindowseugene.com/ can help you insulate your house as effectively as possible.

The idea is keeping as much of the heated air in your home as possible. This means you want your house to be able to keep the cold air out and keep the warm air in. It’s possible to efficiently warm and cool your house, but you may have to do some work to make this happen.

Light

Let the light in! A well lit home gives you the feeling of calm. Now, I’m not suggesting you have to make every room seem like you need sunglasses to enter. I’m saying that you need to consider the lighting in each room. You seriously need different types of lighting for different rooms.

Your kitchen, for instance, needs to have lighting that will allow you to clearly see what’s happening with food prep. Bright lights over your counters help you safely prepare meals. When you’re chopping veggies and slicing meats with sharp knives, you need to see clearly what you are doing.

The dining areas can have more muted lighting. A dimmer switch installed can help you create different moods in that room. If it’s game night, have your chandelier on full light so everyone can see the game pieces. If you’re wanting an intimate dinner with someone, turn those lights down a bit to create a romantic mood.

You truly need to light each room differently based on what you use the room to accomplish. In our bedroom, for instance, we have a ceiling light that provides bright light. It’s perfect for getting dressed and making sure colors match. But in the evenings, bedside lamps provide nice soft light that is more relaxing and calming. Bathroom lights, on the other hand, are generally brighter since you use the mirrors there for applying makeup and styling your hair.

Don’t take lighting for granted.

Flow

You may never think about the flow of your home; they way you move from one room to another. The flow of your home may be causing you unknown anxiety. Consider the pathways through your home. Are there unnecessary obstacles in the way? Maybe you have a chair that’s protruding too far out into an aisle. Is there room to pass between coffee tables and furniture? If you find that you’re having to dodge furniture just to get from one room to the next, may think about rearranging. It’s possible you have too much furniture than your space allows.

You may need to move that extra chair up to a bedroom and clear space in your living areas. Letting go of some larger furniture items may help the sense of flow through your home. This can help with your feeling of well-being.

Cleanliness

The easiest way to make your home feel more comfortable is to keep it clean. At night when you’re heading to bed, go ahead and take any dishes that are in the living room to the kitchen. Keeping tidy as you go makes it so much easier.

You have laundry that needs folding sitting in a chair? It’s best to fold the laundry right in the laundry room if possible. Have a small folding table on hand on laundry day. Then, when the clothes are dry, take each item out one at a time and fold it. Having a hanging bar with available hangers makes it so easy to hang clothes right out of the dryer. Your laundry will be finished in a blink and you won’t have a pile waiting in a chair cluttering up your living area.

If you have small children, it can feel like a losing battle. If they bring toys in from their rooms, be sure it’s only a few things. Keeping a small tote behind a chair in a corner is a great way to take their toys back to their rooms at bedtime. But be consistent. Take all of the toys to their rooms every evening. That way, you start the next day with a clean space.

Cleaning as you go is truly the best way to keep your home neat. Make a schedule for the days you’re going to deep clean things. Maybe vacuuming one day a week will work. Choose that day and stick to it. I’d probably dust the furniture on the same day as I vacuum. Add the bathroom to a different day. You can literally have a spotless house by just working an hour or less a day.