How to be Happy in Your Home
Humans are soulful beings and those souls need to be tended to regularly. At Larkin Painting Company, our mission is built upon “care of soul”. You care for soul when you care and tend to your home environment. This can be something as simple as putting fresh color up on your walls to planting a container garden of fresh herbs. When our environments are beautiful and calming, then we feel beautiful and calm. Our souls are tended to and nourished.
Reader’s Digest recently published a list of 13 Tiny Changes That Will Make Your Home Instantly Happier. I would actually say these are thirteen small things that help us take “care of soul”. The article lists actions like making your bed every day, keeping clutter minimal, bringing nature inside, displaying meaningful objects, choosing uplifting colors, and filling your home with good memories. Indeed, clutter causes a lot of stress. Flowers and plants connect us to the beauty of this earth. Making your bed and regularly maintaining the cleanliness of your home so you can tidy up a room in minutes makes us feel calmer, happier, and more organized.
Displaying meaningful items that call up warm memories around your home allows you to appreciate your past and showcase your personality. You can actually use your favorite aunt’s antique salt cellar and candlesticks instead of keeping them packed away in a box. Remember the bright wooden clogs you picked up in Holland that you love so much? Well, you can use those to decorate your home too. There are countless ways to incorporate your personality throughout your home.
Mindfulness, gratitude, and fostering connection can help us be happy in our space. When you wash the dishes be grateful for the hands that can move and feel the water. When you are taking out the trash and recycling, be grateful for the strength to do the job. Writing a line of gratitude in a journal every night before bed helps us take stock of our existence in our homes. Sometimes our lives are so full that even journaling can seem like “one more thing to do”. Make it easy for yourself and mentally review what you are thankful for while you stare in the mirror brushing your teeth. You can take note of the things and people you are thankful for as your head hits the pillow.
Connection with others can make us happy. Set up your home in a way to foster increased connection with other humans. Creating a comfortable space for you and your friends provides more opportunities for conversation and togetherness. Some people like to sit on couches, others prefer chairs. Providing different kinds of seating arrangements and interesting and warm decor create a welcoming environment. Mood lifting colors provide a constant backdrop of calm and happiness.
Find what fits you and your lifestyle and create your unique happy home.
Be well,
Bill