Now that the darker nights and colder weather are drawing in, it’s the perfect time of year to change up your home and create extra cosiness for all those nights in. Not to mention lockdown is keeping us all at home, so we might as well make the most of staying indoors this season. Living slow and mindfully means fully engaging with your surroundings, and while we often focus on the look of our homes, it’s important to engage the other senses too. When you sense your home, you can create more harmony on all levels.
Sense your home with…
Sight
The most obvious way to enjoy your home is to create a look that is aesthetically pleasing and relaxing to you. Some people do this with minimalism, some do it by surrounding themselves with cute ornaments. Whatever works for you and creates a harmonious and calming feeling is what you should choose, rather than following trends that may not align to your desires.
Workplace studies have shown that people work better and have a more positive mood and increased wellbeing in conditions that suit their personality, and this is equally important for your home.
To sense your home for sight, you should make it an extension of you. Love colour? Go wild! Like neutral tones or monochrome? Style your home this way. The more you it feels, the better. Adding just one sentimental item to a room, even in a more minimalist home, can remind you of happy memories and help you feel grounded and grateful too.
Smell
I’m a big fan of treating yourself to a bunch of flowers! Bringing the outdoors in with a fresh scent and pop of colour.
How amazing is it to walk into a home when the kitchen is fresh with aromas from cooking? Baked bread coming out of the oven, or seasoned steak sizzling in the pan. Rather than cooking constantly, you can add kitchen-based scents to your home easily. In the kitchen you could add some herbs, or some fresh flowers. Apparently, planting rosemary, lavender and lemon balm outside the front door will scent the air all year round.
Lit candles create a cosiness like nothing else, so choose your favourite fragrances and allow them to scent your home. Embrace the hyggelig feeling.
Cleaning products are a necessity at times, but trying natural alternatives can be better for your home and your health. Try opening the windows – even on a cold day for a short time – to allow some fresh air in rather than spraying artificially scented air fresheners. Oil diffusers are another great way to add scent to your home daily.
Touch
Everything you sit on, lay on, and hold should make you feel at home. Advice online is often given by those with more disposable income talking about expensive sofas, natural wood and so on.
However, you can add soft throws and comfy cushions to an old sofa, or even re-upholster it in a material you love. Tiny details can make such a difference, such as only using mugs that are comfortable in your hand, or a silk pillowcase to lay your weary head each night.
Touch extends to the clothes you wear. Your dressing gown, the materials you wear during the day and for bed, and accessories you wear should be comfortable and make you feel good.
Sound
Your home has a soundtrack. It may well be children shouting, babies crying and the dog whining, but it’s a soundtrack. People often keep the TV on for background noise or my favourite, the radio, for random songs. However, this hides the noises you genuinely want to hear. Rather than listen to a random playlist on Spotify, why not put a full album on like the good old days?
My little vintage radio is one of my favourite finds ever, I’ve had it years and it was so cheap! It’s no longer available, but there are loads of cute vintage radios here.
There are other ways to introduce sounds that you like into your home. Do you enjoy the sound of running water? You can get indoor, table-top fountains. Think about what you really want to hear and connect with it.
Taste
We all enjoy a home cooked meal, but it’s not just the likes of a Sunday Roast that make us feel at home. Having things like fresh fruit easily accessible or fresh herbs in pots that will add a great scent and also add flavour to your meals.
I know some people don’t feel that they can afford fresh, but this doesn’t have to be expensive. Something I have done recently is use an old crate and fill it with low cost vegetables, such as potatoes and carrots. It’s all really accessible and we tend to eat more fresh vegetables because of it.
The more fresh food you eat, the better you feel.
Thinking about small changes you can make in your home to appeal to all of your senses can create more harmony in the home and make a huge difference to your wellbeing.
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