My parents are fantastic. Every time they take the 4.5 hour journey to come visit us, I immediately take out my Master List on what projects I would like to work on while they are here. Either it’s for them to help me, or just to watch the little guy while I finish a project.
One day my Dad mentioned to me, you have/want a lot done in here. My reply – “I want to LOVE my home, not just live in it.”
For so many years we rented and I couldn’t wait until the day we bought our forever home and I could make it OURS. My goal is to love every square inch and walk into a room and not see things I want to change, or things I have to do.
So while we have been here for over a year and a half already, I have some rooms which I love and some rooms I see projects. But, we are getting there.
In the time being, I have come up with 8 simple ways to love your home, not just live in it.
1. Make your bed – Now, if you know me and have been to my house, you might say, you don’t make your bed. True, I don’t make it all the time but, I make it periodically if the mood strikes. It’s one of my resolutions this year is to try to make it everyday! When I do make it, I love it! There is something about walking into a bedroom with a freshly made bed that just makes you want to to tidy up the rest of the room or just lay on the bed with a book. Am I right?
2. De-Clutter – I wrote a blog post a few months ago about turning railings into built in shelves, and there were a TON of comments about my after picture, how it was too cluttered. I define clutter as items that are not useful or loved. I love everything on the book shelf and I love everything in my home. If you have tchotchkes, clothes, books and gadgets that you don’t love or use, get rid of them! They are taking up space! On a side note, I feel everything has an energy. If there is way too much stuff in a room, all of that energy is bouncing around making it feel chaotic. The less stuff you have, the calmer you will feel.
3. Only Use Meaningful Art – In our home I didn’t want to hang anything on the walls that I didn’t connect with or love. I know so many people that just go to the store and pick up a piece of art or picture because it was “pretty” and needed to fill a space. I think it’s a waste. I have been very picky of what is displayed in our home. It is mostly pictures, art I have made, paintings from our honeymoon or something that we connect with. Yes, some of my walls are still bare because I haven’t found or figured out what I want to hang. But I like that option over creating wall holes that might have to be patched!
4. Paint – When you have a paint color that you don’t love, the whole room is on hold. Do you find yourself saying, when I paint I will…get new pillows, buy a rug, hang some art and so on? Painting is the first thing I did when we moved in. I didn’t want to be in limbo where I couldn’t get started on a room. There is nothing worse than walking into a room and feeling blah because the color is bleh. Paint it and love it!
5. Bring in Nature – Nature adds life to a room. It’s soothing and neutral. Whether it’s a plant, a collection of rocks, fresh flowers, driftwood or even just a mini water fountain, bring the outside in!
6. Clap – Yes, clap. My husband always laughs at me when I do this but I truly feel a difference! Clapping around a room, in the corners, under furniture, up high etc moves stagnant energy around and brings new life to a room. I have done this for many years. One day a friend of mine walked into our apartment at the time and said, “Did you do something? It feels different in here.” – I had just clapped the whole apartment! It’s easy and you can do this while you’re waiting for your coffee to brew or water to boil. Give it a try.
7. Lighting – Did you know that lighting can change your mood? Different intensities of light affect the feeling you have in your home. When soft light is used, shadows are reduced and you feel more at rest. But, too much soft light, can make items dull, blah and even depressing. Make it a mixture of both. Try having overhead lights on a dimmer but make sure you have lamps or pendants for focused working/reading lights.
8. Be Grateful – The best way to love your home? Be grateful for it. We often (myself included) have grandeur ideas of where we want to live and it has to be perfect. I call it the Pinterest effect. We are constantly bombarded with perfect images of homes styled, staged, and edited for us to drool over. It’s not realistic. But, when you are grateful for where you are, that’s where the love begins.
What do you love about your home?
Good article, gorgeous pictures! I like the idea of clapping. You’re absolutely right. Clapping is positive energy that can oomph up a space.
Loved the article … especially agree with lighting and clapping 🙂 But I can’t even imagine going even a few hours up in the day without making the bed. 🙂 That’s the first thing I do once my husband (retired) is up … is make that bed … LOVE clean rooms and beautiful beds freshly made …
Our bed only takes 1 minute to make and I have several fluffy pillow shams that go on after the bed is made … lol MAKE THAT BED GIRL … DAILY AND EARLY … it will change your life. LOVE your blog …and I’ll be back….I pinned it 🙂
Make sure you wait until your sheets have cooled from the heat of your body before you make up your bed. Turn back your covers and turn on your overhead fan and let the sheets dry out as well to prevent anything growing in that moist warm environment that you don’t want to climb into at night!!
Thank you for this. I have never thought or even heard of some of these…like the clapping but I am going to try it today! Can you explain that one to me? I am sharing this on my facebook page today over at Raising Up Stones. Very good information!
Thanks Cassandra! Clapping is part of space clearing to get rid of and break up heavy energy. I tend to do it before vacuuming so I “suck” up the heavy energy that falls to the floor. Thank you for sharing!
This was awesome. I have read similar posts to this one, but this puts icing on the cake! Your words are incredible. The clapping is definitely an LOL but I will not knock it until I try it. Beautifully said…Thanks for inspiration!
Thanks Christine! That made my day! And if you don’t feel anything after clapping, it didn’t hurt to try!
I’m totally with you on the meaningful art thing!
But I have to admit, picturing you going around “clapping” the room cracks me up!
Katie from IBN group on facebook
I have never heard of the clapping thing before! I have to admit that sounds silly to me! But I love this post! 🙂 I found it through the IBN Re-Pin group 🙂
This sounds like fun! I admit I do make my bed everyday, and it does feel better than a cluttered room. Once it’s made, it makes me want to clean the rest of the house!!!! If I clapped around the house, my cats would think I was nuts! Besides, they hate loud noise I would be looking for them for days after. lol
Okay, I just finished typing up my own blog article and then stumbled across your page and we have so many of the same points for the same topic! I guess great minds think a like 😉
And I love your clapping idea! That is so interesting 😀
I really like the idea of loving your home. For some reason, I’ve never got to the point where I don’t see a project every time I turn around. Probably too much moving and starting over!
When I get a room just right, I like to just sit in it and let it envelope me in a warm, thankful hug . My living room is such a perfect blend of my husband and myself that I just love it. My collection of teddy bears and teapots works well with his ducks and deer, and all of our books have a place. I read somewhere that “books are the soul of a home” and if that is the case our home is truly alive!! Our bedroom is also a perfect combination of masculine and feminine– we are both comfortable there and electronics have never been allowed.
I found this on pintrest! What a beautiful read. El Hubby and I are finally putting our own touch to our home after almost a year of purchasing it. Im not the best at home decor but we are trying to love our home by simply doing some of things you mentoned above. I will definitely try the clapping too lol.
Clapping is a feng shu thing if I’m not mistaken. I’ve read that before.
Lol clapping thing sounds crazy but I guess it’s fun for all that knows n feels the change after that. I looooove you blog, I just visited my mom n de-cluttered her bedroom she is loving it.
Still working on my house but I’ m loving my bedroom n my lounge. I like the “be grateful” point, I don’t like the neighbourhood I live in I guess I need to work on being grateful.
Thank you for the nice wording used.