When it comes to interior design, going off of style trends alone isn’t always sure to deliver the best results. It’s just not the way we humans are built! We love making our personal spaces exactly that: personalised. Our houses become homes when they transform into a warm reflection of ourselves. Sticking with what makes your heart sing is bound to transform your house into a safe haven not just for you, but for your loved ones as well. If you’re not sure where to begin, consider these quick tips.
Keep it airy
This can be achieved with sheer curtains, naturalistic lighting, complementary colours, furniture or accents in similar styles, and a houseplant or two. Keeping your home light and airy is all about maintaining a balance between the manmade and natural worlds to keep your domestic atmosphere fresh and cheery. This practice has its roots in feng shui, which involves organising and reorganising our belongings so that the flow of energy (or chi) in the spaces we occupy can influence the flow of energy in our own mind and body. Inviting sunlight into our homes is a perfect method of allowing the day’s natural cycle to positively influence our circadian rhythm and keep ourselves in the present. Features like sheer curtains and louvre windows allow soft rays of natural light to filter into our homes and playfully interact with our immovable walls and floors, providing our home with its own delicate touches of life. Watching the changing light of day makes us feel less like we live in a box, and more like we’re fish on a coral reef.
Highlight your hobbies
The best way to make something your own is to fill it with things you adore. So if you’re stuck on what kind of decor you should be looking for, think about what you want to have around you on a daily basis and splurge on the features that will matter to you. Are you a big reader? Get a neat bookshelf and some popping bookends. If you’re an avid cyclist, incorporate a bike rack into your home so all your gear is highly accessible. You can even go so far as to fill an entire room with a hobby! Hobby rooms make for amazing talking points or even spaces for entertaining when you’ve got like-minded people over. And they can be anything from puzzle rooms to a home theatre, or even a music studio. You can’t lose when you design with functionality in mind.
Declutter
With the release of Marie Kondo’s bestseller “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering”, the world has been reconnecting with their minimalist side and rapidly reaping the benefits of living with less. Japanese minimalist living operates in a similar fashion to practising feng shui. Basically, living without clutter provides your home with a far more refreshing and inviting atmosphere. A minimalist space invites the occupier to empty their minds and de-stress, which can’t hurt at the end of your crazier days. Alongside this, when you equip yourself with just the essentials, every object you own feels that little bit more unique and intrinsically yours. Decluttering allows your space to feel more personalised simply because every object has its own place, purpose, and personal significance.
Making a house into a home doesn’t necessarily need to be a costly or lengthy affair in the slightest, and even these quick little changes in design thinking can dramatically transform your living space into your very own cosy, homey zone. Feel free to get creative and experiment with different aspects of yourself and your personal style. You might surprise yourself and discover something new about yourself along the way.
