Love The Home You Live In

Live in a house for a while and it becomes easy to feel dissatisfied with the decor and layout. We spend our time concentrating on flaws and defects and picture ourselves in the picture-perfect homes that we see in magazines.

 

 

 

 

Today, I was thinking about ways I have found over the years to be happy at home, even when it was far from ideal. Because, let's be honest, a home is a place to set down your roots, raise a family and grow old.

 

 

 

 

Here are 10 ways to be happy at home:

• Stop resenting what your house isn’t and start appreciating what it is. There is always something to be thankful for! It only takes a few beautiful or special things in a room to make it memorable but we continue to worry that we should buy more impressive stuff to fill our rooms with.

 

 

 

 

• Respect it enough not to clutter it up with things you don’t really like or need. How you treat your living space tells other people how they should view it. So groom the heck out of your house. Show it some love. It may never be a model home, but it can be one where people feel at home.

• Have a comfortable chair in a quiet corner where you can read and relax, or a room or space to where you can escape.

• Turn the TV off and your favourite music on.

 

 

 

 

• Keep a vase of fresh cut flowers or a floral arrangement in your home.

• Try eating dinner by candlelight, with music, for no special reason. And use your best dishes.

• Create character where there isn’t any – crown moulding works wonders! I’ve been in luxurious houses that felt uncomfortably cold and empty because the homeowners didn’t put any of themselves into it. And I’ve been in small, modest houses that were clearly loved by their owners, and I felt right at home.

 

 

 

 

• Surround yourself with your favourite 'happy colours,' whether they’re trendy or not.

• Display something from your childhood that you treasure and surround yourself with things you love – things that make you feel good.

• Don’t try to replicate the look of a model home. Strive to create spaces that exude warmth, love, comfort, and peace. Focus on those few things that make you feel really happy and forget the rest. Work at wanting what you have rather than having what you want.

 

 

 

 

Whether you decorate with second hand bargains or priceless antiques really doesn’t matter. The difference between a boring home and a beautiful home isn’t how much you spend. It’s what you do with what you have.