Simple Ways to Refresh Your Home by Delighting All 5 Senses
Our homes are our sanctuaries, now more than ever before! But with the frantic pace of everyday life, work, school and family, things can get chaotic quickly. If you’re looking for easy ways to return your home to a peaceful place of refuge, I've put together a list of ideas, based on my method of designing events, that delight all 5 senses and create a home atmosphere everyone will love.
Sight
Embrace Nature with Houseplants
We all know the calming effect that nature brings, so be sure to bring a little bit of nature inside! Easy to care-for houseplants add lush color to any room and their varying shapes and textures break up hard lines and empty spaces. I personally love plants placed in the areas of my house where I spend the most time, particularly in my home office and living room. They make the rooms feel fresh and bright. Incorporating living things inside the home is also great for our mental wellbeing. Seeing something thriving and growing in your care is essential for happiness, in my opinion.
Start with indoor plants that are easy to grow - pothos plant, ZZ plant, philodendron plant, snake plant, succulents, cactus, aloe plant.
Up-level something simple - here is a link to a tutorial video where I show you how to embellish a simple orchid plant available at many nurseries, grocery or hardware stores.
Improve Your Lighting
The light inside your home can have a huge impact on your mood. Of course, the more natural light you’re able to let in the better. Open up those blinds, wash those windows, and let the sun shine in! But don’t stop there - what about the artificial lighting in your home? It’s important too! Pay attention to the quality of light in each room and experiment to see if small changes can create a more appealing atmosphere. Different bulb wattages can brighten or dim a space. Warm and cool light bulbs can change the color of the light. Moving a lamp or positioning it’s head differently could create a more pleasing glow.
Sound
Make Music Accessible
Do you have a way to listen to music anywhere in your home? The best way to listen to music you love is to make sure it’s easy to do so anytime you have the whim. Use apps like Spotify or Pandora to have music ready on your phone. A small, portable bluetooth speaker is an easy and inexpensive way to have good quality sound anywhere in your home or outdoor space.
Create Calming Sounds
Is music not your thing? What about simple atmospheric sounds to bring a calming effect? Hang wind chimes in your yard or near a window. Have a small fountain or water feature if you love the sounds of water. Hang a bird feeder where you can see it and enjoy the birdsong of your new visitors.
Smell
What kinds of scents do you love?
Fragrances can have a huge impact on our mood but are often forgotten during decorating. Luckily, scents are incredibly easy to play with, so experiment to find the ones you love to have surrounding you.
Choose Fragrant Flowers - Fresh cut botanicals and flowers like lilacs, Casablanca lilies, garden roses, hyacinth, peonies, sage, mint, gardenia, jasmine, lavender, freesia lily of the valley, and sweet peas have wonderful natural scents that will fill the room.
Scented Candles - Candles come in a never ending variety of scents, and the light from the flickering candle flame adds a wonderful quality of light as well.
Essential Oils - Do you use essential oils for healthcare or baking? Essential oil diffusers are excellent at making the most of the natural fragrances in the oils.
Perfume & Cologne - Have a favorite perfume or cologne? Spray it in the air! You don’t need to save it just for wearing.
Touch
Layer Your Textures
Texture is a major component of interior design, and for good reason. Too much of the same feels cold and sterile, but when different textures are layered and combined, it makes a room feel warm, inviting and full of life. You don’t need to completely redecorate to take advantage of this effect, simply look around your home and try rearranging a few items that will allow you to interact with multiple textures wherever you are. Create satisfying texture vignettes in the areas where you spend a lot of time - in your kitchen, on your sofa, at the dinner table. Have fun with it!
Display Fresh Cut Flowers & Botanicals
Fresh cut flowers are an everyday luxury I love to see in my home because they add so much organic texture to the space. The best part? They don’t have to be complicated arrangements! Even a single bloom in a vase, or a few stems of greenery from ferns, trees or shrubs around your home can bring beauty and textural interest to a room.
Taste
Grow Your Own Fresh Herbs
There’s nothing better than the bright, vibrant flavors of fresh herbs in your food, and they taste even better when they are homegrown and freshly picked! Herbs are easy to grow in a bright window or in a container on your patio or balcony. Choose a few you love and start your own mini herb garden to brighten up every meal. I’ve recently been putting together fresh herb baskets to give away as gifts. Here's a fresh herb basket tutorial video where I show you how to make these simple but impactful gifts for your friends and neighbors.
Photos by: Chris Lee, Marianne Lozano, Minh Pham, Meghan Rodgers, Minh Pham, Marianne Lozano