Create a home that's calm, cool and collected, by incorporating the principles of feng shui. Not only will they help you declutter and design a beautiful space, you might actually notice reduced stress levels, improved ability to sleep and overall happiness. What other designs trends can claim that?
1. Less is More
The first step in creating a Zen home is to de-clutter. You'll never feel calm in a messy, disorganized home. Start by setting aside a day to organize. Be prepared with garbage bags and sorting bins for things to toss, store and donate. Get rid of items you've been holding onto for years but never use, things that need repairs that you never quite get around to, and anything you dislike in your home. Be ruthless. It's helpful to have a friend help out who can be objective on what to toss and what to keep.
2. The 5 Elements of Nature: Earth, Wood, Water, Metal & Fire.
A guiding principle of creating Zen in your home is to incorporate the five elements of nature. Be creative in how you do this. It can be as simple as bringing in a couple of potted plants, or a painting of a serene lake. Distressed wood paired with sleek metal is a major design trend at the moment, so finding pieces pairing both is fairly easy. The look is natural, but clean and crisp.
3. Introduce Earthy Tones
If painting is part of your redecorating, think about the colours of nature that soothe and calm you, and draw on those for your palette. Enjoy nature walks? Look for fresh, invigorating greens and warm brown tones. Dreaming of your beachside vacation? Try out relaxing shades of ocean blue. Think of the scenes in nature that you most enjoy, and bring them into your home. Just be sure to keep the tones subtle and soft.
4. Furniture with Utilitarian Value
Consider the furniture you actually use (kitchen table and chairs, couch, desk etc.) and then get rid of everything else. That table in the corner collecting dust? Get rid of it. That chair that inevitably becomes piled with clothing in your bedroom as you’re getting dressed in the morning? Give it the boot. The more surfaces you have, the more you'll want to fill them, and this can quickly create clutter. Unused furniture also takes up valuable space in a home. Toss those clunky armchairs nobody sits in, and you could finally have space to roll out your yoga mat for morning stretches each day.
5. Organization & Storage
The easiest way to keep up the fundamentals of a Zen home are to keep it clean and organized. Pinpoint areas where clutter builds (a table in the front hall that's drowning in mail, that drawer in the kitchen filled with tape, birthday candles, string, paper clips and other bizarre odds and ends) and purchase storage bins and boxes of all sizes, label them with their purpose and then use them! You'll be amazed at how tidy you can become when there's a place for everything and everything's in its place.