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Zen Your Home
By PAShopGirl | July 27, 2008
A popular trend in home décor is the concept of “Zen at home”. Zen is actually a form of Buddhism with the focus on experiential wisdom that goes beyond words. It is often associated with the feeling of peace and calm, which is what everyone wants to experience at home and what we are referring to here. Your home should be your retreat from the world, a place to rest your head and put up your feet. However, many people fill their homes in such a way that there is no continuity or serenity about the home and garden décor: instead, their sanctuary is full of clutter and overwhelmed by things that are not absolutely loved.
But there is a way to cut through all the disorder and bring Zen into your home. If you follow these four steps, you can transform the way your living space affects your energy.
1) Take a look around your space, be it your living room, patio or bedroom. Note how you feel in this space and also note why you feel that way. Do the piles of laundry in the corner of your bedroom make you feel dirty or lazy? Are the crowded kitchen counters making you feel boxed in? Does the patio seem unusable for your purposes? Feel free to take 10 or 15 minutes to really see how your space is affecting your state of mind.
2) If you can, remove every item you can from the space. Start as fresh as possible. If you can’t remove the furniture, then declutter every surface until it is bare and the room looks minimalistic. It might take an hour or two to do, but it will be worth it.
3) Stand in the middle of your space all freshly decluttered and close your eyes. Imagine how you wish to feel when occupying this space. Do you want to read the morning paper while drinking a cup of coffee in your peaceful garden retreat? Do you want to have friends pile into your living room for a lively night of board games? Do you want to have room to perform your yoga routines in your bedroom? Whatever it is, envision it and be as detailed as possible.
4) Now it’s time to get to work. Make your space reflect the feeling you just envisioned. Only bring the decorative home accents into the space that will enhance that feeling you wish to experience and nothing else. A wood checkerboard on a side table in the living room will quickly invite game play. A few wrought iron accessories like a candle chandelier or a wall sconce will set a romantic tone in your bedroom. A cedar planter box filled with bright flowers next to your garden furniture set will create a happy respite from the outside world. The key is to keep the decorative home accents to a minimum so that each one makes a statement and can be appreciated.
Topics: Home Decor |
July 29th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
thanks for a great post!