Create a Home That Supports Wellness

We are approaching the end of the year, a perfect time to re-evaluate and renew our lives and homes. Today I want to talk about stress. The holiday season which brings great joy also can bring great stress.  Many of us have so much responsibility, and often we feel overburdened.  We want it all – great home, family time, work, and personal growth.  Of course we do, but can we have it all at once?

Our bodies are capable of adapting to challenging situations, but periods of prolonged stress may lead to exhaustion, physically and mentally.  Listen to your body, recognize the clues, and don’t let stress go that far.  Our homes can be a great helper in dealing with stress. Let’s look at evaluating the good and bad in our homes and how to deal with stress and anxiety at home. To help you out, I have listed a few ways you can change your home to improve your mental health and well-being:

Create a soothing environment

To keep your stress levels controlled, you need to work and live in an area that is soothing. Today let’s review 5 previous discussions to eliminate possible problems in your home.

Declutter

One of the most important indicators of stress is a house full of clutter. Last year I wrote about how to create space by decluttering. Remember creating space in your home doesn’t require an extension or completely removing everything. Decluttering can make a room look more spacious. So check out the post for helpful tips and a printable checklist. Tackle your home’s unwanted clutter and look forward to having more space to help you feel calm and relaxed in your home.

Natural Light

Is your home a little dark in the winter? Then you need to find ways to enhance the amount of natural light coming in. Light is essential for your mental health. It can actually help the brain create serotonin, the happy chemical which obviously can make you happier. The good news is you can enhance the amount of light coming through in a variety of ways. Check out 10 Ways to Bring More Natural Light into The Home for tips on maximizing light into your home. Such as if you have dark light blocking curtains, then think about replacing them with light filtering drapes or blinds. If you tend to have the curtains drawn because you live on a main road, why not invest in home window tinting so you have privacy but more light?

Plants

Another great way to enhance your mood is to add plants. It’s been found that houseplants can suppress your sympathetic nervous system, which essentially means they can lower your blood pressure and help you to feel calmer. Check out Wren Kitchen‘s post, Top Ten Mood-Boosting Houseplants. I love the fact that plants can help turn off the fight or flight response and that in one study working with plants reduced stress. Houseplants also have the added effect of cleaning the air and making it purer, and this can improve your lungs and respiratory system. Several years ago I wrote about adding houseplants to clean the air in your home. Check it out for a list of helpful plants.

Your Peaceful Haven

As I discussed last February in Simple Steps to Make Your Home Peaceful, it is perfectly possible to make your home comfy, quiet, and as peaceful as you like. In addition to the above steps, you need to evaluate your home’s noise pollution. Follow the steps to reduce noise that intrudes on your space. The result will be a haven with clean air and an ambiance that’s calm and relaxing.

Thanks for the visit. Get exclusive free printables & all the news straight to your mailbox!

Please see my Link Parties page for the parties where this post was shared.