Design a Calm Oasis: A Guide to a Stress-Free Sanctuary at Home

Recently updated on April 5th, 2024 at 12:10 am

Put simply, your home should be a safe space for you to find refuge in – a place where you can relax and unwind after a hard day at work – a stress-free sanctuary. And while you can’t do much about your neighborhood, you can change the inside of your apartment or house. Since your interior design choices significantly impact how you feel in your place, it’s essential that you spend some time assessing whether your decor has a positive or negative effect on your mental health and mood.

Changing your interiors can seem daunting, but you don’t have to do much to achieve peace and calm. Read on to discover a few simple decorating tips that can help you create a personal stress-free sanctuary in your home. 

1. Use a Neutral Color Palette

There’s a reason why spas primarily use muted, neutral colors – they are soothing, calming, and far easier on the eye than bright colors. Although colorful interiors can bring joy and a youthful feel, they can also be somewhat overwhelming. 

Neutral color palettes like beige, off-white, taupe, or cream promote a sanctuary-like aesthetic. What’s more, shades of warm colors such as tan, brown, and faded yellows can break up a sterile ambiance – adding subtle warmth to any room. If you’re worried that this may look boring, try to work with different textures, patterns, and fabrics to enhance visual interest in any space.

Insight – It Takes More than Home: Beyond decorating your home, you need to actively work to combat stress. This could mean a daily walk, some meditation, or yoga, just do whatever it takes to get to that place.

2. Stress-Free Sanctuary: Leverage Light 

It goes without saying that ample natural light is best for creating an inviting, calm, and pleasant atmosphere. Unfortunately, some homes don’t have large windows and require extra lighting to brighten up the space. 

Avoid only using overhead lights; instead, utilize different types of lighting in every room. You can create different moods from ambient, natural, and task lighting by brightening your interior. A calm space will require more subdued lighting, so be sure to invest in a few pendants, sconces, or floor and table lamps, and don’t forget to make good use of candles. Additionally, you can install dimmers that take your overhead lighting from bright and alive to subdued and calm. It all depends on the aesthetic you want to create, of course!

3. Create Color Clusters 

While a stress-free sanctuary in your home should have primarily subdued colors, you can add a splash of joy by creating color clusters. Use bright accessories and home decór items that spruce up your place subtly without being overpowering. Candles, pillows, pottery, artwork, throws, and decorative items work great when clustered together to create a focal point in your room. Plus, whenever you want to restore your monochromatic color palette, simply store that cluster of colors away. This allows your space to be flexible, plus you can update it year-round.

4. Soften Your Space With Textiles

Textiles like velvet, suede, and knits give your home a cozy feel. From beautiful slipcovers to ultra-soft pillows and stunning drapes, textiles can bring calmness and ease to your space. Accents like rugs and throw pillows are great since they are inexpensive and easy to swap out once they start looking and feeling worn out. Update these items regularly to create a clean, cohesive look.

5. Stress-Free Sanctuary: Keep Your Place Tidy

It goes without saying that clutter will prevent your place from feeling like a stress-free sanctuary. Fortunately, it’s easy to contain your things in organizing units like baskets and bins. Get rid of things you no longer need, and organize everything else neatly in storage boxes tucked away from plain view to create a clean, tidy environment.

6. Stress-Free Sanctuary: Scent the Air

Spas usually use scents to create a sense of relaxation and well-being. You can use fresh flowers, scented candles, burn incense, or set up diffuser sticks with natural aromas like chamomile or Eucalyptus to give your space a pleasant smell. 

7. Invite the Outdoors In

Green plants, an arrangement of branches, or fresh flowers in water add warmth to your home. They exude the tranquility of nature and are excellent when going for a calm, sanctuary-like look and feel. You can always opt for dried flowers or low-maintenance houseplants if you’re worried about taking care of them regularly.

Insight – Revel in Company: With your newly stress-free space, use it as a venue for good company. Being around loved ones is a great way to appreciate life, vent, and simply distract yourself.

8. Display Family Photos

Your refuge should ooze lots of love and positivity. One way to do that is by displaying photos of your family and friends. They exhibit happy memories while taking you to pleasant times in your life. What’s more, framed photos don’t just remind you of people that matter but are also beautiful decorations that enhance your interiors. 

9. Add Warmth Through Candles 

Candles are fantastic for adding warmth to your home. Their soft glow helps you relax and gives you peace and calm. From lighting them up in the morning to using them while you meditate or do yoga, candles are great for creating a soothing ambiance every day.

Insight – Separate Work and Relaxation: If you’re working from home, make sure to keep some separation between your workstation and your areas for relaxation, or you could prevent yourself from ever truly winding down.

Final Thoughts

Spa-like quality can be achieved in your apartment or house with a few simple tips and tricks. From using neutral color nuances, ample daylight, and soft textiles to scenting the air, creating harmony at home doesn’t take much. All that’s left for you to do is add beautiful and soothing home decor to transform your space into a truly relaxing and stress-free sanctuary. 

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