7 ideas to help you fall back in love with your home

We’re spending more time at home than ever before, and while there’s lots of comfort to be found in creating a calm, safe space away from it all, it can also bring up more difficult feelings – of frustration, ennui, boredom and dissatisfaction. You can become tired of the constraints of four walls, frustrated with all the jobs you keep putting off, find yourself in danger of comparison or in need of a fresh, new perspective.

In this blog post, I’m sharing 7 simple ideas to refresh your interior and help you fall back in love with your home. Hopefully it will bring a little element of magic into the mundane, both right now while we’re self-isolating and beyond. For me, it’s all about finding the joy in the little things, from rituals that can bring you comfort to the meaningful objects you surround yourself with.

Shop from your home
The modern home has plenty of things in it already, you don’t always have to buy something brand new to give a space a fresh look. Reconsider the unloved items you might have forgotten in the back of a cupboard or in the loft, brighten up a cushion cover or blanket by dyeing it a different colour or see if you could use up some of those old paint tins lying about in the garage. Sometimes instead of going out and spending money on flowers, I’ll go into the garden and pick some sprigs of greenery. Or I’ll swap around some of the cushions and throws in the bedroom with the living room to change things up. 

Move things around
Rearranging a room can instantly give it a new feel and help you see it in a new light, because it might force you to use the space in a different way than you’re used to. It doesn’t have to mean pushing whole pieces of furniture around, it could be restyling some shelves, moving art around or changing the way you normally style the bed. Get out of the routine and shake things up!

Look at your homeware with a fresh eye
When we live with something everyday, we stop seeing the object as we first did when we fell in love with it. Sometimes when you come back from a holiday, for a split second you see your home as a stranger coming into the house for the first time might. It helps to get some perspective and try to reframe your view. That might mean walking through your home and really thinking about what gives you true joy and what leaves you a little cold. Do you like that object/paint colour/piece of art because you saw it elsewhere first, or because you were given it and had no choice, or do you really love it for what it is?

Declutter and reassess
A home that makes you happy is one that is filled not only with useful objects, but things that bring you contentment on a daily basis. Go through your home room by room, reassessing whether you really need or truly love each item. You could start with your wardrobe or reorganise the kitchen cupboards (intensely satisfying, I did an IGTV with my tips here). Ask yourself if each object connects with you on a deeper level than just aesthetics, is there a funny story or joyful memory attached to it? Instead of a room of mass-produced items, arranged as if straight from a catalogue, fall back in love with your home by curating a space full of soul and meaning, so every little item brings you joy. 

Bring a bit of magic back into the mundane with some simple rituals
Living in a space everyday, it can soon turn into a mundane backdrop; a vessel for living, getting the laundry done, eating, sleeping and repeating. It helps to bring a bit of magic back into everyday. Creating a set of rituals that bring you comfort can help with this. It could mean celebrating the changes in the seasons or making the most of the daylight savings to change up your routine.

For example, when the night falls, I always like to close all the shutters and curtains, dim the lights and light a few candles. It ensures the scene is set for relaxing. Making the bed in the morning always helps make sure its welcoming when you crawl back in to it in the evening. On Fridays, I have my morning coffee in bed, whereas the other days I’ll get up and about ready to start the day. It’s a slower start and helps signify that the weekend is coming. Sometimes when life gets overwhelming, it helps to focus on the little things, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. 

Reframe how you view your home
When you spend so much time in one space, it’s easy to focus on the negative or all the little things that could be improved. But that’s not always useful. It’s a bit like treating yourself as you would a friend. You need to frame your home in a kinder, more accepting way. A home is an ever-evolving space for living in, not a perfect picture frozen in time. You could even write your home a little love letter of all the things you appreciate about it. I talk about this in more detail in my post ‘Why we should stop apologising for our homes’. 

Do that DIY project you were putting off
I don’t know about you but there’s always an endless list of things to do to the house, and I’m very good at putting them off! You do need to be in the right frame of mind to do it, otherwise you’ll do a half-hearted job but sometimes when you do finally make yourself do something, it’s often easier than you thought it would be and you wonder why it took you so long. Write a list of all those odd jobs and see if you can start ticking them off. It will be so satisfying once they’re done.

Do you have any tips for falling back in love with your home? What everyday rituals make you feel most at home? How are you finding social isolating at home?