Creating a happy home
Worried about the prospect of short, dark days? Concerned about the arrival of inclement weather?
Then allow Colin and Justin’s decorative prescription to keep you smiling right up to the holiday season.
USE DECOR TO CREATE AN ENDLESS SUMMER
Wall coverings loaded with sunshine, flowers and summer motifs will create an endless feeling of joy. Patterned paper in a small space (like a powder room, for example) will invigorate, whilst providing mood uplift upon which you and your guests can focus. Whodathunkit? Paying a visit to the loo could very well provide relief in more ways than one, so flush out the gloom with Graham & Brown Chinoiserie Canary Wallpaper SKU: 104269
Chinoiserie Canary Wallpaper – GrahamBrownCA
PUT YOUR BEST FACE FORWARD
When you awaken, what’s one of the first things you do? Yup, after feeding the cat and brewing that first restorative coffee, you battle a path to the bathroom and scan the mirror, right? Come on: don’t deny it: who doesn’t wanna see how last night played out on the clock face? If your lighting isn’t up to scratch – and your mirror small and beset with fingerprints – your reflection will be compromised. Fact.
So make like a wicked queen and ensure you look your best with optimal illumination and a great looking glass. Tip – to avoid unflattering shadows, lights should be positioned either side of the mirror (rather than above), or built in to flood you with sympathetic light. Think Hollywood dressing rooms. Did somebody say younger? Fresher? Was there EVER a better way to start the day and set a happy path?
MAKE YOUR BED
Redressing your nest, early bells, is super important when it comes to creating a happier home. Not only will you knock off a task before the day has properly begun, you’ll fashion a bed to look forward to as you sail through the day.
Happiness studies demonstrate that tackling a keystone habit like bed making encourages productivity (and creativity) making other tasks less arduous and the day brighter. Two minutes to change your life? Go on! Smooth down that top sheet, shake your duvet and plump dem pillows. A better life stars here!
OLFACTORY JOY
Flickering candles are a super way to elevate mood, and they’re seldom better than when evoking the aroma of guilty pleasures, without Jiminy Cricket giving you grief. So who doesn’t like chocolate? Or a nip of Scotch? Well hey: your waistline needn’t panic thanks to the Whisky and Chocolate Scented Candle from Heath and Heritage available from http://www. notonthehighstreet.com It’s guaranteed to bring a smile as you light its wick.
CREATE A FAMILY ACHIEVEMENT WALL
Stuck for joy sparking artwork? Look no further than family – and personal history – for inspo. Forgo generic scenes depicting glossy models and beautiful landscapes, and instead curate a gallery wall with built in feel good factor. Group family pics, frame achievement certificates (sporting or educational) and set pictures of places you love under glass as a reminder of travels that touched your heart. Suddenly that vintage Sarah Moon seems old hat when faced off against a battalion of personal mementos and reminders. N’est ce pas?
FASHION A PERSONAL READING NOOK – AN ESCAPE CORNER
Don’t we all, from time to time, deserve respite from life’s relentless hustle and bustle? A sweet opportunity to decompress and lift the foot from life’s gas pedal?
As we see it, certainly, there’s no better way to do this than by snagging an underutilized corner in the bedroom and layering in a comfortable chair. Hey, add a yielding textural rug and a cute wee station to anchor a wine glass or coffee mug (delete as appropriate) and you’re done. It’s all about self-indulgence, so let you imagination run wild and feather your nest accordingly. And then smile…
IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF (A HAPPY) LIFE, PLAY ON
OK, so the line from Shakespeare’s 12th Night cited love, not life, but cut us some poetic slack as we wrap today’s column. Context? Well, we still possess every mix tape, every C30, C60 or C90 stuffed full of the music we love made in days gone by. If you still have yours, pull ‘em out of storage, stick ‘em in your retro hi-fi and grin like The Joker on steroids as you walk down memory lane.
The happy home? Well, it’s all a matter of schematic mood shaping. And remember this: jumping on the domestic feel good bus may well prove contagious, for everyone around you. And if you see someone with whom you share your home without a smile? Give them one of yours. And watch as their day blossoms.