Diyana Nicole - Home Sanctuary: Declutter, Simplify, and Relax the Natural Way

Home Sanctuary: Declutter, Simplify, and Relax the Natural Way

By Diyana Nicole

Your whole body aches from running around all day. Finally getting home you should be able to sit back and relax. But the moment you take your first step into the house, stress and chaos surrounds you.

A pile of mail is in a sloppy stack by the door. More clutter is lying around. Email is piling up and the TV calls out for you to sit zombie like in front of it as a way to unwind. Is this what a home should really feel like?

If you feel as though youre in constant motion, from the moment your alarm goes off to the second your head meets the pillow, youre not alone. Its hard to break away from the never-ending cycle that has you running in different directions and tearing at your hair.

As a result t heres no room to relax, no time to rest, and no time to focus on yourself. This can all lead to a cluttered, disorganized, stressful and hectic home.

It gets to the point where your home is no longer welcoming, no longer inviting. Your home becomes just another obstacle to overcome.

Thats not what you want.

We have taken inspiration from the tropics to create Home Sanctuaries. Relaxed home lifestyles based on everything from simplified home dcor styles and decluttering solutions, to organic home spa recipes and treatments.

Part 1 of Home Sanctuary goes over creating a relaxing home:

The Fountain of Inspiration. Create your own coffee table Look Book as a source of inspiration to creating your ideal home.

Turn your home into a tropical oasis. Bring the outside in with the natural interior design principle. Beautify your home with natural materials, one room at a time. Stop tossing and turning at night by creating a soothing bedroom atmosphere for a more rejuvenating nights rest.

Simplified l iving. Get started decluttering and organizing your home to create an enjoyable and comfortable space.

Part 2 will cover the different ways to relax at home:

Decluttering the mind. The first thing to do when stepping through your home is to focus first on relaxing the mind. From here we can then work on relaxing the body. Find out the fastest and easiest way to relax the mind when you step home.

Learn how to do simple home spa treatments. Recreate the spa experience at home. Find out about aromatherapy oils and their different effects. Soak in a home bath spa treatment or give yourself a soft facial with natural herbs and essential oils. And check out the easy to make home spa drink recipes.

Your home should be your sanctuary. A place of solitude, a place of comfort. A relaxing home can help create better relationships. It can also boost your energy and creativity.

Creating Better Relationships. Negative energy can build, and all that stress can pile up until youre on the brink of explosion.

A clean and clutter free home helps create a feeling of balance, a feeling of joy in coming home, and joy in being at home.

Experience Happiness. Instead of clinging to that feeling of dread every time you walk into the door, experience the joy of a clean, clutter-free environment. Simply keeping your home organized can give your life balance, make you more productive, and give you a sense of control.

A Sense of Pride . Did you ever welcome a guest, only to immediately feel embarrassed about the state of your home? Instead, be proud of your home and the work you put into creating a beautiful environment.

Theres work involved, but it doesnt have to be back-breaking hard. You may even enjoy the transformation.

Your home can be a sweet retreat from your hectic workload, tranquil and filled with harmony, where you can cut yourself off from outside stress and find peace of mind.

But before you can create such a place, you need to know what you want.

Envision the end result.

Having a picture in mind, an image of what you want your home to look like before you actually get to work, can keep you focused. Suddenly, you have a road map.

Too many households fail to keep things organized and create harmony in their lives because they dont have a clear vision. Theyre too stuck in their hectic lifestyles to reflect on the way they live.

To transform your home, you need a map . Only then can you start making changes.

A Look Book is a fantastic source of inspiration when looking to create that ideal living environment youve always wanted.

You might have seen a number of Look Books before. These are coffee table books that are filled with large, gorgeous pictures. They could be Look Books of different types of homes, cars, fashion styles, or anything really. Here we want to create your own personalized Look Book.

Your Look Book will be filled with pictures of:

Homes and rooms you find amazing

Dcor styles you admire

Furniture pieces youd put onto your wish list

DIY projects you want to do in the future

Art pieces youd love to see hanging on your walls

Anything you find inspiring

For an example of a Look B ook, visit ours at http://balihomeliving.tumblr.com/ . Think of your Look Book as a visual reference guide. Every time you look through it, youll be inspired to transform your home.

Pinterest.com is a great place to see other peoples Look Books and develop your own. People create Pinterest boards to organize their inspiration pieces. For example, a person can create a board on master bedroom ideas where they collect images and links related to the master bedroom.

The best way to create your Look Book:

1. Choose the location of your Look Book. Pinterest.com is a great way to build your Look Book. They make it easy to collect and organize images and ideas. Another option would be to print out your images and create a scrap book or hang them on a wall. I would recommend using a separate folder on your computers desktop. This gives you easier access and faster viewing than using Pinterest. Give your folder a name (Gallery, for example) and create a series of subfolders where youll store images and other sources of inspiration. You can make subfolders for each room in your house, different styles of art, interior designs, or DIY projects.

Add photos and images to your gallery. Surf through Google images, Pinterest, and lifestyle blogs for inspiration. Does anything catch your eye? Add it to your Look Book.

Tip: By putting an underscore _ at the beginning of a folders name, that folder will be at the top of the list, marking it as important (as seen below).

Here are s ome amazing home and lifestyle blogs to help you get started looking for inspiration:

Vintage home DIY: http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/

Home design blog: http://www.designsponge.com/category/sneak-peeks

Home lighting design: http://lightsandlights.com/

Scandinavian home design: http://frenchbydesign.blogspot.com/