Creating serenity in your home is a mixture of many things. If one thing is off, it can disrupt the entire peacefulness of the space. Have you ever entered into a room and felt there is something annoying about this place? You cannot quite put your finger on it but it feels off.
To create serenity in a room it is important to remove all chaos and clutter. Clutter being items that ‘you do not consider to be beautiful or useful’- in the words of the great designer William Morris. Once the clutter is removed the chaos typically seems to calm and the space becomes friendlier, right?
How do you create the peacefulness, calmness, tranquility that will give you a positive feeling when you enter a room or space?
Consider these things:
Color
Yes, color is extremely impressionable upon our feelings. As are all our senses. The color in an enclosed space can either make the area feel inviting, stymied, invigorating or peaceful. Color can allow rooms to flow into one another, it can make a room feel cool, or warm. The choice of color can be the right tone or the wrong tone in relation to other features in the room.
As you can see, color in an enclosed space, being a room or an entire floor of a home can have a huge impact on the serenity and feel you receive when you enter into it.
Light
Light creates an atmosphere in a room. Consider when you enter into a dark room, you might be fearful to enter until you turn on a light. That light you turn on maybe different levels of brightness casting an ambiance on the room. The light provided within a space can create the serenity in the room. If too harsh it might feel like you want to run away. If it is too dark you probably are hoping to find more light sources. Playing with different light sources creates a balance and feeling of allowing you to linger a while longer.
Flow
Flow, the way a room is set up allowing you to be able to walk around can impact the feeling of a room. A room stuffed with furniture or one with very little conveys two totally different emotions. If you are striving to have a more serene feeling in a room look at the layout of the furniture. Also, look at the proportion of the furniture within the room. Is that overstuffed recliner fitting in the space or is engulfing the space making it feel cramped and uninviting.
This goes for “clutter” in a room like toys, papers, clothing, etc. The clutter in the room creates negative energy. If the clutter has a place to exist or live – like in a storage bin, drawers, closets, etc. it will not feel like clutter because it is not demanding to be addressed as soon as you walk into a room. When looking at the flow of the room consider your storage needs. Incorporate those into the flow of the room.
Last, consider the use of the room and keep similar items together within the room and not throughout the home. Your spaces will become more serene.
Visual Clutter
Clutter are items that you really have no use for and do not use. It might be a collection, mail, furniture, clothes, tools, sports equipment, extra food in your pantry, you name it! I see visual clutter in many homes when I am conducting a staging consult.
Consider the visual clutter in a room, it can be the color on the walls but it can also be disproportioned art hanging on a wall. Sometimes people feel that they have to hang a piece of art on every wall, or try and make a statement with multiple pieces hung together. It can create visual clutter.
Similarily when you consider pantries and closets the same principle applies. If you group like things together, not only will you realize you have enough soup for three years, you will reduce the visual clutter. A clothes closet is the same. Remove items that are expired items, broken items, or items that are no longer used or that you really care for. Group similar clothing type (pants, shirts, etc.) together and group them by color. You might end of saving yourself a couple of bucks next time you go shopping!
Addressing the four areas
Consider each of the areas mentioned. By reviewing each one you’ll be able to pinpoint what is not working in a room. As a result, either through color, reducing or moving your furniture, or just spending a half-hour sorting an area to reduce visual clutter and group similar things together you will begin to see results. Simplifying your rooms will create a more peaceful, organized atmosphere that will create serenity in your home.
There are many elements that make up a space and can create chaos or serenity. By addressing some of the above mentioned you might begin to find peace within your home simply and inexpensively. Consequently, by doing so you will realize how worth the effort is!
You have questions let us know.