7 ways to make your home feel happy this winter

And you’ll be so much happier too, says Sam Wylie-Harris.

As the saying goes, home is where the heart is – and it’s amazing how a little bit of love and attention around the house can improve your wellbeing.

We’re not just talking the typical new year clear-out, deep-cleans and getting organised. But the little things that make all the difference.

From finishing touches like switching your succulents around, grouping plants differently, or hanging them in a different space where there’s plenty of light – and then wondering why in the world you didn’t place them there in the first place, when you notice the happiness it brings every time you walk in the door. This same principle can apply with so many things.

Here’s how to give your home – and yourself – a happiness boost to see you through the rest of winter…

1. Go through your photos and refresh your favourite pictures

Whether you have a nest of photo frames or one or two on a shelf, those moments you’ve captured hold a special place, and it’s funny how we forget to update our displays to reflect what’s going on in our lives right now.

Alternatively, take time out to reflect and look back on the past. Nostalgia makes us feel good and keeping old memories fresh in your mind will make your surroundings feel that much more special.

2. Move the furniture around

If the short gloomy days are getting you down, think about moving the sofa or your favourite cosy chair to face more daylight. Chances are it’s still in the same place as before the clocks moved back, when sunlight streaming through the window was more an irritant causing glare on the TV screen. Now, a little light therapy with a furniture switch-around could work wonders.

3. Cash in on calming candlelight

There’s a reason posh hotels and restaurants always have scented candles burning, no matter the time of day – they look and smell good, and evoke a feeling of wellbeing and happiness. And don’t forget, you can always use LED pillar candles or votives to great effect, especially if you’ve got young kids and prefer to avoid flames.

4. Style up soft materials and layer blankets with cushions, throws and fleeces

Playing with texture and draping blankets along the back of the sofa, maximising those scatter cushions (think about being crafty and making a DIY pillow out of an old knitted jumper), and placing draft excluders at the base of the door (again, being imaginative and using a little’uns soft cuddly toy they’ve grown out of can bring smiles all round) will make everything feel that much cosier and welcoming.

5. Sort out your summer wardrobe

It’s hardly surprising January is the busiest time of year for booking a holiday – it’ something to look forward to and makes us feel good. But even if you haven’t got round to topping up your happiness levels with thoughts of far-flung places, or a big holiday is off the cards this year, sorting your clothes out will. Now’s the perfect time to shift through summer stuff and edit out anything you know you’re never going to wear again… Oh-so satisfying.

6. Pencil in a reading hour

So many of us love reading, but it’s not always easy to find the time. Snuggling down with a good book is a brilliant form of escapism though, and regular readers say it relaxes them, and helps them feel less stressed and depressed.

According to a survey by Worldbooknight, adults who read for just 30 minutes a week are 20% more likely to report greater life satisfaction. Plus it’s a great excuse to refresh your bookcase, or rearrange those glossy magazines, and get to grips with that novel you squirrelled away years ago.

7. Plant life

We’ve touched on sprucing up your succulents, but don’t forget how mood-boosting houseplants will give your home a whole new look and feel. From a mini herb garden (easy to grow and great for kitchen windowsills) to pots of lavender (excellent for easing stress and aiding sleep), to a Peace Lily (easy to care for and cited as one of the best indoor plants for cleaning and moisturising the air), all greenery looks gorgeous and will breathe new life into any room.

8 Ways to Create a Happier and Healthier Home

create a happier and healthier home

Healthy home, healthy life!

In the great pantheon of wellness trends, the home is strangely neglected. There are diet crazes and fitness hacks aplenty – but outside the occasional tidying fad, the home is merely a vessel, a framework in which other lifestyle regimes take centre stage.

Given that we often spend more time at home than anywhere else, this might be a little unfair.

Wellness, like most things, begins at home, after all. Here’s how to make sure that’s a good thing…

create a happier and healthier home

1. House plants

You don’t need actual woodland for forest bathing, not when there are snake plants, peace lilies and aloe veras to turn your home into a mini-greenhouse. Study after study has shown that exposure to greenery reduces stress, helps lower blood pressure and stimulates the senses.

So shrub up to calm down – from a simple cactus on the window sill, to a miniature jungle of domestic palms and pines.

create a happier and healthier home

2. Maximise natural light

Like plants, natural light is inherently invigorating and reinforces the circadian rhythms that impact our mood and sleep cycles. Just think of the hefty price hike tagged to south-facing homes, the all-glass exteriors of modern office blocks – or the sinister, claustrophobic feel of a dimly-lit basement.

Aside from the obvious (open your curtains), make sure there’s no furniture blocking your windows’ line of sight, using off-white or cream colour schemes to cultivate a lighter feel, and putting up strategically placed mirrors to send light bouncing round the room.

create a happier and healthier home

3. Declutter

They say cleanliness is next to godliness, and, though we’re not suggesting a full-scale Kondo-esque purge, a clear environment can be an aid to a clear mind. Your home is supposed to be where you recharge, and if you’re never able to find things, pressured by a pile of unopened mail, or in fear of accidentally standing on your laptop, it may be a source of stress in itself.

Time to put your ‘floor-drobe’ back into the wardrobe, and we don’t mean by just shoving it all under the bed.

create a happier and healthier home

4. Address your sleep

Poor sleep pas been linked with everything from low mood and fatigue, to shortened life expectancy in the longer term, so creating a conducive sleep environment is an essential step for a healthy home.

Make sure summer nights aren’t cut short by leaky curtains (invest in blackout linings if required), use ear plugs to cut out street noise, and dust the area around your bed. If you always sleep better in hotels, there may be a problem with your bedding, and low-quality mattresses can cause stiffness and back pain as well as disturbed sleep. It’s easy to undervalue sleep but the more priority you give to time spent in slumber, the more productive and energised you’ll be during the day.

create a happier and healthier home

5. Invest in an air purifier

Once derided as noisy and unsightly, thanks mostly to a particularly pointed episode of Friends, demand for purifiers is now rising steadily year on year and modern models are sleek, stylish and near-silent.

Exhaust fumes, chimney smoke and particulate emissions are just another part of urban life, and purifiers are here to help.

create a happier and healthier home

6. Create a designated work space

Some 1.54 million Brits now work from home in their primary occupation (millions more do so intermittently), and it’s wise to resist the temptation to work at the kitchen table in your pyjamas.

It’s hard to maintain a work-life balance when they operate in the same space, so dedicate a work area that allows you to ‘go to work’ in the morning and leave at the end of the day. Posture is paramount, so invest in an ergonomic chair as a minimum. You might even consider the benefits of a standing desk.

create a happier and healthier home

7. Get a pet

You don’t need an ’emotional support animal’ to get emotional support from an animal, and this is another lifestyle choice with the weight of science behind it. Among a whole raft of benefits, pets have been shown to increase life expectancy, substantially slash stress, and even decrease physical pain.

We hope it goes without saying that you should only opt for an animal if you’re fully willing and able to shoulder the responsibility and costs of care.

create a happier and healthier home

8. Don’t worry, be happy

It’s easy to obsess over the ‘shoulds’ and ‘shouldn’ts’ of your home, and end up neglecting what you actually want. Adding value to your home, tapping into fashionable aesthetics – it’s all well and good if it aligns with your tastes, but most homes must be residences first and investments second.

Home is where the heart is, and there’s no point crafting a masterpiece of modern minimalism if what you’d really like is a large, squashy sofa.

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