10 Awesome Tips for a Happier Home

Everyone loves to be happy, don't they? Happiness is fun, reduces stress and brings satisfaction and richness to all aspects of your life. And it's great to find new and quirky ways to bring extra joy to your home. So with that in mind we share some quick and easy tips on how to make your home life even better with a few easy to implement tweaks and lifestyle changes.

 

Happiness Tip #1: Let your interior style evolve

Don’t get stuck in a style rut. Just as you would update your wardrobe, your home too should have a style that stays true to your taste, but evolves with time. This can be done inexpensively by simply updating your curtains or cushion covers every few years, or by applying a fresh lick of paint in a more current colour. Keeping your decor fresh makes your house feel more alive and current, which will have a great impact on your home life.

Happiness Tip #2: The importance of storage

The more storage space you have, the neater your home will be. Investing in some clever storage solutions - such as installing a cupboard under your staircase, a storage base bed, a shoe cabinet or using wardrobes in the living room to be used as a large storage cupboard - will give you the right amount of storage space needed to allow you to neatly organise your home so that it is less cluttered and chaotic, and more well ordered and structured.

Steve was delighted that he now had the space to add
even more white things to his ever growing collection.

Happiness Tip #3: Make Your Bed

'A messy bed, is a messy head'. Or so the saying goes. Making your bed every morning is a simple way that will immediately change your mind set for the day. Make you bed as soon as you wake up - just do it! This simple morning routine has two benefits: 1.) That basic task will start to make you feel more alert and awake and put you in a more proactive, organised state of mind for the day ahead. 2.) Making your bed will immediately make your bedroom look neater and tidy, which will give you an immediate positive mood-boost. We are such passionate believers in morning bed making that we have even dedicated an entire article on its benefits.

Happiness Tip #4: Having dinner at the dinner table

There are numerous benefits to eating your dinner at the dinner table as opposed to snacking over the kitchen counter or sitting in front of the TV. For those with families sitting at the dinner table gives everyone a chance to meet together and discuss the days events while bonding over a nice meal. Eating dinner at the table also allows you to practice mindful eating, which means you will be more aware of the flavours, textures and aromas, allowing you to better enjoy what you are eating. Being mindful of your meals also gets you more in tune with your body so you are more aware when you are feeling full, which in turn stops you from over eating. Benefits all round!

Claudia was banished to the patio after suggesting that the dining table
could be used for purposes other than looking at cat videos online. 

Happiness Tip #5: Spring clean

Earlier we mentioned the importance of adequate storage to create a neater, happier home. But there is no point in storing away items that you will almost never use – which brings us to the joy of spring cleaning. Set aside one day in your diary to dedicate to a full spring clean – and get the whole family involved. Start with your wardrobe and take out every piece of clothing that you have not worn in the last 8 months.  Create two piles: the ‘get rid of’ pile for pieces you definitely don’t want and a ‘maybe’ pile for any items that you may have second thoughts about. Then take this system and apply it to everything else in your house from your pantry, toys, books, games, electricals, kitchen and household items. At the end of the day go through that ‘maybe’ pile and really scrutinise those items. Ask yourself when will you really use that item and if you can’t come up with a reasonable answer consign that item to the ‘get rid’ pile. Send any usable clothing or household items to a charity like Oxfam, and any unusable items for recycling.

Happiness Tip #6: Don’t leave the cleaning till last minute

Don’t allow dishes to build up by the sink or for your laundry basket to overflow – this creates a big unnecessary mess that will eventually have to be tidied up, so rather than let things escalate tackle your household tasks in smaller but more frequent bursts and your home will look cleaner and your mind will thank you for it.

Happiness Tip #7: Fresh flowers

Treat your home to some fresh flowers every now and then. Research conducted at The State University of New Jersey found that being around fresh flowers immediately elevated happiness levels in individuals and led to an increased level of contact with friends and family. Plus they look pretty too.

Happiness Tip #8: Wonderful aromas

Smells have an instant effect on your mood – from the scent of freshly brewed coffee to the delightful aroma of freshly baked bread. To get some pleasant aromas billowing through your home invest in an incense burner and some scented essentials oils (Rose geranium and lavender oils are soothing and pleasant while making your home smell clean and inviting). Again, these are relatively inexpensive and essentials oils are completely natural, so are much healthier than synthetic fragrance sprays. Or simply light your favourite scented candle to let in some pleasant, mood enhancing smells.

Happiness Tip #9: Tackle those ‘some other day’ tasks

Get started on those household tasks that you have been putting off for so long. Those tasks that you put to one side and tell yourself that you will do ‘some other day’. Well make today that day! Put aside a time in your diary to do all those bothersome tasks that we all love to hate. Things like deep cleaning the fridge, repairing that hole in your favourite jumper, changing the batteries in your remote controls, de-frosting the freezer, removing lime scale build-up on your taps, sorting through the pantry, bleeding the radiator, etc.
Yes, it’ll be hard work but once you get into it you’ll be wondering 'why didn't I do this earlier!'. Then afterwards reward yourself with a cup of tea and a pat on the back while you sit back and feel great about all you have accomplished.

Happiness Tip #10: Wake up 30 minutes earlier than usual

And last but not least: Forget hitting your snooze button over and over until you have to wake up in a hurry and rush out the front door. How are you supposed to enjoy your mornings with all that rushing around? Getting up at least 30 minutes earlier allows you to enjoy your home in the morning instead of frantically rushing around before the day begins. Use that extra time to enjoy a nice breakfast or read your morning paper without feeling rushed. This will put you in a great mood for the rest of the day.

We hope these tips bring some extra joy to your home. Share any of your happiness-boosting tips in the comment section below!