Your home is the most important outward expression of who you are, after your physical body. The way we treat ourselves – what we eat, how much exercise and rest we get, and all the other daily decisions we make about our body including, our appearance – speaks volumes about who we are.
Our home becomes an extension of our body and soul. It is our sanctuary where we can be real and heal. Like our bodies, it is the expression of all our thoughts and desires, our fears and doubts. Home is the safe haven for our body, mind and spirit.
Keeping this in mind…what does your most personal environment look like? Does your home have the look and feel of comfort and fun? Does your home support and reflect who you are? When someone comes into your home they are seeing the real you? James Allen wrote in, As A Man Thinketh, “Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.” Therefore, your home is a reflection of you, as you are right now.
Your home may no longer feel in sync with who you are today. It may have lost its continuity and harmony with your needs. Possibly you have outgrown or become bored with your surroundings. A new energy may be needed. If that’s the case read on. I have answers for you.
This is the time to begin your journey of re-evaluation and re-design. It may be as much as a move to a new location, a remodel or just to rearrange or refresh what you already have. The size of the project doesn’t matter as much as the specific changes you intend to make that will impact you to make a difference. Keep in mind, the walls don’t care what color they are or the floors their covering or the sofa the size and shape of the pillows… but you do. When you know what you like and all your design and decoration decisions are made to please you, the decisions become easy.
You may ask, “What about the people I live with?” Easy, this is an opportunity to open conversation about how each of you wants to live and how you can accomplish this together. It needs to be a family project with input from everyone to find what is important to all.
One of the things you can do together is look through magazines to discover what you like and, as importantly, what you don’t like. Once you think you have made a few choices, test yourself:
- Buy a can of paint and experiment with a new color on one wall.
- Bring flooring samples home to see how they look in your light.
- Throw some daring accent pillows on the sofa…you might only need one.
Observe what happens to the room and feel your reactions. Don’t make quick decisions. See how it looks at different times of day. Take your time. Get used to the changes. Begin to understand your choices. You might like one change but not another. Become aware how each change affects something else. So do one thing at a time. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself. And most of all, trust yourself. Only you know how you want to live. Remember, rooms have no feelings, YOU do!