A good life mantra
Little luxuries every day
When home is a place that nurtures your energy and nourishes your soul then I feel sure that the rest will seem much more possible. These are some of my intentions for home:
Don’t keep anything for best
Light the nice candles and use the fancy bath oil – they were given to me to enjoy, so I will do just that. These are the touches that lift our mood while the days remain short and sunshine scarce in these long dark months.
Take time to savour simple things and let them be rituals
I will regularly make tea with tea leaves in a proper teapot, let it infuse for a decent amount of time and then pour it into Granny’s bone china cups (pinky is optional). And even if the best coffee does come from the café at the top of the street, I might enjoy it all the more if it wasn’t in a polystyrene take-away cup but rather sipped from an attractive ceramic mug. I shall be taking more moments in life to pause.
Take a long hard look at the ‘stuff of life’
If it isn’t useful or doesn’t genuinely bring joy, then it could be considered ‘clutter’ and perhaps I really don’t need it. The advice is to take it one room at a time – make three piles – sell, give to charity or bin. I plan to lighten the load. Pity the bin men.
Switch art around
I don’t own anything of value but the things on my walls make me smile or transport me to other worlds or to points in my life that I want to remember. But after a while we don't really notice them, so moving things around and hanging a picture in a surprising place will make them visible again and raise a long-lost memory. I will be re-hanging landscape formats above doors and grouping unusual collections above the stairs.
Make peace with the necessary
Yet again, this is not the year for new carpet – there is nothing that Albert, my whippet, loves more than to start digging a hole to Australia. Until that stops, there will be no new carpet. Layering inexpensive rugs which can be switched about, easily cleaned or replaced is the way forward. I will simply shrug off Albert’s whippet antics, not stress and it will be chic and interesting.
Come to think of it, "don't stress - keep it chic and interesting" feels like a good life mantra.