Create a Beautiful Peaceful Home

In today's fast paced affordable homes,, you can create a home that will provide a feeling of peace and comfort as well a beauty for your family. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money if you use your creativity. Organize and Declutter: No matter the size of your home be grateful for that space that you call yours! Look around. Take it one room at a time and get a notebook to keep track of what you need for that room to make it function better and look better. Is there too much in the room? Is it time to de clutter? Take out everything that doesn't need to be in the room. Try arranging it differently to make the room look more open. You know what they say it is more blessed to give, and when you donate items that you don't want or don't need, it always comes back to you in a good way! Or make a little extra cash with a garage sale. Teach your children to put their things away and to respect your home. They too should realize how blessed they are to have a home to live in. Organize the room. Do you need shelves, or baskets, or hooks on the wall to hang coats, backpacks, put shoes, etc... write it down in your notebook. Having a clean room can adds peace to your surroundings and if you watch, your family will act different in a clean room. Lighting: Do you have enough light in each room? Do you need to change out light bulbs? Some light bulbs give a warmer glow to the room than others. Make a note in your handy notebook which room needs lightbulbs replaced or changed out to brighter or not so bright. Perhaps your room could use a new lamp. Lamps can add a lot of warmth to a room especially at night. You can make a lamp out of almost anything with the lamp kits you can purchase these day. Or if you prefer, buy a lamp or two. Maybe you just need to update a lamp shade. Little accessories like fabric rosettes, fabric, or ribbons, trim, etc... can give an old shade a beautiful new look. You can always buy a new lamp shade if you prefer.Think outside the usual norm. Add some lamps to your kitchen counter or next to you sink for a little more formal look. With just a lamp, you can change the whole look of a room! Clear mini Christmas lights above kitchen cabinets or placed on a mantel make the room cheery and magical looking. Don't forget outside lighting! Make sure your front doorway is lit and your backyard has enough lighting to deter crime and to be able to enjoy being outside your home at night. Decor Ideas What style are you visually trying to create in each room? Decide if you want your room to look country chic, shabby chic, classic, etc... it doesn't even have to fall into a certain design category. Look through magazines, online sites such as Houzz, and pinterest can be very useful for helping you decide how you want to decorate a room. Start by looking at what you have around your home, in the garage,up in the attic maybe you can "upcycle" a painting, frame, or old furniture piece to fit perfectly in a spot in the room you are trying to redecorate. What about paint on the walls? Got your notebook? Paint can greatly effect your mood and influence how you feel in a room. Look for samples of rooms that make you feel a sense of peace in your home. You don't need to spend a lot of money to achieve a sense of peacefulness or "zen" in a room. For example take a comfy chair and put in a corner of the room with a small table next to it (could even be a crate turned up on its side covered with a furry piece of fabric or lace). Then sit a stylish lamp on the table. Above the chair, hang a mirror with a wreath hanging over the top of the mirror. Attach a ribbon to the wreath and hang it just barely above the mirror. Center it over the mirror. Then lay a folded blanket or quilt over the back of the chair. This creates a nice comfy space for someone to sit and read a book or watch tv. They can sit by the warmth of a lamp and they can snuggle in the blanket as well. Make the Room Smell Yummy This step is easy because there are many inexpensive ways to accomplish this! Smell can add to the peace in a home. Add a nice smelling candle like sugar cookie, vanilla, apple cinnamon, nothing too overwhelming or flowery... just the smell of something baking in the oven. Air freshners such as plug ins which by the way they now make with nightlights can make a room smell inviting and make it feel warmer at night with a little light in the dark. Make sure you clean and spray out garbages throughout your home from time to time. Also make sure you don't have mildew smells in your laundry, kitchen, or bathrooms! Tunes At times adding soft music, can make your home feel more peaceful and inviting. Sure your kids like to hear sounds of the day but set some limits there. Teach your children to choose wholesome music and artists to support and listen to. There are a lot of great artists today who fit that description. Make sure everyone follows the rules of volume control on their music not only for helping to create a peaceful atmosphere but to keep their hearing healthy as well! For example Piano Guys take popular tunes but put an amazing instrumental spin on it! Their music is not only easy to listen to but inspiring to all ages! Meal Prep Take time to sit down and organize your meals and meal time. Plan out your meals for the week. Have a specific meal during the day where the whole family can be together. Schedules are crazy and hectic but MAKE time for this to happen. Believe me you will never regret it! If you have meals planned ahead of time, you will know each day about when you have to start preparing it and what you are going to do so you have ingredients on hand and it will cut down on mom stress! Wouldn't you say that alone will add to the peacefulness in your home! This gives everyone the opportunity to bond and to communicate and connect with each other! Critical to peace in your home. Pass around a jar with questions for kids to ask or answer if they have a hard time talking to you or their siblings. Just try it! You will see marvelous results in your home and your family by taking time to bond! Family Time You can achieve some fun family time in several ways. This not only helps you to bond, but it creates an atmosphere that your children will want to be a part of. They may want to hang around the home a little more instead of always asking to go to a friend's home. Set aside one night (the same night) every week! Have an activity, play a game, go bowling, play croquet in the backyard, shoot hoops whatever it is... do it as a family! Then end the hour or evening with a homemade treat or go for ice cream. This weekly time together builds trust, respect, and love for each other which then translates into peace in the home. Why not have a short scripture time, or thought for the day before kids head out the door to school? Again contributes to peace and stablity in the home. Have games in a convenient room of your home where you or your kids can pull out a game when they have some extra time on their hands. Families that pray together add a feeling of peace and comfort to their lives. Have a family prayer in the morning before everyone leaves, and then a prayer together at night before bed time. This again invites peace into your home. Set House Rules There is a song that says that your home can be a heaven on earth. Why not? It can be a refuge from the storm for your family members. Set rules about respecting your home. Set rules about respecting each other in your home. When mom and dad use controlled and calm voices to discipline, this teaches the child to do the same and children will respond better through consistency than yelling. Yelling can destroy peace in an instant! Everyone needs to help around the house! Everyone should have their chores along with keeping their room clean. Special Touches: It is important to be home if you can when your children arrive home from school or work. With a few thoughtful ideas, your home can be a magical place for your family to be. Have a fun homemade snack such as cookies or chips and salsa, veggies and dip, or fruit and dip ready for kids when they come home from school. It gives children a sense of safety and comfort if mom is able to be there after school to greet them. You would be surprised how much this affects children. Do the unexpected at times by setting up a camping tent in the backyard and have a picnic. Make a fairy tent with fabric and christmas lights in your family room and have a snack and play a game with your kids. Be creative and there are plenty of great ideas online so don't use the excuse "I am not creative!" There is no excuse! Have a little treasure hunt from time to time with little surprises at the end that tell your family you love them and they are important to you. Celebrate birthdays! Let children have a say in how their bedroom is designed. However you choose to decorate and create your house of beauty and peace, follow your heart and make it a special place for your children and spouse to come home to. Then long after your children leave to start their own families, grandma and grandpa's home will still be the best place to visit! You can have peace and beauty in your home if you are willing to try!