The 21st-century lifestyle is a force to be reckoned with: with long work hours, chores, errands, and family responsibilities, every busy bee stands a high risk of stress-related burnout at some point. But while lengthy To Do lists cannot always be trimmed, the living area can be stripped of needless frills and trims to minimize visual noise, get the energy flowing, and keep stress out of sight. If you’re a good housekeeper who tends to repairs and cleanups with due care, your at-home nirvana is already halfway there – but if you want to make sure inner peace lands in your lap before long, consider updating your nest following in the footsteps of Zen design.
Crispy Clean for Clutter-Free Comfort
Cleanliness is not just half your health: it’s half your peace of mind, too. According to the tenets of Zen living, clutter and visual details of little or no functional value are a byword for emotional and mental glitches, and they should be eliminated or at least reduced to the minimum to make the home conducive to uninterrupted energy flow. On top of freeing your space of clutter from the ground up, regular spring cleaning sessions will also help you rid yourself of deep suffering caused by the unhealthy attachment to material belongings. Less is more in Zen design: shifting your focus from external to internal valuables will enable you to build and reinforce foundations of a fulfilled life.
Look to Mother Nature for Answers
Employment of natural materials and colors is another important principle of Zen design. Stone, wood, and houseplants have a healthy energy field and are as such better-suited for use in Zen-styled homes than synthetic elements. On top of the clean energy, elements transplanted from Mother Nature with little or no final color finishes will render a sense of unity with environment in line with minimalist décor formula. Apart from renewable materials, Zen design is centered on soothing neutrals and pastels such as white, grey, light brown, baby blue, soft peach, and muted green. For increased aesthetic interest, you can throw in bright pops of color as accents – just make sure you’re using hues normally found in Nature such as hibiscus red, sunny yellow, and orange.
Let Sunlight Guide Your Path to Zen
Sunlight is the most cost-efficient eco-friendly source of illumination, and Zen designers are very fond of using it in chic living areas to boost the aesthetic appeal. Instead of dressing up windows with heavy fabrics, opt for bamboo shades or light-hued curtains made from organic fabrics such as jute, canvas, coir, silk, mohair, or cotton. As for nighttime lighting, try to aim for sustainability and natural materials wherever possible: bamboo lamps outfitted with CFL bulbs or LED strips placed along the underside of countertops will chase away common cold and keep electricity bill in check even on the darkest of nights.
Stock Your Kitchen with Healthy Noms
To upgrade your kitchen to Zen, purge the cabinets of broken and chipped china, throw out all the items you don’t use, and stock up your fridge and shelves with healthy products. A basket filled with apples, oranges, and similar organic noms will bring about a positive change in both the kitchen backdrop and your daily nutrition. You should also consider swapping refined sugar for blackstrap molasses, stevia, or similar organic sweeteners for a green, fat-busting change. You can also schedule a Feng Shui residential décor consultation to learn more about furniture arrangements best suited to your kitchen and the rest of your home.
If you’re a yoga fan, you can also transform one room into a private studio: minimalist space will also double as a convenient meditation area for your morning mindfulness routines. As you can see, staying true to Zen design is not as difficult as it may sound: spring-clean your home, swap synthetic elements and fabrics for natural counterparts, tweak the color palette to neutral, let the sunshine in, and go green with your choice of everyday staples. Even a single décor tweak will help set the energy flow on the right and flowing track and bring about a positive change in your emotional, physical, and cognitive shape. Be design-smart: go Zen in your nest to oust stress, improve daily at-home experience, and say a loud Hello to a fresh perspective on life.