How to Create a More Mindful & Sustainable Home
With the invention of social media there are more and more ways to see beautiful images and information all of the time, which can be inspirational. But it can also give you the sense that everyone else is living some kind of ‘perfect’ life. This definition of perfect, is driven by consumerism. This is not an authentic life for many people, and supports a throw-away society. All of this information, which is relentless and continuous, can increase your stress and add pressure. You feel like nothing is ever finished. You worry that you are not living up to the norm, and you think the answer is to buy, buy, buy.
It is important to keep everything in perspective and stay mindful about your own, very unique, life. You do not have to be like everyone else. Watching colour trends to see what will be happening in fashion and design is fine, as long as you don’t then think you need to change your couch, because the colour is ‘so last season’. If you feel like you should throw out stuff to get the latest thing, you are contributing to this throw-away attitude, which is not only bad for the environment, but also bad for your health and your pocket.
Having a home is not all easy street. There are a lot of external pressures. Stress levels are increased by mess, clutter and chaos. Financial pressures and mounting debts build on this stress. Learning to stay mindful and appreciate what you have, may help you to feel more peace and happiness, and less need to replace things, or spend money on things you probably don’t need. Or you may simply be inspired to make changes with the things you already have, to repurpose, rearrange, or find ways to upcycle and create a new space in your home.
Mindfulness means you can engage fully in what you are doing at any moment, and when you are mindful, difficult thoughts and feelings have much less impact and influence over you. Here is an example of a mindful approach to your home – perhaps you have been discussing how you need to change a space in your home with an extension, because there is just not enough room for your family to congregate together. Think about the values underlying this desire. Is it really about a bigger home? Do you need a bigger home? Or is it really about a more connected family? While being mindful, think about whether that extension is the solution to this issue. Can you really afford it, and is the debt worth it? Will the resources consumed to build it have an impact on the environment?
If the real reason you desire this change, is to have a more connected family, stop thinking about an extension and get creative about how your family can spend more time together, without the need for a giant open-plan room. Perhaps you can make a date for a weekly picnic on the back lawn, or take it in turns to host each other in your bedrooms for a game of cards. Maybe you can go for a regular walk together after dinner and kick a ball in the park. Maybe there is another way to create more room in the existing home, with some clever use of space and rearranging. If the value is about spending time with your family, where you do it, or how you do it, is not dependent on a new room— it is simply dependent on you finding creative ways to do this and then committing to action.
Being present is the best way to enjoy life to the fullest. By being mindful, you enjoy your whole life —including your home, your work, your food, friends and family — more. When you sit and talk about what you want to do to a room at home, focusing on the room itself is the first step, rather than looking outwards at what other people are doing with their homes. Yes, you need inspiration, but seeing what you already have and how to rework, re-use or reorganise this, is a very important part of the process. Look at what you have, rather than what you want.
Decorating, improving and transforming your home makes you feel good. It enhances the emotions and relationships within your home even more when you have done this in a mindful way, and you will be much happier with the results.
Here are some tips on creating a more mindful and sustainable home
- Look for ideas you can really afford, or that you can save for if you decide it is important enough to purchase new items or make renovations.
- Try to take the buy once, buy well approach, and purchase quality items that will outlast trends. Sustainable decorating means using pieces in your home that are built to last. This may mean sometimes buying a more expensive piece, but this will be something you can keep and pass on to future generations.
- If you love to make changes in your home, read magazines and blogs about how to DIY, craft and upcycle, to get a new look, by doing it yourself. Take ideas you see and have a crack at making something yourself, such as a DIY headboard, cushion cover, or painted furniture.
- When shopping for new things to bring to your home, always include some secondhand, vintage and op-shop pieces. It will mean you are contributing to charity, re-using items and saving money, as well as having a more unique style that is all your own.
- If you shop new, shop sustainable, fair trade and ethical — check out the practices of the business to make sure they are ethical, and consider the environment and producers in their business. Look for Aussie-designed and crafted pieces.
- When purchasing something new, always consider what you will do with it when you no longer want it. Consider whether you can re-use, give away, or turn it into something else, or whether the materials can be upcycled back into the system and be made into something again.
- Mindful decorating also means don’t max out your credit card; it is really not worth it. If you get stuck on wanting a particular item, take some deep breaths, stop and think about it, take some time out to meditate on what impact this will have on your life, and then reassess whether or not to buy it. You will probably realise you did not really need it, or that there is an alternative way. If it is something you can afford and really can make use of, or just think it is really special, go for it; but consider where it will live in your home and how long you think you will want it in your life.
Seeing Things Differently
Always look at ways to re-use, recycle and renew, rather than toss and buy new. For example, a vintage throw or cushion or two, can make a real splash in your lounge room and brighten up a current sofa, rather than getting a new one. Or you can recover the sofa and create an entirely new look. A piece of art or wallpapering a feature wall, can bring new life to a family room. Vintage mirrors and upcycled painted furniture add a sense of whimsy and class to any bedroom.
Be Mindful
To tune into your home, regularly take a slow walk around your property. Sit in each room. Breathe deeply and notice everything about it—the cracks, the kid’s finger marks on the wall, the beautiful way the sunlight falls into your sitting room in the late afternoon. Remember all of the things that drew you to your home in the first place. Take time to light a candle on the mantle, have coffee on the deck, read a book in the reading nook. Set regular organising times where you look through cupboards and drawers and either donate unwanted items to charity, pass on to someone else, or remember you own it and start to use it again, or keep in storage if you may need it again. You do not have to display all your cushions, throws and collectibles all at once. Changing things up makes you feel like you have new items!
Make Different Choices
One of the things that happens to us humans, is the strong desire to be like the rest of the pack. You are bombarded across social media with advertising that draws you towards consuming. Items are made to be unfixable, with planned obselesence, preferring you to buy a new item once something breaks. There is a throw away currency in order to continue to feed big business with more and more sales. But you have the power to make different choices.
Holding Onto Gratitude
Take time to notice the sounds and smells of your home. Take a moment to appreciate the sounds of the birds in the garden, the hum of the distant traffic, and the children in the next room. Smell the roses in the garden, the fresh sheets on the bed and your partner’s warm body next to you at night. Create special places in your home — somewhere to sit and think, somewhere to work, somewhere to play. Display special things that have meaning.
Finally — and most importantly— enjoy the people who live in and come into your home. If you are lucky enough to have it, enjoy time alone in your home. Feel the enormous privilege you enjoy in having a home. Be mindful, be grateful, be happy and stop wanting more – having just enough, is perfect.
Helen
xx
This is an extract from my book – Healthy Planet, Healthy People, Healthy Home – Create a Sustainable Home You Love. Find out more here.
I have just discovered your blog. Thank you for this post. I have been trying to impart this type of thinking to my adult children. One gets it and the other does not. I can only keep leading by example and hope that the continuous need to have an Instagram ready home is a passing phase.
thank you for reading and sharing your time to comment. totally agree with you!