10 ideas to create “pockets of calm” areas in your home

If you live in the modern world, let’s all be honest, slow living, and minimalism can be a bit of a utopia where every day involves potential decision fatigue syndrome by noon, having to manage budget limits, work deadlines and we all feel quite often under pressure what time do we have left to decorate homes? Yet aiming towards a calmer home decor is something you can control and I myself try and make an effort into decorating by including some soothing and calm element decors. The main reason? Every single time I am in one of my pockets of calm corner, I practice mindfulness by enjoying the moment and feel more relax, and content with myself. 

Busy jobs, city life, small kids, wet pets, social agendas, everyday grumpiness and stress are all part of the adventure, so let’s find ways to include a bit of Zen and Calm into our daily lives so that seating down somewhere in the home can be a natural exercise of mindfulness. 

This blog post will not make you smell the scented candles or the essential oil diffuser, nor feel the softness of the furnishing but you get the idea also why not practice some mindfulness by using your imagination and how you would feel if you were in the room. Finally I included a few links to shop the look if you like what you see.

1- Living Room Relax Corner

What stands out here (This is my living room by the way) is the soft furnishing with sheepskin, velvet cushion and this bespoke wool rug, giving a bohemian vibe to an otherwise scandi inspired decor. 

Notice how I can reach for a magazine or a drink… (no judgement here, we are between friends, right?)

I love to “close the visual loop” with colour, or furniture, or a theme as I think somehow it calms my brain. So as an example here the wall colour and the chair have similar colour tones. The wood panelling of the fireplace echoes the dado rail. The White floors echoes the fireplace mantel and the Sofa. The Banana Stool Fibers bring some warmth. The Green plant is always nice to have in a seating room for air purifying reasons. 

2 - Children Room - Match wall colours with simple DIY

What stands out here are the soothing aspect of this room which we can imagine to be full of toys at times.

Two wood wall hanging shelves and dry eucalyptus decor on a twine string (how brilliantly inexpensive is this ?!) are echoing the half-painted green wall. This could be DIY but you could also buy the rustic rope shelves on Etsy here

The wall hanging organiser/storage pockets by being a similar colour to the green wall create a feeling of continuity and calmness.

The pine tree furniture with its natural colour brings warmth to the room.

The hanging plant is a “String of Pearls” and you can buy one online from here or the artificial version here. 

3- Living Room - wall hanging furnishing

Consider hanging tapestry or macrame, this will instantly bring warmth to a corner of your home. 

This hand-made macrame can be bought on Amazon here. 

4- Bedroom - Adding natural fibre like Bamboo ceiling pendants or bamboo ornated wall mirrors. 

This simple visual trick will calm down the static electricity from the bulb and provide a diffuse light and calm vibe to the room. 

Find this wall ceiling light in IKEA. John Lewis also offers a nice sustainable wood pendant light collection as well. 

5- Spare room - Wall Hanging plants or Terrariums

Adding a hook to a white ceiling is not too invasive (make sure you use the proper fixing), and very simply will add interest to an empty corner. Select a ceiling hanging plant like a Golden Pothos or a String of Pearls and a Ceiling hanging planter like this FermLiving one here or this Eleanore Bolton one here. 

I got those terrariums bowls from Tiger Copenhagen.

6- Keep your colour schemes simple - Limit to three colours 

This little corner of a kitchen appears tranquil and soothing mostly due to only three colours: white, black and light wood. 

When in doubt keep it simple, once you choose your colour, it is easier to reduce the “decor decision fatigue” as you know you can only stick to those colours. 

7 - Adding oversized or large abstract painting

I know there is a reason why art curators exist and it can be overwhelming to look for art if your knowledge is limited (I am by no means a specialist). However, I do like an abstract painting when the colours echoes my interior. It brings art and creativity to a room in a very simple manner and you do not need to DIY this one! It just needs to speak to you in a way.

This website Artfinder is a great starting point and you can browse by colours, sizes etc and even find artists that you can commision art for you based on your colours requirements. 

8- Create inspiring visual areas in otherwise unused odd corners 

This is a corner of my kitchen where I added two wall-mounted shelves. Those are from IKEA. 

9- Create a cosy reading nook

All you need is a chair or a day-bed, good lighting, a reachable stack of magazines or books and some soft furnishings.

10- Create cosy moments everywhere… here a simple coffee/snack break

China is from Villeroy & Boch, Plate and Tray is from Ikea. 

Hope you enjoy this post ! 

Marlene