Uncategorized June 14, 2024

How to maximize your small space

Do you have small spaces in your home and have been wondering how to decorate or design it to get the most? There are many tips and tricks on how you can maximize your small space. Implementing some of these specific design techniques can help you get the most out of each room.

Furniture

Furniture with storage space

  • This is a great two-for-one!
  • Buy something that you will use, but that will also help you organize some of the items that also may clutter up that room

Embrace curves

  • Rounded or curved edges create a organic comfortable feel

Utilize a kitchen corner

  • Consider using a neglected corner, not only for seating but also use seating with hidden storage to maximize that space to store all of those bigger, less used kitchen items

Choose smaller furniture

  • Even though you might want a larger dining room table…would a smaller round one suffice?
  • Lean away from oversized furniture

Float Furniture

  • moving furniture away from the walls can make a room feel larger
  • it gives a sense of depth and space

Keep the view clear

  • anything that stops the eye from moving around a room can make a room feel limited
  • try tables with a transparent surface and chairs that have an open or partially open back

Install shelving

  • Maximize vertical space to display items

Remove extra seating

  • Extra seating is nice when you have company…but the rest of the time can just be in the way. Try convertible furniture.

Design

Create the illusion of more space

  • Add mirrors! Specifically, by adding them across from a window to reflect light.
  • If the room is dark, incorporate more bright light to open the room up.
  • Use lines to your benefit. Floor and wall coverings with lines/stripes to make the space feel more open

Use Symmetry

  • Makes a space feel tidier
  • Balance is a relaxing concept for our brains

Limit your color pallete

  • Select a few shades and stick to them

Create Zones or small-space barriers

  • Use area rugs and shelving to break up larger rooms into
  • Folding screens, and curtains can all act as room dividers to create privacy or define zones

Hang your clothes vs folding them

  • Utilize vertical space
  • Limits the need for bulky furniture

Let small rooms breathe

  • a small amount of well-chosen and well-placed accessories is all you need
  • avoid a cluttered look

These are some great ideas of how to use furniture and design techniques as to how to maximize a small space. We hope you try some and notice a difference!

Uncategorized June 3, 2024

The Benefits of Practicing Gratitude

The benefits of practicing gratitude in your daily life can have a significant impact on your well-being and mindset.

Even if there is nothing significant happening in your life today, it IS a new day. One that you can participate in what ever way you are able. Sometimes expressing gratitude simply for a new day is enough to change your attitude and perspective. Gratitude, however, is more than just saying “thank you.” Practicing gratitude is appreciating the goodness in your daily life no matter how big or small. There is always something to be thankful for even if some days you really must look for it. The benefits of practicing gratitude in your regular routine, can provide you with physical, mental, and emotional gains. It is a powerful tool for helping us balance out negative thought patterns and can strengthen relationships by recognizing and valuing the good in others.

“This is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one before.” -Maya Angelou

There are some exercises you can try to incorporate gratitude into your daily life. Try some of these and hopefully you’ll find one that works for you.

  • Gratitude Countdown
    • Rapidly list 10 things you are grateful for. This is also something you can do with a partner or solo.
  • 24  hour reflection
    • take time to scan your thoughts and say three things out loud that happened in the last day that your are thankful for.
  • Gratitude Journal
    • In a notebook, jot down something you are thankful for each day
  • Gratitude Letter
    • Sent a letter, email, text, or call someone that has significantly impacted your life and express that to them in words.
  • Walk
    • Take a walk and intentionally notice and appreciate the world around you by using your senses.
  • Meditation
    • Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Then begin to shift your thinking to things you are grateful for and feel the warmth and joy that brings to you.
  • Gratitude Jar
    • Write things you are grateful for down on a slip of paper and drop into a jar. Whenever your feeling low or need a pick-me-up, read one of your entries and rediscover that wonderful feeing.

Give some of these practices a try and notice the shift in your mind and attitude. If you practice something daily, it then becomes a habit. This is a healthy and beneficial habit that will pay you back over and over.