Self care Sanctuary

The space where you spend most of your time, or where you go to escape and wind down from the stresses of the day, should be a place of peace, positivity and calm.  Whether you live at home with family, a partner or friends, I think its important to have your own space, be it a bedroom, a corner of the room or maybe just a chair at the table. I’ve worked hard on turning my bedroom into a space where I can relax, that makes me feel safe and calm.  All the things I’ve chosen to display bring me joy or serve a purpose in bettering me or my mindset, or just sum me up as a person.

Don’t get me wrong my room still gets a mess, in the mornings before work when my bed is left unmade and the aftermath of rushing to get ready is left on the floor, but as soon as I’m back in the space to spend time in there, I have to have it tidy.  Being surrounded by chaos just promotes the feeling of chaos in the mind.  There is a great documentary on Netflix called ‘Minimalism; a documentary about the important things’.  This is what I try to live by, having a minimalistic approach to personal belongings and decoration.  As excited as I am to one day have my own place, for now the only space I am in control of is my bedroom, so I make sure that it has everything I need to make me feel better and promote rest. Here are some ways I created and maintain a room that makes me feel happy and fulfilled.

Colour

I think picking a colour scheme for the room sets off the overall feeling of the room, you can pick colours which are uplifting, warming, soothing, to fit what mood you want to create within the space.  In my bedroom I painted my walls a pale yellow because I wanted something that was a warm colour and that felt uplifting.  I have it paired with baby blue bedding and blankets, which initially my choice was inspired by wanting to represent the beach and the ocean.  But light blue is also a colour that soothes and relaxes me.  All my furniture is white, as it goes with everything and is a neutral colour but a lot brighter than wooden browns.  I like my room to feel light and airy in the daytime, but cosy and warm come evening time.  I think when I get my own place I would have majority of the walls white because its such a clean, bright neutral colour and then you can swap and change colour schemes of accessories much easier than having to paint the walls each timHme.

Lighting

One of the best ways to create a relaxing warm atmosphere I think is from the lighting.  I find main lights too bright, especially before bed, you cant wind down and feel relaxed with a bright light that screams daytime.  So having a dimmer switch or a smaller lamp on a bedside table has always served me well.  I currently have a Himalyan salt lamp on my bedside table that I use in an evening to keep the room dim but glowing. I keep another one on the floor in the corner where I practice yoga to feel the benefits of it there.  Lighting candles and incense is also the best way to create warming scents and clear the air.  I like lighting incense because it reminds me of the smell of yoga studios where I always feel calm and happy, so it creates the same feeling at home too.  I use different flavours of incense depending on what mood I want to create whether its relaxing before bedtime, or refreshing for in the morning.  Our bodies react to scent and we can associate smells with different things.  Lavender for getting ready for bed or citrus flavours for helping to wake up.  I also love having fairy lights in my room, Christmas is my favourite time of year because I love the feeling of magic it creates, and that comes from the fairy lights twinkling on the tree, so I decided to keep a set out all year round to drape around my bed.  I love having bright natural light in the daytime so the bigger the window the better.

Decorative

The things you choose to display in your room should be personal to each person, I think its nice when a room sums up a person, you could walk in and instantly go I know who’s room this is.  Because you can see their passions, hobbies, achievements and sentimental items on show.  I often struggle with mental health, so I make sure to display a lot of things that make me feel positive and uplifted.  Photos of happy memories, pictures of beautiful places I’ve travelled too or want to go, favourite quotes that make me feel better and pretty keepsakes or ornaments that were gifts or that I’ve bought.  In my room I have a door through to the boiler cupboard which is a bit of an inconvenience, but that created a blank space for me to cover and make useful.  Ever since I was younger I’ve always created collage type mood boards.  When I was a teenager they were full of people I aspired to be like or looked up to; Marykate and Ashley Olsen, Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers and most of the other stars who were on Disney channel at the time.  Because they inspired me.  For the past two years its what I’ve used to display my vision board.  At the start of each year I create a vision board and use that as a centre piece to the door and then expand outwards on it with photos that make me happy, quote cards, maps, words and reminders.  I think this is a great thing to do with an empty space that’s somewhere that you see everyday.  It helps you to focus on what you want in your life and work towards manifesting the goals you’ve displayed to achieve that year.  Photo frames and pictures of friends and family are always a nice personable touch to remind you of good memories when you’re feeling low.

 

Books

My books are some of my most prized possessions, although I will admit I do have too many and I’m starting to run out of shelves for them so that will soon become cluttered.  But at the moment the books I have I display.  I have a shelf above my bed which holds all my work through journals, books that I can read but that also prompt me to write in them and use as a journal as self reflection.  These books are super important to me, because they keep me on the straight and narrow when I’ve gone off it again.  The rest of my books are all stacked up on my bookshelf where I can see them and easily pick my next book out.

Storage

We all have crap that no one needs to see.  The bits and bobs, the underwear, childish DVD collection, things you use but not daily, those sort of things.  My room is short on space because its not the biggest and I cant fit much storage in their, so I utilise the space under my bed and have everything in crates.  I have one for pyjamas, which is pretty full because I own too many fluffy winter pairs, one for my creative stuff which stores my scrapbooks and materials for creating things.  One for beauty items, straighteners, curlers perfumes and makeup that I don’t use daily, and the last one which has electronic stuff in that I rarely use but cant throw away because its expensive and useful.  We all have it.  I like things being accessible but out of sight.

Nature

I love nature and think its important to have plants in a space.  But can I keep a plant alive?  No.  No I cannot.  I’ve had about 3 orchids which have repeatedly died, a lovely basket of flower and greenery which died after a few months.  My room is not ideal plant living space because in the window is great for light but then the radiator is directly beneath, and plants don’t like heat.  Or plants just don’t like me.  I will usually buy bunches of flowers occasionally, they really brighten a room and are such a cheerful treat for yourself.  But then the water starts to smell and they die and you have to throw them out after just a couple of weeks.  So I’ve recently bought two succulents which I’m hoping will manage to stay alive because I absolutely love them they are super cute. I would definitely recommend them if you are a plant killer too, they are low maintenance and don’t need much watering.  But its nice to have a bit of outdoors indoors, especially for when you cant get out because the weather is crap.

Finishing Touches 

Like I said earlier I think its important to display things that make you happy and that describe who you are.  I have a small globe on my shelf to honour my love for travel and my desire to see the world, quite a few teddies because I’m an actually baby I still sleep with them and I will still keep a giant bear on the end of my bed to oversee the room whilst I’m away.  Cushions I think create a really cosy feel around the bed or on a seated area.  I have two cushions next to my yoga mat which I lay out in a corner of my room facing my mood board door, so I can meditate on the things I see in front of me, and the cushions just make it a little cosier instead of just being like ‘I’m on a mat on the floor.’

I love spending time in my room because its a space that I created, I mean maybe this is how home owners feel about their whole house because they bought it and decorated it.  But its a key part of self care to have a space that feels safe, sometimes self care is relaxing baths and walks in the park, or sometimes self care is sleeping and binge watching Friends on Netflix for the 27th time.  Having space to do whatever you need to do to keep yourself functioning in the best way possible makes even the littlest tasks of self care feel more special and deserved.