25 Aug Find Your Ohmmm at Home

Ready to make a change in your life? This is the final article in our three-part series on how your home can help (or hinder) your personal goals. We’ve talked about how your kitchen can help you make healthier food choices and then shared six simple steps for designing a home gym that inspires you to get moving.  Now let’s nurture your mind by creating a space to clear your head through meditation and other relaxation techniques, like tai chi and yoga.

Designed by Lisa Brown Malveaux & Photography by Renata Grzan

Step 1) What is most important is to make your space personal, whether you have a dedicated room or part of a room where you can have solitude. You can use a screen to create a private corner, or create an area of focus on a small table, with objects with special meaning, like shells collected from a beach or a decorative object from your travels or a gift from someone close to you. Is there a photo or painting that brings you calm? Place it nearby.

Step 2) For your larger surroundings, consider soft lighting or sitting in front of a window with a window treatment that allows for light that isn’t overpowering or distracting. If you have the ability to look outdoors toward woods or an open field, that can open your mind as well. For the color of the room, select colors from nature, like soft grassy greens, ocean blues and soothing pale beiges the color of sand.

Step 3) Be kind to your other senses. Scents can also bring feelings of peace, especially lavender, vanilla and sandalwood. The use of sound can also help you to relax, but its appeal varies from person to person. Some prefer quiet while other feel that soft music, wind chimes or the sound of moving water allow them to let go of the other thoughts that can get in the way. I love the Meditation Timer app that can be used on all of my devices. It has both guided and non-guided meditations from around the world.

A special thank you to Lisa Brown Malveaux for allowing me to use photos from her meditation room that she designed for the 2015 Baltimore Symphony Show House.  Lisa and I became quick friends while working on the Ellicott City Designer Show House back a couple of years ago. She is an exceptional artist.  You can see more of her work at Studio Malveaux

For more ideas about creating a meditation space, give me a call and we can pick a time to meet at your home to talk about colors, fabrics, furniture and lighting for your personal realm of relaxation.

Find your happy place!