Author: Kim

Habits Help

Published on by Kim5 Comments

Each day a million thoughts run through your head. You see and hear lots of good things to try. Your goals are many and varied. But, how to do it?!?

We have discussed multiple strategies on this blog that help answer that question, and today we will add one more aspect.

Routines are effective. The more habits you can create in your day and then string together into a routine, the more you will accomplish without thinking about it. Yes, it takes time to build those habits, but the investment pays off immensely in the future.

When you think about eating an elephant one bite at a time, habits are a great illustration of “one bite” a day. If you do one thing every day (or every weekday), how much would be accomplished in a month? Or a year? If you want to do something more (like exercise or read), doing that thing 10 minutes a day will add up. After a few months, you will indeed have done something more.

Habits provide rest. When you get to the point that you have a habit (like brushing your teeth), you don’t have to think about what you are doing while you are doing it. Some days that is a micro-nap for your brain; other days it is free space for creative or deep thinking. Make the most of it!

Also, we are not designed to go full-out all day long. Scattering mental breaks throughout your day gives you a chance to catch your breath — while still accomplishing what you continually need in hygiene or chores or growth — before expending energy on the major efforts of the day.

Structure builds security. When you know the road you’re on, you are comfortable lifting your foot to take a step. In complete darkness in an unfamiliar room — not so much. When your routine is established, making exceptions is safer. When you know what to expect, you will naturally feel less anxious. You can be confident you will come back to the “normal” day. Bases are covered, so a special activity is not a concern.  If you have put wise effort into big picture planning ahead of time, you can relax and enjoy the small trip.

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Not only do these points all apply to us, they also help with children. A regular, daily routine will:

  • minimize repeated instruction (they know what they are doing; they do it every day), and
  • require less energy in creating and communicating a new schedule for every hour and every activity.
  • Children love the security of structure. Once it is established, they will be active advocates for keeping it in place and you on track!

Home Decor Basics

Published on by Kim1 Comment

Monday’s post covered tips about making a house a home. Today we will dive into the third tip — on color and decor — a little more. I asked a friend gifted in interior design to help us with some basic guidelines and simple tricks to making a room feel beautiful and pleasant.

Note: this is for those who are not already blessed with artistic or design skills. Please understand that we are all different and have varying gifts.

It is sometimes a good idea to start in one room, perhaps the family room if your floor plan is open to other rooms, such as the dining room or kitchen. This limits your project “mess” to one space as you continue living in the rest of the house. It also makes the task more achievable, rather than overwhelming. You are able to focus in on the arrangement of the furniture and the function of that particular room. It’s also the beginning of choosing your style, and the completed room gives you an anchor for the rest of the house as you move forward.

Furniture GroupingLink styles with color to coordinate for a cohesive look. Repeating one or more color combinations in the rooms creates the look of greater space. A range of furniture styles, sizes and shapes can have a coordinated look with repeated or corresponding colors. You create unity in your existing collection of furniture by grouping pieces by wood tones or by upholstery color.

Plan your accent pieces. Limiting your patterns to pillows, rugs, or curtains enables you to change the look with the season or as you are ready for a different feel. At the same time, don’t get the room too crowded. You can rotate pieces through the seasons to use everything you love without creating visual noise.

Continuity promotes a restful environment. Keeping a theme with wood color or trim color or metallic accents will give you a backdrop for your home that rests your eyes on the pattern rather than distracting with multiple looks.

Color swatchesExperiment with color. Your base colors for a house don’t have to be neutrals. You can use cranberry rather than tan on your wall, as long as you have a cohesive color palette throughout. Consider how colors make you feel when choosing your palette, as well as which colors make you look good. Your home is your daily background.

We hope these tips have helped stir your imagination. Stay tuned later this fall for a full series on home decorating if you would like to explore the field in more detail.