200 Ways to Begin the Journey to a Calm & Happy Home
There’s more to a beautiful home than just the decor and furnishings you put into it. Your home also needs to function well, and be a calm and happy respite from the rest of your hectic life. If you can’t say those things about your space, then it’s likely you might feel a little off-balance in your life, overall. A happy home is the finishing touch on a happy life.
How this particular deficit might manifest in your life is an overall feeling like you don’t have a good routine down; like you’re always catching up instead of keeping up. Instead of being a consistently calm environment, your home functions in cycles, first into a chaotic mess and then—after the resulting tornado of cleaning—spotless but short-lived harmony.
Find Harmony at Home
In order to bring your life into balance, it can help to see a top-down, bird’s-eye view.
If that sounds all too familiar, you need to find homeostasis. And a routine that works for you. Read through some of these resources to see if you can figure out how to bring this part of your life back into balance.
To learn to love housekeeping…
- Take expert advice: A Cleaning Expert On Letting Go of Resentment and Embracing the Craft of Keeping House
- Keep it simple: 7 Ways You’re Making House Cleaning Harder Than It Has To Be
- Embrace your small space: Bigger’s Not Always Better: 10 Reasons to Love (Cleaning) Your Small Home
- Make it fun: How To Trick Yourself Into Being One of those People Who Actually Likes to Clean
- Go solo: 9 Reasons Why It’s Infinitely Better to Clean by Yourself
- Start small: 3 Mind Tricks that Will Get You Going on a Big Clean—Without Realizing It
To pare down your stuff…
- Start with this: Declutter (In a Big Way!) by Asking Yourself One Simple Question
- Keep your wits: Techniques for Decluttering Without Emotion (When You’re an Emotional Person)
- Practice minimalism: 5 Mindful Habits that Lead to a Minimalist Home
- Take real life advice: How to Make Downsizing Your Stuff a Little Less Painful
- Spot the source: This Is Why Your Place Is Messy: 5 Common Clutter Causes
To learn a few shortcuts…
- Make a weekly routine: 5 Things Impeccably Organized People do on Sundays
- Know a little goes a long way: 10 Tiny Details that Really Up Your Organization
- Knock it out: 10 Big Impact Tasks That Only Take 10 Minutes
- Know the lingo: The 3-Word Cleaning Strategy that’s a Shortcut to Spotless
- Easy prep for guests: A Refreshingly Realistic, “Good Enough” Plan for Cleaning Before Hosting Houseguests
- Clean smarter, not harder: 5 Quick Cheats to Make Your Home Neater
- Do a quick refresh: 5 Things You Can Do to Instantly Re-Energize Your Space
To wrangle in your mess…
- Know what’s important: The 5 Little (But Life-Changing) Cleaning Commandments
- Regain control: 7 Bad Housekeeping Habits to Quit Right Now
- Learn from the best: 3 Secrets People Who Always Seem to Have a Flawlessly Clean House Know
- Stick to the rules: The 10 Commandments of a Clutter-Free Life
To stay on top of things…
- Know your style: Quiz: What’s Your Organizing Style?
- Read the signs: The Warning Signs That Your Home is About to Get Out of Control
- Go deeper: 45 Ways to Make Your Home the Cleanest It’s Ever Been
To give yourself a break sometimes…
- You’re better than you think: 9 Signs Your Home is Cleaner than You Think it Is
- Hire help, when needed: The (Real) Everyday Chores (Actual) New Yorkers Are Outsourcing
- Know the loopholes: 6 Dirty Little Secrets of People Who Live in Small, Perfectly Organized Apartments