What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about feeling safe and at ease? Your home, right? And what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about relaxation and wellness retreat? Probably, some spa resort or something similar.
What about combining that feeling of ease and safety together with relaxation, wellness, and creating a Zen space in your own home?
Your home is already a place of escape from worries, work, and hectic life, so why not make some changes that will transform that space into a calming wellness oasis. If you’re wondering how to do that, you’re in the right spot.
We made a list of all the useful tips that can help you create a wellness retreat at home.
1. Declutter your home
You may think that your home is clutter-free but when you start cleaning and organizing everything only then do you realize how much clutter there really is. A cluttered home is far from relaxing and peaceful.
Clutter makes us feel stressed, anxious, and even depressed. Clutter can even negatively affect our physical health. That’s why it’s highly important to clean, organize and declutter our spaces regularly.
Clean and organized spaces will give us the feeling of peace, relaxation and they will also contribute to our well-being.
2. Space with a lot of natural light
Creating a light and bright space is the right way to start your home transformation. Natural light affects our mood and energy levels, it also affects concentration, appetite, and many other aspects of everyday life.
If you’ve noticed that your space lacks that natural light and that your mood or energy levels are not always the best – those two might be connected. It’s high time you do something about that.
The first thing on your list of things to do should be to remove all the window treatments. Remove all the heavy, light-canceling curtains and swap them for something lighter and sheerer.
In case you feel like your home doesn’t get enough natural light, install mirrors, and other reflective surfaces. Place mirrors next to or opposite the windows to reflect the light or to make the room feel brighter and bigger.
Other reflective surfaces such as glass décor, high-gloss paint will bounce the light around and make your space appear bigger and brighter.
3. Paint it light
Another way to create a calming, light, and bright space in your home is with paint. And not just any paint – light colors.
If you live in a small space, and if you paint it with those trendy dark colors, it will only appear more cramped and smaller. Additionally, dark colors absorb the light. Instead, use lighter shades and colors on your walls to make your space seem bigger and to bring in more natural light to your home.
Light colors don’t strictly imply only shades of white but other lighter colors such as beige, greige, gray, and other neutral shades.
4. Bring nature in with natural materials
What’s that one place where you feel most relaxed and in tune with yourself? Nature, right? So, why not find ways to bring nature to your home.
This can be easily achieved with the help of natural materials such as wood, stone, marble, and other natural materials. Expose those wooden floors, decorate your home with natural material linen, wool, wooden furniture, and decoration – there are tons of ways to bring your home closer to nature and vice versa.
5. Don’t forget greenery
Another great way to bring the outdoors in and to create a relaxing, retreat-like place at your own home is with greenery. Plants and flowers are not only natural air purifiers but also reduce stress and improve the sense of wellbeing. Not to mention that they are a beautiful and inexpensive way to decorate your home.
While, yes, plants are a great way to create that relaxing and zen oasis-like feel in your home, they also require maintenance – some more than others. So, before buying a ton of plants, do a bit of research and find out what would fit you and your space best.
If you have a small space, buying huge plants such as palms, monstera, or fiddle leaf plants will only make your room seem crowded and messy. Instead, go for something smaller and more appropriate such as snake plant, spider plant, cacti, succulents, and air plants.
Also, certain plants such as spathiphyllum, snake plant, aloe vera, and spider plant are said to be stress-reducing plants, plus they are easy to maintain.
6. Functional and minimal furniture
To create a calming and relaxing home, you also need to consider your furniture. Too much heavy furniture creates clutter and clutter confuses the brain, making it difficult to focus and relax.
To make a more relaxing and calming space for yourself, get rid of all the furniture you don’t use and that only clutters your space. Instead, look for clever storage solutions, functional furniture that can serve more than one purpose.
For example, since your goal is to create a spa-like relaxing and wellness retreat in your home, think about investing in a massage chair that can serve as a modern armchair. Fortunately, you can find many comfortable massage chairs options that don’t look any different than your regular armchairs these days.
Or you can buy a sectional that can be transformed into a bed. In the bedroom, you only need a bed to be a focal point without too many distractions.
7. Transform your bathroom into a spa
Investing in the bathroom remodel will not only increase the value of your house but will also allow you to have a spa day everyday. What better way to create a wellness retreat in your own home than by remodeling your bathroom.
When it comes to ideas – they are many. Start by swapping the old tiles for something more popular like big format tiles both on the floor and walls, or if you prefer go for patterned tiles – they are also very popular.
Then, change all your hardware – faucets, pulls, handles, and whatever else you have in your bathroom. If you can keep both your bathtub and a shower for an added spa-like feel.
Play around with bathroom décor, add new towels, rugs, add plants and candles. Do whatever you can to enhance the ambiance in your bathroom and to create a relaxing and destressing oasis.
8. Quiet and peaceful corners
If you’re not financially ready to transform your whole house into a relaxing and wellness retreat, you can create quiet corners where you’d feel at peace.
If you’re someone who finds reading relaxing and destressing, then it’s probably time to create a reading nook for yourself.
Choose a well-lit corner of your home and place a comfortable chair or sofa so that it’s looking towards the window. Then place a small coffee table next to the chair and add a lamp and nothing more. Simply create a cozy space, absent of all the electronic devices, where you’ll be able to read without being interrupted.
9. Wall art can also be calming
Many times the devil is in the details, as they say. This means that you don’t need to do much in order to create a relaxing atmosphere in your home. For example, changing artwork is enough to completely transform the space.
Depending on what you find relaxing, you can choose relaxing nature photography, inspirational quotes, abstract paintings, landscapes, it’s really up to you.
This artwork doesn’t have to be super expensive. You can just download some prints you like and have them printed out. Many people like black and white photography, because they find it relaxing.
If you too, find black and white artwork peaceful and relaxing, you can pair it up with wooden frames to give it a bit of character and warmth.
10. Scents
The scents in your home can also affect your mood and stress levels. If you want to feel relaxed and calm the moment you step foot in your home, certain scents can help with that.
Aromatherapy is a holistic treatment that uses aromatic essential oils to improve your physical and also your emotional health. Every spa also uses aromatherapy as a way to help you relax and to improve your mood.
You can do that same thing in your own home. You can turn any room in your home into a relaxing and calming oasis with a diffuser and essential oils. There are various scents that can either help you sleep, help you calm your nerves, improve your mood – many of those scents include eucalyptus, lemon, pine, lavender, tea tree, lemongrass, and so on.
Apart from helping you improve your well-being, with these scents you can also bring nature into your home.
11. Sounds
Sounds work on the same principle as scents. Certain sounds, especially sounds of nature can create a relaxing environment in your home. Since you’re trying to create a wellness retreat at home, you can achieve this with sounds, too.
Create a calming atmosphere that will involve all your senses and help you relax completely. Finding calming or nature sounds shouldn’t be a problem. There are even apps available that offer a variety of calming, nature-inspired sounds for you to enjoy.
12. Don’t forget candles
Another staple in most spa centers is candles. This is because the candle flame helps you relax, destress and it soothes your soul and senses. Candlelight softly illuminates any space making it feel more relaxing.
Candles are also great for meditation and are often even a focal point for certain types of meditation such as candle gazing meditation. When choosing candles for your home, source ones that are made of bee wax or soy.
Also, make sure you don’t choose candles with heavy scents. Instead, go for organic candles with natural scents such as lavender, jasmine, or vanilla since all these scents are calming and soothing.
13. Focus on fabrics
When creating a wellness retreat-like home, you should please all your senses, even the touch. This is why it’s important to choose the right fabrics for furniture that aren’t scratchy and itchy. Choose soft fabrics and materials, soft and thick carpets, soft blankets, and comfortable cushions.
Even knitted and furry fabrics that feel good on your skin can work. What’s the point in choosing a couch that looks great but feels awful on your skin?
When creating a relaxing oasis – pleasing and soothing all your senses should be a priority.
14. Garden retreat
When transforming your home, you shouldn’t forget to include your garden as well. When trying to create a tranquil retreat in their home, many people start from their gardens.
You too can create an outdoor spa space in your garden. For example, the sound of water is what helps us calm our nerves, it improves our mood and makes us feel better. That’s exactly why you should think about installing a water feature in your garden.
This water feature can be as big or small as you want. You can make a whole pond or you can install a small fountain. Not only will the water feature improve your health, but it will also transform your boring garden into a magical, cozy, and nature-filled getaway.
You can decorate this water feature with different plants, stones, and even lights to create a soothing ambiance.
Transforming your home into a wellness retreat is not all that complicated at all. Since our homes are already our safe havens, why not completely transform them into a place where we’ll be able to escape and relax from the rest of the world.
The best thing about creating a wellness retreat at home is all the benefits it brings. You’ll not only improve your mood and calm your nerves, but your physical health will also benefit you a lot.
We hope that this list helped you get some ideas on how to turn your home into a calming oasis.
Photo by Teona Swift from Pexels.
