Ten Tips for a Simple Home

It’s true what they say about a tidy house, tidy mind. Research shows that having a neat, well-organised, and sparkling clean home plays an important role in mental health and general wellbeing. An untidy home can subconsciously negatively affect our wellbeing. Whereas cleaning your house alleviates the stress associated with an untidy home, plus the physical act of cleaning works up a sweat and releases feel good endorphins!

A simple home is not about having empty rooms, void of personality or warmth. It is about creating a home that reflects your lifestyle, that you can relax in and feel happy to invite guests over to. (With minimal tidying and cleaning needed).

For me having a simple home…

… is about only having what is useful and beautiful in the house. Having a clean, clutter-free organised house means there is less to clean and store, so you can spend more time on other things. And for those things that do need doing, there are routines in place. The house is ready for visitors within a few minutes, rather than a few hours!

So here are my Ten Tips for a Simple Home

1. Declutter

The first step in order to have a simple home is to declutter. You cannot have a simple home if you have clutter everywhere and the house looks disorganised. Go through room by room and only keep those things that are either useful or beautiful.

2. Simple Furniture

A room with too much furniture, can easily look cluttered and busy. Each room should only contain the furniture it needs for it to be a relaxing space.

3. Clear Surfaces

This one probably needs little explanation. Keep flat surfaces clear, apart from a few accent pieces. What it doesn’t feature is knick knacks, lot of ornaments or stacks of paperwork or books. Have time every evening where you put your house to bed.

4. Does it spark joy?  

I’m sure you’ve heard this phrase that Marie Kondo made famous. It’s a way to assessing which items to keep or discard when you declutter your house. Quite often we keep items just because, rather than it having any meaning and giving us positive emotions. Perhaps try this activity with the items in your home, and see how many thing you really need to hold on to.

5. Simple, neutral colours.

Too avoid the room looking busy, keep the colour scheme to a maximum of three colours; base and then two accent colours for accessories etc. This also helps create a look and feeling of calm in the room.

6. A place for everything and everything in it’s place.

This one makes life so much easier for me. When an object has a set place, it is easier for it to go back there, rather than it forming clutter somewhere it doesn’t belong.

7. Keep on top of it.

It is very easy for those jobs to creep up on you and before you know it, your house isn’t looking quite as simple and organised. To maintain a tidy house, ideally spend time every day to keep it that way.  Other jobs you can save for the weekend, when you might have more time.

8. Put your home to bed each night

Starting the day being met by yesterday’s mess is draining. Before going to bed, or before relaxing for the evening, spend a few minutes making sure the house is tidy. The final dishes are in the dishwasher, laundry has been put away and clean towels ready for showers in the morning and cushions are neat on the sofa.

9. Get the whole family on board!

You might be the chief home maker, but that doesn’t mean others can’t help. Everyone lives there, so they can help too. You can allocate jobs per person, for example. In our house, 6pm is dinner prep and housework time and husband and children know to get involved and help with whatever needs doing that night.

10. Enjoy your home.

After all the hard work, take time to consciously relax in your home. Entertain and socialise with friends and family or simply enjoying a few minutes peace and quiet, knowing everything is taken care of.

Next in the series will be all about a simple wardrobe. Look out for that next week!

I would love to hear your thoughts. Has this inspired you to simplify your home?