With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we believe it’s important to have a place to come home to that allows you to relax and helps improve your everyday lifestyle. Now that spring is here and the weather has improved, house projects are kicking into high gear whether that be a new build or a renovation.

At the Jamie Banfield Design office, spring and summer are usually our busiest seasons. Although we love what we do, things can get stressful, which is why we know how important it is to come back to a tranquil home. Here are our favourite ways to create a relaxing environment at home through thoughtful design.

Natural Textures

Our first tip to help you create relaxation at home is to add natural pieces. Natural elements such as wood and stone always help create a calming interior space. Adding natural, zen home decor can imitate the soothing feeling we get when we connect with nature. The warmth of the natural hardwood on your feet as you walk down the hallway or the texture of the organic marble stone veining in your shower tiles, are visually comforting and help us connect to our roots.

In furniture and accessories, we are seeing a lot of jute being used for area rugs, decorative poufs, and even drapery. Jute is a strong natural fibre that will hold up to just about anything and will provide just the right amount of texture and balance to complete a room. It’s a great fit for any lifestyle and makes for perfect tranquil home decor!

Plants and greens

Whether you are trying to create a relaxing bedroom or looking for peaceful living room decorating ideas, adding plants and greenery is a great way to make your home peaceful and tranquil.

When styling a home, the Jamie Banfield Design team loves to incorporate lots of plants. Adding plants not only adds a pop of texture and colour but also helps to create a refreshing and calming feel. House plants have many health benefits, which can really help to create a positive atmosphere at home. For example, English Ivy and Snake Plants aid in cleaning the air, while Eucalyptus helps promote relaxation with its fragrant scent, among other qualities.

Organization

When your goal is to create a relaxing room at home, organization should be your priority. With any design, a well-thought-out approach is key. Figuring out how you can use your space while catering to your lifestyle and what’s important to you, can help you to create a plan to optimize the function of any room.

How satisfying is it when you clean up that junk drawer in your desk that’s been building up for a while? You feel accomplished, organized, and you get a sense of “ahhhhhh” looking at that perfectly laid-out drawer. The same feeling can be transferred to a bigger scale.

Take this living room project we were hired to work on for example. By adding in custom millwork around the fireplace, we were able to create a functional and usable space. This family is now able to tuck away items behind closed doors while still having the ability to show off more cherished pieces in the open shelving. This produces a sharp, clean look and helps to create a relaxing environment in your home.

Designer tip: when placing items to be displayed, don’t over crowd. Like in this living room in the photo.

Designer tip: when placing items to be displayed, don’t overcrowd. By overcrowding the shelf it starts to look busy and messy and takes away from the relaxing feel that you want. Believe us when we say less is more!

Need inspiration to create a more relaxing feel to your home? Add items that you connect with.

Connecting to a happy memory or good feeling

If you are looking for relaxing home decorating ideas that can help to create a calm feeling in your home, find some personal items that make you feel good. Add personal touches around your home or office that take you back to a happy memory of your favourite place or person.

This can be something as simple as a picture of the family on vacation in Hawaii or something extremely personal like a little trinket your grandpa passed down to you. These souvenirs take us back to a comforting place where the stresses of everyday life don’t exist and we can just live in the moment.

Jamie’s Personal Favourite:

One of my personal favourites, which I always have on display on my desk, is a framed business card that my friend made for me in 7th grade for my birthday! I love it because at that age I had no clue what I wanted to do when I grew up. To look at it now and see where we’re at today keeps me motivated. I’m a true believer in surrounding yourself with people and things that inspire you. That is why I also love creating and showcasing vision boards. They help keep me focused on what’s important to me.

Peace and tranquillity are easy to bring into your home with thoughtful design. If you are ready to have a more peaceful home, follow our 4 tips. Which of these interior design tips are you going to use to create a relaxing environment in your home? Let us know in the comments.

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