4 Ways To Make Your Home A Wellness Space
It’s looking more and more like 2022 will be another year of COVID19 restrictions. That means most people are probably going to have to carry on spending a lot of time at home. With that in mind, it’s worth taking another look at your home and seeing what steps you can take to turn it into a wellness space.
Create an entrance
Your entrance area is the place where you transition between a public space and a private one. Since the start of the pandemic, it’s acquired a whole new level of importance. For that reason, it’s worth taking the time to make it both as functional and as appealing as possible.
Entrances tend to be small and the main priority is usually storage. That’s still important but now it’s advisable to put more emphasis on cleaning. For example, if people take off their shoes at the entrance, don’t move them elsewhere in the home and then clean them.
Clean them in the entrance area. Then move them if necessary. That reduces the possibilities for germ transmission. Likewise, bag up reusable masks at your entrance. Keep them in the bag when you take them to where you do your laundry. Make sure that used masks are clearly separate from any clean ones you keep in the area.
Have everybody clean their hands before moving from the entrance area into your home. Make this as pleasant an experience as possible by providing high-quality hand sanitizer and high-quality moisturizer. Remember, even the very best hand sanitizers will be drying so providing moisturizer will make them much pleasanter to use.
With all that said, however, remember that an entrance should be a welcoming place as well as a practical one. Given that people may have limited opportunities to get outside over the next year, you might want to think about bringing the outdoors inside. If you’re not up to plants, then any sort of natural decor or even pictures of the outdoors could be welcome.
Make your bathroom a home spa
When the pandemic first struck, people, rushed to put together home gyms. Being able to exercise at home when gyms were closed was recognized as providing huge mental-health benefits to many people. Turning your bathroom into a home spa is the logical next step. The good news is that it can be done no matter what your budget is.
If you have the money (and own your own home) then you absolutely can go “all in” with your bathroom. Appliances like whirlpool baths, hydrotherapy showers and steam generators are now available at sizes you can fit in your bathroom. They still have premium prices compared to regular baths and showers but they are definitely within the range of a regular household budget.
On the other hand, if you’re on a lower budget (and/or you’re a renter), then there is still plenty you can do to create that “home-spa” feel. If nothing else, you can commit to eliminating clutter. If you can’t get it out of sight then make sure that it’s in an attractive container. You can also upgrade basic essentials to get that lux feel on a budget. High-quality towels are a particularly good investment. Roll them instead of folding them.
Pay attention to decor. Even in the tiniest bathrooms, you usually have room for something on the walls or hanging from the ceiling. As with the entrance, plants are a great option. If you don’t have the conditions (or the time or skill) for real ones then go for faux or even pictures. You could also add crystals, (scented) candles (or electric ones) and color-changing lightbulbs.
Prioritize your sleep
Sleep is arguably the foundation of all wellness. It’s certainly vital for it. Hopefully, you’re already making sure that your sleeping area is physically optimized for sleep. For example, you need the best mattress you can afford, the right bedding and insulation from both light and sound. If you’re not, then you need to address this as quickly as possible.
You also want to look at the overall design and functionality of your bedroom and see if there are any other steps you can take to promote high-quality sleep. For example, you may find it helpful to listen to soothing audio before bedtime (or between waking up and getting up). You may not want to have anything in your ears, particularly at night time). At the same time, you may need to avoid disturbing a partner.
One potential solution is to have a pillow with a speaker inside it. That way you can listen in comfort and without any danger of falling asleep with something in your ears and without disturbing anyone else. Similarly, if you find essential oils helpful, then consider an electric diffuser or bags of herbs on your pillow rather than scented candles.
Remember your pets too
A lot of pets can stay indoors quite happily if given enough stimulation. This includes cats. In fact, cat-owners around the world are being increasingly encouraged to keep their pets indoors to protect local wildlife. The big exception is dogs.
Most dogs need to be properly walked at least once a day to be happy. Giving a dog a proper walk means taking it out of its regular home environment so that it gets mental stimulation as well as exercise. With that said, dogs can still get a lot of the exercise and stimulation they need from playing in a garden or even indoors.
Enclosed spaces like gardens and homes can be particularly good for training sessions as they generally have minimal distractions. This means that you and your pup can keep all your focus on each other. If you’d like some help with puppy training click here.
The key to keeping any sort of animal happy in an enclosed space is to make sure it has everything it needs for wellness. This generally means food, drink, a safe place to sleep, company (at least some of the time) and stimulating toys. Cats and dogs in particular often get a lot of mental health benefits from having plenty of options for stimulating play.