5 Strategies To Bring Calm In Your Space

I desired to live life more intentionally. My work became too much of an idol. The demands of my responsibilities at work started to take precedent over time with my husband. Being present with him was important to me, especially thinking of our desire to start a family. Now that we have our son, I am so grateful that my husband and I took the leap of faith. While I wouldn't say starting a business solved all the issues, starting Bungalow House Studio is something I felt the Lord calling me to despite my protests. Now that Bungalow has become more established in our specific art arena, I desire to take this business one intentional step further to share all the tips and tricks I've learned as an Interior Designer. Will you let me share?

As an Interior Designer, I've worked on complete gut remodels to multi-million dollar new build homes in two of the top residential firms in Indianapolis, IN. It has been a joy to help clients from Carmel, IN to St. Louis, MO. I've worked a lot in the design world and I'm finally ready to bring some of that here to Bungalow House Studio.

Styling Tips for your Home, Inspired by "Behold"

I’m writing this to you as a young mom inside a small house that holds a huge dog and an energetic toddler. Like your home, our Bungalow has held many moments of chaos and I’m often looking for ways to bring a little calm into our home.

Today, I’m going to share with you some practical tips as your personal Interior Designer. You can feel free to take some of these tips and run with them, or even share with me what you do to keep the calm in your home.

Tip #1 - A Color Palate Can Change Everything

Not only does my recent painting, “Behold” have a spiritual meaning behind the colors chosen for the painting. You can read more about the color selection in my blog "Scripture Art: Behind the making of Isaiah 43:19 Art". There is even psychological evidence behind the selection of these colors, blue and white, when adding them to your home.

Color theory has always been a unique interest of mine and I think there is something to be said for the steadfast popularity of a crisp white paired with a navy blue. I’ve seen this color combination make its way into anything from Nautical Decor, to a Mid Century Modern home basement. It’s a versatile combination. And that’s why I feel confident in using it as a recommendation to the masses to bring calm in your space.

Blue is evidenced to be a calming color. Blue is all around us. It’s the color of the sky on a beautiful summer’s day. It’s the color of the soothing ocean. It’s the color that brings calmness and familiarity to a space. That is why I'm recommending that you bring blue into your home through art, painted walls, decor pillows, etc. Keep reading Tip #2 to see how you can do this in a BOLD way.

Tip #2 - Bring Calm Into Your Space Through Bold Moves

Want to get serious about your move toward a calm space? Bold moves are refreshing. Now, these suggestions aren’t going to be for everyone, and that’s totally ok. I’m just sharing what I’ve experienced as a designer and the emotional effect I’ve witnessed my clients feel when making bold moves in their space.

Here are two suggestions for you to make bold moves in your space with the color blue.

1. Bring a fresh coat of blue to your cabinets. Transform your bathroom or kitchen into a space that brings a calming light blue or soothing navy to your spaces. Yes, a deep navy is ok EVEN IF your bathroom is small. A bold color can be used sparingly in a small space without sacrificing the overall feel. You’ve been told to add white to a small space to make it look bigger, but you’ll only get lost in that small space if you don’t have a grounding color.

2. This second tip is going to be controversial and honestly, I don’t care. It needs to be said. Ceilings are a surface too. We fill our walls to the brim with paintings and wallpaper, but ceilings are just as equal if not more important when setting the scene to your space. A white popcorn ceiling just doesn’t do anything for me, can we say goodbye to those please? Instead, let's bring in contrast to a deeply painted blue ceiling with some molding decor around it. You want to dramatically transform your space? Don’t forget the ceiling!

Tip #3 - Bring Calm Into Your Space With Intentional Art

It’s no shock to you that I’m recommending art as one of the first ways to bring blue to your space. While the "Behold" art print would be of course a high recommendation. You can pair your art with others to bring some balance and interest to your space.

As you know, I have partnered with Trades of Hope who allow me to share Artisan work from around the world with you. It is important to me to continue to support craftsmanship and fair trade partners, and that's for a whole other blog. One of the first pieces that came to mind that checked all my boxes was the hand-embroidered  Otomi Art made by Maribel in Mexico.

This art is perfect in a 10x10 frame which would bring a size contrast next to your "Behold" art on your office wall. When I was shopping this, there was a limited quantity left so make sure that you grab one as soon as you can!

Tip #4 - Bring Calm To Your Kitchen

Did you think that statement was even possible to write down? It may sound silly but it is possible to bring little reminders of calm to your kitchen. Bringing artful reminders to your kitchen space is possible and that’s what I love so much about the versatility of our 5x7 art prints, especially the Blue & white color palate of “Behold.”

However, I have an additional suggestion for you to bring a different artful piece into your space. Try a tea towel. A simple tea towel can not only be useful, but by bringing in blue hues through an artful tea towel, you are encouraging calm signals to be sent to your brain. I personally am in love with this Neela Tea Towel Set from our Fair Trade partners and would highly recommend bringing this into your space if you have the room for something purely ornamental.

Tip #5 - Bring Calm To Your Space Through Your Senses

We’ve talked about bold moves, intentional artful moves, and even some culinary insight moods with kitchen decor. Now, lets talk about your senses. You’ve not properly experienced a space until you’ve physically smelled the fabric and the story of the time that has been in the home. My experience of the low ceilings in a prairie style home by Frank Lloyd Wright was only imagination until I actually experienced the warmness of the light that you feel closer to your skin due to the low ceilings in person. You may as well think of your space as any other picture on the internet until you’ve invited more of your senses in. So how do we transform our space to not just look calm, but to physically feel calm? Let’s brainstorm a few ideas together:

1. Scent. What scent is home to you? When I walk into our home after we have been gone for a weekend, the scent of 120 years of beautiful wood (and maybe a little moisture from the basement) hit my nose. When I visit my nana, the smell of freshly cooked bacon from that morning and her homemade spaghetti and meatballs fill my senses. These smells are nostalgic to me. They wouldn’t necessarily make America’s top 10 list of scented candle scents, but they fill me with great delight and comfort. They fill me with a calm peace. So what scent is home to you? Maybe it is fresh linen or lavender in the meadow. Whatever it is, make it your home signature scent. Want some fair trade options? Check out this link.

2. Textiles. When I was walking through that same Frank Lloyd Wright home, it was in a time where we could physically touch his hand-designed textiles lining the kitchen table, living room furniture, and even dining room rug. The feel and texture of items can make you feel like you are in the coziest place on earth, or the most rigid location. What textiles are you filling your home with? Do you enjoy the feel of your throw on your living room sofa, or does it have that uncomfortable metallic thread running through it that makes you not want to touch, but only see? Make your space something that you want to live in, make it something not just pretty to look at, but a place that you actually want to take off your shoes and stay a while. Here’s a thought, maybe add a little blue in your throw if it matches your color palate;).

In Summary

There are so many other ways that you can bring calm to your space. We highlighted the color blue inspired by my recent “Behold” painting that is for sale on my website. Isn’t it cool how one single piece of art can inspire so many avenues of creativity and calmness for your home? What tip are you going to try? Do you enjoy me bringing in a little bit of my design background to the studio blog? I hope this blog will help you bring calm in your space. Let me know what you think in the comments, I love hearing from you.