I got a call from a lady who was referred to me by a dear friend. This lady shared some of her wellness challenges with her and my friend immediately thought “this is exactly what Tochi can handle”.
We met in a nice restaurant for our agreed consultation.
After we sat down to our conversation, she told me that she would like to experience an overflow of joy when she opened the door to her home compared to what she was currently experiencing. She went on to say “she didn’t feel a hug” when she walked into her apartment, I guess you can say she wanted to experience the welcome feeling that spurs positive emotions after a long day at work.
After the first consultation, we arranged for another meeting at her house, so she can talk me through the things that she would like to change or the feelings she would like to experience when she got home every day after work.
Her house was very nice, located in a very nice part of Lagos too. As we walked through her lovely apartment, I listened to her share the feelings she would like to experience after a workday, so I came up with some suggestions that we could immediately deploy to achieve her objectives.
Firstly – I recommended aromatherapy- I believe that coming home to smells that excite your senses and evoke feelings of relaxation immediately puts you in a positive mood. It’s like saying Bye Stress(which work can be sometimes) and Hello Relaxation (which your home should represent). I experienced the same after I infused my own home with essential oils, walking into my flat became a more pleasurable experience, I couldn’t have imagined that smells could have the positive impact it did, so it was a no-brainer to recommend the same to my client.
Secondly– A Sofa change- She told me how she loved to seat in front of the TV for a few hours most evenings and how she would have preferred to seat in a particular position. Her current sofa (built with aesthetics in mind rather than functionality) was a hindrance to the experience she wanted, so we concluded that an L-Shaped sofa was a better choice for her. The L-shape is particularly suitable for anyone seeking more space and prefers lying to seating when watching TV.
Thirdly– Declutter- Being a minimalist myself, I immediately noticed that her space was filled with things, not things she needed just things she had acquired along the way. “A recent study from UCLA’s center on Everyday Lives and Families (CELF) found that clutter has a deep-seated effect on our mood and self-esteem”. I absolutely believe that a cluttered space leads to a cluttered mind that affects your entire wellbeing.
With our team’s intervention (which includes a professional interior designer), the client now looks forward to going home. She’s happy with a space free from clutter and bursting with pleasant aromas. She reported an increase in positive emotions, in her own words “I can think and breathe better now”.
Your space matters, when you decorate consider both aesthetics and functionality, think of the experience you want from your home and design accordingly, if you have things you haven’t used in months, consider giving them up. As much as you can, give every item a home, once you have things lying everywhere and out of place then it’s time to declutter.
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Thank you for reading, I hope you got value.
Please share your thoughts in the comment section.
[ Photo credit: Dan Gold from Unsplash. @danielcgold.]
Insightful read… Unfortunately we just stack up items that are no longer relevant to us with the twisted belief that one day we might need them
I couldn’t have said it better myself.