Mindfulness and the Mindful Home

Every time I open Facebook or Insta, I see a post or quote about mindfulness. The design process I use to create spaces for women physicians is exactly that… mindful. We are creating a mindful home.

Since we know that mindfulness can reduce stress, rumination, boost focus improve cognitive flexibility (among other things!).

AND…

There is a whole body of environmental psychology research that supports the connection between our homes and our sense of well being…

Let’s create some mindful homes!

Mindful Home

A mindful home is one that is thoughtfully and intentionally created specifically for the people that live there…for YOU.. and is designed to reduce stress, simplify your life and increase productivity.

Do You Have a Mindful Home?

When we really step back and think about it, are truly mindful when we create our homes?

You may be! And if so, I’m giving you my best “You go girl!”

If you’re not so sure, you totally can be, and I’ll be hitting the highlights of how to do that in my upcoming posts. For now… I just want to talk about what a mindful home is and why I think it’s important.

When we select something for our home (i.e. sofa, dining table, floor tile, chandelier) We tend to focus primarily on aesthetic and price point without giving a lot of thought to how the item really fits in the context of our entire home, quality and how we live our lives.

Also, in an effort to just find “something” or to meet the demands of a contractor wanting all paint selections by the morning, We tend to make these decision in haste. We are making overnight decisions on expensive items that we will live with for years.

Our homes are where we live every day of our lives, sleep every night and share life’s most important moments with those we love the most.

When you think about it like that, creating a mindful home makes perfect sense, and it will make a huge difference in how we experience life in it.

A Home Can Be Beautiful But Not Mindful

I love a gorgeous room just as much as the next girl, but a mindful space is different than a space looks just looks pretty… Beauty is VERY important but creating a mindful home goes far beyond beauty.

A home can be beautiful but NOT mindful.

Think of the living room your friend’s parent’s had that was super gorg but no one was allowed in it.  Or they kept plastic on the chairs all the time to keep them protected. UGH. Or carpet you couldn’t walk on with shoes (cultural reasons for this aside… this was JUST to protect the carpet). 

via GIPHY

We think way too much about what colors or tile are trending and whether to use an accent wall or not than we do about the stuff that truly informs good design:  quality and function.

If it’s not functional, it’s not good design.

And it’s when beauty that inspires YOU meets function that streamlines and supports YOUR life that a MINDFUL home is created. 

A Mindful Home: Defined

So here’s my complete definition of a mindful home:  

A mindful home is one that is thoughtfully and intentionally created specifically for the people that live there…for YOU.

…for the way you wake up in the morning.

…for the way you sleep at night.

…for the way you enjoy their hobbies.

…for the way you work.

…for your individual stressors.

…for your inspirations and dreams.

…for the way you live. 

What do you think could be better or easier in your life if you created a truly mindful home?