Sometimes, you walk into a house, and you don't feel anything. As if the walls were silent, and the heart was missing. Without human presence, they lack what brings life to a house. Here are a few ideas that can bring more life into your home, so that it is already breathing, every time you walk into it.
Let the Walls express Themselves
Walls are part of the structure of the house. Their goal is to separate one room from the other. But they are also the elements that you see the most. The first initiative you may take, is to paint some of them in bright colours, which will certainly create more life into any room. But it won't bring soul. What you want is to visit an online gallery where you can find select artistic paintings to buy, that will bring their own energy into the rooms where they will be hung.
Art is life. It was created by an artist that is sharing a moment of his own path, through a painting, a sculpture, or a photograph. If you have one hanging on any wall of the house, even if the room was empty of any other element, the space enclosed within the four walls would still be alive. Works of art are the first thing that anyone should think of, when they are trying to make their home more personalized. After all, that is what life is: Being different. And if you select artworks to share the same space that you do, they certainly represent something that relates to you. Otherwise, you would not have selected them, in the first place.
Let the Sun shine In
The sun is what makes everything grows. That is also true about a home. If you walk into one that was built with small windows, and they are in insufficient number to really provide good natural lighting to the room, there will be a sense of desolation. Decades ago, houses were built almost like bunkers. The idea was that the family could isolate itself from society, inside them. We don't live in such a world anymore. The new generations feel the need to be one with their environment, and the only way to do so, is to tear down the walls and replace them by glass doors and windows that will let the sun shine in.
The first thing to do, is to unite the kitchen and/or dining room to the garden. To do so, you will replace the wall in the back of the house, for a set of sliding glass doors. This way, you can look at the garden every time you prepare a meal or share one in the colder months, while in summer, you can leave the whole wall open, so that you can move freely from the inside to the outside. It will make it easy to eat on the terrace and to benefit from the energy of the sun. You can also add a rooftop window in the bathroom and enlarge all the windows in every room. Don't stop until natural lighting is sufficient for you to live during the day, without ever using any electricity to compensate.
Bring Nature Inside
To add life to your home, bring more of it inside. That is what plants are. There have been so many studies throughout the last decades, that have shown how having plants to take care of, in our home, helps us feel better emotionally, as well as physically. Nurturing a plant and watching it grow brings a sense of accomplishment and happiness. It implies more work, but it is one that you will take pride in, more and more, the longer the plant grows. Also, seeing green in the house, calms people – or so studies say.
In regards to the health of the people living inside the house, it is widely known, that plants help get rid of poisonous particles in the air, such as carbon monoxide. What you may not have known before reading this article, though, is that about four million people die each year, due to indoor pollution, around the world. Isn't it time you get a few plants to help out on this situation? It will not only bring life to your home, but it will also help keeping you alive.
