Bringing Wellness Home with IKEA
I’ve been spending a lot of time at home lately, cleaning, organising, de-cluttering and moving things around. With more of us spending more time at home during these current times, it’s important to create a space at home that enhances our sense of wellbeing so that you can feel more calm, relaxed and at your best.
Today I’m excited to partner with IKEA Australia to share with you some of my top tips for creating a beautiful space at home where you can relax, unwind, read a book, do a bit of yoga or try your hand at meditation. I’m going to show you how I transform our guest bedroom into a multi-functional space for reading, meditation and yoga. A little hideout and sanctuary away from everything else, so to speak!
Previous to creating this space, we didn’t quite have a dedicated space for these activities and when it came to creating a space, I thought our guest bedroom would be the perfect spot for it as we have gorgeous sunlight streaming in this room which just really reminded me of the large windows in this yoga studio I love! With just a few additions, I managed to transform a blank canvas into something really cozy and relaxing and I’m going to share with you exactly what I did below. These tips are really easy to implement at home and just a few small changes here and there can really impact a room, and create a real sense of wellness to life at home.
But first, some before and afters!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
BEFORE & AFTER:
..And here’s what I did!
1) CREATE INTENTIONAL SPACE
To begin with, I think it’s really important to choose a space for your yoga/meditation practice, whether it be in your bedroom, spare room or living area. Within this space, create intentional space for your practice. That means having a special spot where you keep all the things you need together. That way, every time you come for your yoga practice at home, you’ve set up a little ritual and routine.
Here, I’ve dedicated part of our guest bedroom for my morning yoga practice. After wandering around our rooms, I decided this room was the best the light streaming in really reminded me of our yoga studio. I set up the NORDKISA bamboo open wardrobe with sliding door as a flexible storage system to keep my yoga mat, some blankets, plants and anything else that adds to a relaxing spot. This wardrobe is so great as it has lots of different compartments and options making it super flexible to style and use. If we have guests over, there’s a little clothes rail on the side where they can hang their clothes and we can just move our plants over so they can keep some folded items as well. The wardrobe door slides left/right making it really easy to access everything as well!
When looking for inspiration as to what I might want to reach for in a space like this, I imagine all the yoga studios I ever attended and take inspiration from that! I also put some of my favourite books here so it also doubles as a beautiful room for some reading on the day bed as well. I find that if you have everything in one spot you’re more likely to commit to beginning something like a home yoga or meditation practice because everything is in reach and ready to go.
2) CREATING SOFTNESS WITH LIGHT
I love a room with beautiful sunlight but sometimes the rays coming directly through the window are a tad too harsh to feel relaxed! When decorating this space, I found the biggest game changer was switching from aluminium blinds to curtains. Wow. Just WOW. The space went from having pretty gorgeous sunlight to having the most gorgeous diffused light that you could ever imagine. Using the IKEA LEJONGAP sheer white linen curtains (which by the way had amazing reviews online), I was able to transform the space completely by diffusing the light to create a soft glow. And turns out, curtains are super easy to install and can easily be hemmed using iron-on hemming tape. I also added a second layer of the MERETE room darkening curtains in bleached white so that we could use them in the evenings.
Two little tips for hanging curtains:
1) I washed my curtains prior to hanging & hemming to provide for any shrinkage just in case
2) I decided to hang our curtain rod high and wide and have the curtains hang all the way to the floor even though the window is only half-height. I found this really made the window & room look bigger and brighter. I’m super pleased with this decision - I definitely recommend it.
For the evenings, I wanted to include a little lamp in this space that gave a soft glow much like a candle. I came across the STORHAGA lamp which is actually an indoor/outdoor LED lamp and uses rechargeable batteries which you can get from IKEA. This means that I can move the lamp around the space as I wish since it is battery operated and simply plug in the USB charging cord whenever the batteries need a charge. The lamp is also dimmable so that you can adjust the lighting to suit your needs.
3) ADD A TOUCH OF GREENERY
I cannot imagine an indoor sanctuary without plants! Indoor plants are great for creating a space for wellness as studies show that being surrounded by nature when at home really helps with mental wellbeing. They’re also great for removing toxins in the area and are totally pretty on the eyes. I love how indoor plants blend the indoor/outdoor boundaries and there’s nothing I love more than feeling like I’m outside when I’m at home. Here I’ve decorated with some of my favourite plants. In particular, I have loved adding the fun SATSUMAS plant stand to the space as it elevates my pot plants to window level so that they can reach as much light as possible. I also loved turning the TJILLEVIPS seagrass basket into a little planter for my baby monstera!
4) USE NATURAL MATERIALS/TEXTURES
Another thing that I found to really transform the space was to bring in as many natural materials and textures as I could to the space. I love the feeling of a jute rug under my feet and bamboo and seagrass baskets from the TJILLVIPS range for storing my things. Those baskets are so handy as they can be used in so many different ways! I also love how beautiful linen is as a sheer curtain - it’s got a real easy breezy feel and I’m so going to transform all our other windows with these sheer linen curtains some day soon too!
When choosing the colours for the space, I stuck to light, soft colours to bring a sense of tranquility into the space as opposed to darker colours!
5) CREATE A COMFY SPOT FOR MEDITATION
One little hack I wanted to share was that I came across a really great idea for creating a comfy spot for your meditation practice and that is to use a chair pad! A chair pad is a totally genius idea and I must admit I didn’t come up with it, I actually saw it on one of IKEA’s inspo pages haha! If you already have chair pads on your dining room chairs, then you can simply steal one of those for your meditation practice. Otherwise, you can just pick one up for your meditation practice and it can also double up as a comfy chair pad for your chair as well. The one I’m using is here is called HILLARED and I must say it makes a big difference and makes your practice feel a lot more studio-like and calming, especially if you’re still trying to ease into a regular practice at home.
6) BRINGING IN THE SENSES
When finding stillness in a space like this, you’ll find that you start to pay a lot more attention to all your senses. Because of this, I love making sure I have some beautiful products on hand to make the space smell refreshed and calming. Again, I love the NORDKISA wardrobe and its numerous options when it comes to styling. Here I can keep my essential oils hidden away, as well as a diffuser and candle on hand. I also love having a cup of loose leaf infused tea in this space and the bottom shelf of the wardrobe is the perfect space to store it when I need to keep it from being knocked over.
I hope you enjoyed this post. I absolutely loved creating this space with IKEA Australia and sharing my tips with you and I hope this inspires you to turn your home into a sanctuary and a space of wellness as well!
By the way, if you’ve got an IKEA shopping list on hand and want to do a quick dash in & out, IKEA Australia is currently offering contactless click & collect where you can simply place your order online, park at the designated click & collect bays, call the store and the IKEA staff will bring your order to your car. So easy!
