More than that. This room is not mine, it’s ME. The Dali art I’ve always loved, the colourful abstract I could look at forever, the vintage bar cart I use for my printer, the pink porcelain poodle that adorns it and always makes me smile. No matter how much I am “momming”, being a daughter, wife, friend, I come in here and remember who I am. I am a lover of art, of beauty, reading.

Your environment shapes and influences your thoughts, feelings and motivations. The colours, sounds, smells, fabrics, and finishes I chose operate on me every time I enter. And they never fail. Without me even realizing it, I am being restored to the version of me that I choose to be in my life.

Does that sound like a lot to ask for from a space? Consider this: what is your emotional experience in a haunted house? A hotel? Your favourite restaurant? All those places have been designed for you to experience them a certain way. An atmosphere has been created through décor, scent, sound. In addition, you have built a habituated response to them. Before you even arrive to the smell of steak and the sound of chatter in your favourite restaurant, your body is creating an emotional response.

So, do you have a sanctuary in your home? A place where you or your family feel the way you want to feel? Your home, right now, every room, makes you feel SOMETHING. Manage HOW it feels. Fill a space, even one room, with things, sounds, smells, you LOVE. Do it consciously. It’s happening unconsciously right now.