Home is a place of retreat. It’s a place you can go to recover and rest. Time spent out in the world can be stressful and difficult, but home is a place for regrouping, de-stressing and relaxing.

If your home does not feel like your sanctuary, there are steps you can take to make it a place of rest and relaxation. Blocking noise from the outside and taking steps to create a more peaceful environment can help. If you’re trying to create a sanctuary in your home, you can do it with the following tips. Here’s what you need to know.

Replace Windows to Block Noise

Outside noises can be disruptive and can create stress. Whether it’s sound from a nearby highway or yard work from the neighbors, noise from the outside can be disruptive and disheartening.

Windows can be a point of entry for sounds — especially if the windows are older and low-performing. Single pane windows, for example, provide very little insulation from the noises in your neighborhood. If your windows are single pane, then you may hear sounds from traffic, passersby, lawn care equipment and more. One way to reduce outside noise is by installing double pane windows or triple pane windows from a reputable window dealer and manufacturer.

Double pane windows with two layers of high performing glass can block noises from your neighborhood, while triple pane windows provide an extra boost of insulation and noise reduction that can help keep your home comfortable and quiet both day and night.

Impact windows provide excellent sound insulation because they’re made from multi-layered laminated glass. To maintain their impact resistance during hurricanes, impact windows are also encased in a heavy-duty frame that helps block sound as well. If you live in a location where noise can be a problem, impact windows can help protect your home from sound and from damage during storms.

Dampen Footsteps with Wall Coverings and Rugs

Sounds have a way of echoing on hard surfaces like hardwood floors and high ceilings. You can dampen those sounds by using upholstered surfaces like rugs. Wall coverings can be used to accomplish the same goals. Curtains, blinds, and hanging quilts all make an attractive covering that can help keep sounds in your home muted and soft.

Create a Peaceful Environment

Style your home in a calming way that brings you joy. There are many things you can do to create a peaceful environment. Using paint, calming decorative items, and the right furnishings, you can create a home where you can easily relax.

Paint the Walls in Calming Colors

Calming colors like blue, green, and gray can be relaxing and calming. Paint the walls in colors that create an environment you like, and use those colors as the basis for other colors in your house. Establish a color palette of calming cool colors and neutrals like khaki, cream, mocha, and white.

Having a hard time choosing a color palette that works for your home? There are many online palette generators that can help. Choose one or two foundational colors and three or four accent colors to give each room its own flair and beauty. Keep in mind that room size matters when you’re choosing a color palette.

Larger rooms can look bright and overwhelming when decorated in lighter, brighter colors. Smaller rooms can become uncomfortably dim when decorated in darker colors.

Use Decorative Items That Encourage Peace and Calm

Fill your home with calming, decorative items like candles, potpourri, throw pillows, and throw blankets. Fill your home with items that make your house the ultimate comfort zone. Emphasize places to sit and lounge.

Hang Beautiful Art

Make your walls and rooms beautiful. Hang beautiful art on the walls and choose a few lovely sculptures to fill your rooms. When you’re choosing art, think about the room’s color scheme and where the art will be installed. Choose art that fits in the space provided and helps make the room a unified whole.

Declutter

Clutter creates the feeling of mess and chaos, and that can be anxiety producing. Decluttering your home brings a sense of peace and accomplishment at once. Clutter can build up over time, so decluttering should happen on a regular basis to keep your home looking clean, serene, and well-maintained.

Decorate with Fresh Flowers

Decorating with fresh flowers can fill your home with a pleasant scent while also adding beauty to your space. Keep fresh flowers on your dining room table, in your living room, or even in your bedroom, where they can provide personal enjoyment. Fresh flowers can be expensive, but you can save money by signing up for a flower subscription service from a local florist.

Choose Cozy Furniture

Furnish your home with cozy pieces that you love to curl up in. Cozy furniture adds a sense of relaxation just by looking cozy, and that feeling is reinforced when you actually sink into your favorite couch or chair. Cozy furniture goes well with the throw pillows and throw blankets that you use to decorate your space.

Keep Your Work Station Separate

Do you work from home? It can be stressful to see your work spread out in front of you in your off time. Create a home office space with a door that you can close when the work day is over. Keeping your home office behind a closed door at the end of the workday can help you create work-life balance that will help make your home the sanctuary you need it to be.

Install Calming Lighting

Lighting helps create a relaxing ambiance. Install a range of lighting types in your home to give yourself lighting options when you need it. Installing table lamps, floor lamps, pendant lighting, task lighting, and overhead lighting allows you to use layered lighting that creates the perfect lighting environment when you need it.

Add Greenery and Natural Elements

Greenery and natural elements can relax the body and quiet the mind. Place plants in each room of your house. If you’re intimidated by the idea of buying a plant, consider easy to grow plants like pothos and philodendron, or even high quality silk plants that never need to be watered at all.

Plants combine well with other natural elements like stones, wicker, cotton, and wood. Choose furnishings and decor that are made from natural materials to reinforce the feeling of relaxation and laid back connection to nature.

Your Sanctuary, Your Way

Whenever you’re decorating to create a serene, peaceful environment, the most important thing to consider is that your decorating preferences come above all others. It’s important to choose colors that make you feel peace. Prioritize the projects that will have the biggest impact on your life, whether that’s installing new windows, buying new furniture, purchasing small decorations, or something else.