Holistic Meditation Spaces in Your Home
Meditation is a fabulous way to promote relaxation and well-being, which is why it’s worth creating your very own holistic meditation space in your home. When you have a dedicated space to meditate, it’s easier to make it part of your daily routine. Furthermore, having a tranquil environment in which to meditate can help to calm your mind and enhance the positive impact that meditation has.
If you want to create a personal sanctuary that you can enjoy at any time, or you’re eager to enhance the relaxing properties of your surroundings, take a look at these top tips for designing serene, holistic meditation spaces in your home:
Identify How Much Space You’ll Need
People like to practice meditation in different ways. Some prefer to sit cross-legged on the floor, whereas others find it more comfortable to use an upright chair or to lay down on the floor. If you’re new to meditating, remember that your preferences might change over time, so make sure you can adapt the space in the future. Once you’ve begun to think about how you would like to practice meditation, you’ll have a clearer idea of how much space you’ll need.
Dedicate a Space
Depending on the size of your home, you may wish to dedicate an entire room to meditation. While turning an empty room into a holistic meditation space is certainly a great use of your environment, you don’t have to devote an entire room to wellness. Instead, you can carve out space in an existing room and create a versatile environment that lends itself to tranquillity and calmness.
Ideally, you’ll want to choose a ‘low traffic’ area, that will allow you to meditate undisturbed. This might be a corner of your bedroom or space in a spare room. You can even turn a quiet part of your living area into a holistic meditation space if you wish.
Embrace Minimalistic Décor
The art of meditation involves clearing your mind and heightening your awareness, and minimalist décor can help you to achieve an innate sense of calmness. When you aren’t distracted by your surroundings, it can enhance your meditation practice and allow you to enter a deeper state of tranquillity.
Your surroundings have a significant impact on your mind, so be sure to clear the area before you begin thinking about what you’ll need in your meditation space. When you start from scratch, you can create a bespoke space that’s perfectly suited to the style of meditation you choose to practice.
Choose Soothing Colours
The colour of a room can evoke certain emotions. Bold reds and yellows are known to be energising, stimulating and motivating, for example. In contrast, blue is a soothing colour that calms the mind and promotes intellectual creativity, while green provides balance and harmony. Of course, neutral colours such as whites, greys and taupe, provide calm reassurance, which can be perfect for a holistic meditation space.
If you’re incorporating your meditation space into an existing room, you may not want to drastically change the décor. However, using decorative screens can be a great way to separate your meditation space from the rest of the environment. By doing so, you can use a distinct yet complementary colour palette that will promote relaxation without impacting on your core room design.
Add Soft Lighting
If you prefer to hear the sound of the great outdoors as you meditate, try and choose a space that’s close to a window. As well as giving you easy access to nature, you can allow the natural light to flow into your meditation space and use it to help clear your mind.
Alternatively, use soft lighting to illuminate the space. Candles work particularly well when you want to relax and unwind.
Prioritise Comfort
If you want to be able to meditate with ease and achieve a greater level of stillness, it’s important to ensure that your meditation space is comfortable. To achieve this, use soft furnishings, such as cushions, blankets and throws, to create a nurturing and reassuring environment. In addition to increasing your comfort, using different textures will awaken your senses and help you to focus on the present as you meditate. Where possible, choose natural materials, like linen, cotton or wool, as these will connect you to nature and help you to achieve a heightened state of awareness.
Incorporate Storage
You may not need much in the way of accessories to meditate effectively but many people use candles, crystals or essential oils to turn their attention inward and personalise their meditation space. Alternatively, you may use speakers to play soft music or the sounds of nature as you begin to meditate. If so, incorporating a small amount of storage into your meditation space can be a good way to minimise clutter and promote stillness.
Simple, stress-free storage options made from natural materials are ideal for a holistic meditation space, so look out for wooden or wicker baskets. Similarly, sea grass or bamboo storage baskets and bags can be a functional and aesthetically pleasing addition to your meditation space.
Be Flexible
There are no rights and wrongs when it comes to meditation, so don’t be too focused on creating a meditation space that ‘looks right’. Instead, be guided by your intuition and let your feelings take the reins. Personalising your meditation space gives you the opportunity to create a bespoke sanctuary that caters to your needs and enhances your awareness, so don’t hesitate to add décor or features that are meaningful to you.
Promoting Calmness and Tranquillity Throughout Your Home
Having a dedicated meditation space can certainly enhance your practice and encourage you to meditate regularly, but you can easily extend the design and style of your meditation space throughout your entire home. By doing so, you’ll create a calming, welcoming and tranquil environment that consistently enhances your well-being and reflects your unique personality.
How to Style a Run of Bookshelves
Bookshelves don’t just enhance your interior design; they offer functionality and versatility too. When you’re incorporating a run of shelves in a room, however, it takes some savvy styling to prevent the space taking on the appearance of a library or bookshop. Whether you’re redesigning your living space, overhauling your home office or even curating your own home library, take a look at these top tips for styling a run of bookshelves:
1. Think About How Much Space You’ll Need
If you’re going to install new shelving systems, you’ll want to ensure they’re tailored to your needs. After all, an overflowing bookcase is going to detract from your décor and do little to enhance your interior design.
Take a look at your current collection of books and estimate how much space you’re really going to need. To get an accurate idea, it can be helpful to measure a selection of books and multiply it based on how many books you own.
Remember – if you’re an avid reader or a collector, you’re likely to acquire more books in the future, so factor this into your plans. Furthermore, you’ll want to include a range of other pieces within your shelving system, so be sure to take this into account when you’re planning the space.
2. Reassess Your Interior
Once you know how much space you’re likely to need, you can begin deciding where to situate your bookshelves. You may already have a dedicated space, such as alcove shelving, or a blank wall you need to fill. If not, identify areas in your home that lend themselves to extra features.
Bookshelves can work well in home offices, living areas and even bedrooms, providing you’ve got the space and the room won’t feel cluttered. If you have a large number of books, don’t be afraid to split your collection and feature a run of bookshelves in different areas of your home. By doing so, you can maintain a cohesive design throughout the property, without overcrowding one room.
3. Choose the Right Material
Bookshelves come in an endless range of materials, which means they can be incorporated into any interior. What’s more – it’s easy to repurpose vintage pieces and use them as bespoke shelving units. Whether you’re creating a traditional, cottage-core feel or a contemporary, uber-modern living environment, choosing the right materials for your bookshelves will ensure that they fit seamlessly into your décor. From natural and reclaimed wood to metal, acrylic and glass, there are a wide variety of options to explore.
4. Complement Your Colour Palette
Credit: Shalini Misra - Deep rich charcoal paint on built in cabinetry adds both drama and depth to this home office in one of our recent completed projects.
Depending on the material you choose for your bookshelves, you may be able to modify the colour or finish yourself. This can be a great way to enhance existing shelving units or to upcycle vintage pieces that you want to use for display purposes.
The colour you choose for your bookshelves is going to have a major impact on how conspicuous they are, so think about whether you want them to be a feature in the room or if you want them to blend seamlessly into the background. By painting bookshelves in the same shade as the wall, for example, you can create an unobtrusive feature that doesn’t detract from your décor. Alternatively, a bold or vibrant colour turns your run of bookshelves into an aesthetic focal point.
When you’re selecting the colour of your bookshelves, bear in mind that the books and decorative pieces they’re going to hold will need to complement the shelves themselves. This may mean that choosing a neutral or minimalist shade is the best option. This gives you the flexibility to adorn your shelves with anything you choose, without having to worry about hues competing with one another.
Moody, dramatic shades can create a sense of intrigue and luxe sophistication and are the perfect foil for accent pieces in jewel shades and metallic finishes. Adding smoky and dramatic hues to a bookshelf or library unit bring an understated yet powerful aesthetic to the space.
5. Segment Your Books
For book lovers, segmenting your collection can be the trickiest part of styling a run of bookshelves, but it’s well worth the effort. Some people prefer to segment their books according to the colour of the covers, as this allows you to style your bookcases more easily. Alternatively, you may prefer to segment your books based on their size, so that books of a similar size can be grouped together. This helps to create clean lines once they’re placed on the shelves and enhances their aesthetic appeal.
6. Vary the Placement of Books
Credit: Shalini Misra
When you begin placing your books on shelves, don’t place them all in the same way. Instead, lay larger books horizontally, stand some books up and leave others leaning against them as a makeshift bookend. This allows you to add creativity into the styling of your bookshelves and prevents them from appearing bland in terms of their design.
7. Leave Blank Spaces
If you’re installing a run of bookshelves in a room, you won’t want to fill each shelf up with books. This can make the area seem too full and even cluttered. Instead, leave some space bare, so that each shelf looks well-styled and carefully thought-out, rather than simply being a storage area for books.
If you want to add an interesting focal point, use artwork in a blank space to complement the décor. You can either hang art behind the shelves and let it be visible or, if the shelves have backing, you can place it directly on the shelf or affix it to the backing.
8. Use Your Favourite Decorative Pieces
As well as using a run of bookshelves to store your favourite literary works, be sure to include your favourite decorative pieces too. Adding a vase, candle, vanity tray or sculpture helps to break up a run of books and adds new elements to your interior design.
Use Shelving to Enhance Your Interior Design
Shelving may serve a functional purpose in any home, but it can also be a key element of your design. When you take a creative approach to styling, a run of bookshelves can be the perfect addition to any room.
