Creating a Relaxing Space in Your Home

If you are struggling to relax and calm down, creating a relaxing space in your home could be just what you need.

As a highly sensitive person and/or an introvert, you probably need to rest. To have a place where you can go that is calm, quiet, and soothing that allows you to have the space and the time that you need to rest and recharge.

If you struggle with it, like I did for so long, I bet you’re trying to figure out why you can’t rest when you want to. What is it about your home or room that’s not allowing you to rest? Well, as an HSP-I, you need many things, and often you have to be more intentional about creating that space for yourself to find that rest.

Today, I want to look at a few things that go into creating a restful environment in your home.

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I love to read, journal, look at art, and paint but struggle to find consistent space and time for those activities. Recently, I was talking with a friend about this. She asked if I’d painted anything recently and I had to tell her no.

I was struggling to get in the right frame of mind to sit and paint. I realized the problem was that the place where I was trying to paint, sit journal, or read wasn’t set up for me to have the peace and rest I needed in order to work on those things.

There were too many things going on. I could see the kitchen and all the dishes that needed to be done. I could see that the trash was too full and I could hear the laundry going. It was all just too distracting.

I had to figure out how I could create a space for myself that was going to let me rest and relax. Once everything was clean and put away, everybody went to bed, and it was quiet I finally felt like I could do the things that fill my cup and help me rest and recharge. But I was too tired because it was the end of the day.

I want to give you 10 things you can do to create a kind of oasis, that getaway, that safe haven in your home so that you can rest and relax when you need to.

Declutter and Organize Your Stuff

So the first thing that you want to do is declutter and organize. Oh my goodness, visual clutter gets me every time. I cannot relax if I can see clutter. I can physically feel the chaos and the disorder when there’s clutter around, so I am very intentional about not having any clutter around as much as I can.

You want to clear away any clutter, anything that you don’t need or are not using, because that visual clutter can really keep you from being able to rest and relax when you need to or want to.

You don’t have to do a whole Marie Kondo or deep dive into decluttering. You really want to look around at the space that you want to be in and see what small things you can do.

Are there things you can put away, surfaces to clear off, or something to quickly organize so that you can have that sense of calm and order that’s going to allow you to rest and relax.

It might simply be putting anything that shouldn’t be in your dining room into a basket that you slide into a different room where you can’t see it. This is not the time to declutter everything in your life.

You just want to make sure that the space that you’re in is clear and clutter-free. Now, if you want to take some time to organize and declutter on a bigger scale, by all means, do that, but it’s not necessary for what we’re talking about right here.

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Get Softer Lighting

The second thing that you can do is look at your lighting. Bright and harsh lights are going to give you a lot of sensory input. As an HSP, you probably don’t like a lot of sensory input. It can exhaust and tax you. It can also lead to some anxious feelings.

Is there some way that you can soften the light in the place that you want to be? You want it soft, you want it warm, you want it cozy. You can use candles for this. You can switch out the bulbs that are in your lamps or your light fixtures.

Lamps are great for this. You don’t have to have the whole room lit up, you just need to be able to see what you’re doing. Having a lamp that can light the area that you’re in is a great way to accomplish that.

When I want to read and don’t want super bright lights, I have a book light. I can turn off the big lights and just have the little small low book light that allows me to continue to read.

Find Comfortable Furniture

The third thing you want to look at is: whether you are comfortable in what you’re sitting in. I don’t know about you, but I cannot relax if the chair or the sofa or wherever I’m sitting is not comfortable.

I can’t relax, and I can’t focus, because all my brain is telling me is how uncomfortable it is, how hard it is, how much my back hurts, how much I can’t sit up straight, how much I wish I could sit like this or I could lay like this.

My brain is so focused on all the things that are “wrong” with what I’m sitting in that I can’t actually relax. Try to find comfortable furniture that’s inviting and cozy, things that you’re going to want to sit in and be in for a long time.

Yes, I know, you might think, “What do you mean?” Do you have a favorite spot on the sofa? I do. I like to sit on the end in the corner with a bunch of pillows behind my back. It’s where I feel most comfy. You should think about that.

Think about a chair or a place that you’ve sat in that’s really comfortable, that you were really able to relax and unwind in, and see what you can do in your own home, in your own space, to accomplish that.

You don’t have to go and buy a bunch of stuff. Look around your home. Can you grab some pillows from somewhere else? Do you need someplace to put your feet up? Think about those things that are going to help you replicate that feeling of relaxation so that you can begin to rest.

Bring Nature Inside

This next thing is something that I struggle with, nature. I talk a lot around here about how getting out into nature is a great way to rest and recharge. I did the whole thing on self-care and one of the things that I mentioned was going for a walk or simply being outside in nature.

What are some ways that you can bring nature into your home? Do you want to have plants? Are you a plant person? I’m not a plant person. I kill aloe. I can’t keep anything alive that’s not a person. So I don’t have plants in my home. But you could have plants to give you that sense of being outside.

Can you have natural things like wood furniture and wood tables? You know, whatever the decor that’s in your home, can you replicate what you’re seeing outside?

Sometimes it is simply going outside. Sit on your porch, sit in your backyard, or open the window so you have fresh air coming in. What ways can you bring nature in? Because you’re going to get all those benefits of the fresh air and feeling grounded if you can feel like you’re in nature.

Use Soothing Colors

The next thing is to pay attention to the colors. Look at the colors of your walls, of your decor, of your carpet, of your floor, of your furniture, all those things. Colors can be soothing, they can really invoke different emotions.

You don’t want to be in a bright yellow or a bright red room if you’re trying to relax because those are not the emotions that those colors evoke and pull out of us. So can you find calming colors for your walls, for your decor, and for the room that you’re in?

Think blues, greens, neutrals, things that are going to be very spa-like, that are calm and serene, and are going to help you relax. Now, does that mean you have to go and paint every wall in your home? No, unless you want to.

Can you have a blanket in a soothing color? Or a pillow? Think of these ways to have that soothing color in so that when you’re ready to rest and relax, your whole environment is conducive to helping you get in that frame of mind.

Add Your Personal Touches

Along with this are personal touches. Think about the things that bring you comfort. It could be pictures, it could be art, it could be music that you want to listen to. When I’m going to sit down and journal, I love to put on my fuzzy socks, get my super soft blanket, and one of the hoodies that I’ve stolen from my teenage boys that are soft and comfy.

I want to feel comfortable in this space, so I will get all of that. I will listen to classical music. I love classical music. You know, my favorite thing usually when I’m journaling is to put on Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. I’m going to do all of those things because these are personal touches that are specific to me that make me feel comfortable and at home and will help me rest and recharge.

Reduce Your Sensory Input

The next thing we want to talk about is your senses. As an HSP, and introvert too, it plays into this because you are very what I call sensory sensitive. The things that you pull in with your senses—what you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste—can really do a number on you.

If it’s too much, it’s going to overwhelm, exhaust, and lead you to anxious thoughts and feelings. But it can also provide senses to help you calm down. In your home, in your environment, in the room where you’re trying to be, what are some ways that you can calm your senses, or soothe your senses?

For sounds, think of soft music, nature sounds, white noise, or the sound of rain or frogs or whatever it is from nature that helps you feel calm and relaxed.

Can you diffuse essential oils? Or do you have a candle that you like? Is there a certain scent that’s very calming and soothing to you? Maybe it’s a lotion or something that you’re going to put on.

Think about the textures of what you’re touching. I talked about how I like to put on fuzzy socks, get my soft blanket, and get that soft hoodie that I stole from my teenager.

If it’s itchy, if it’s scratchy, it’s not going to help you relax. So think about things that are soft. Think about rugs if you don’t want your feet to touch the bare floor.

Create a Sacred Space or Safe Haven

Let’s switch gears to some more practical things. Number one is to create a sacred space. Dedicate a specific corner, area, or room of your home as the place that you go when you need to be able to rest, relax, and recharge.

If you have a room that you can use, great. Maybe it’s just a corner, maybe it’s a chair. But dedicate that to that purpose. You can spend your time there praying, meditating, journaling, painting—whatever activity it is that you want to do in your home that’s going to let you rest and recharge.

Find your space and say, “This is my space,” and then add some of the things that we’ve talked about—with the lighting, comfortable furniture, natural elements, colors, and personal touches—put all of that stuff there.

Keep it right there so that you don’t have to set up. You don’t have to spend time setting up. It’s already set up for you. It’s there. You can just go there, be there, and have what you need already set up.

Have Tech-Free Zones

I want to also encourage you to make this area a tech-free zone as much as you can. Have spaces in your home, like your bedroom, set aside as tech-free.

Screen time does a lot of things to your body and to your mind. If you’re able to limit screen time before bed or limit screen time when you’re trying to go and rest and relax, it’s going to reduce the amount of stimulation that you’re getting.

It’s going to help you relax. It’s going to help you rest better. It’s going to help you sleep better. I know that sometimes there are things you need your tech for. When I’m trying to rest and relax, I have some tech. Why?

I like to listen to music, so I use my phone for that. If I’m painting, I watch video tutorials on my iPad. But that’s not the only thing that I’m doing there.

If I know that I’m going to go to bed, I’m going to plan my rest time so that I have time to be off of that screen once I’m done. Something to consider.

Establish Routines

The final tip I want to leave you with is establishing routines. You want to take as much energy and effort out of relaxing as you can because the more stressful it is, the more energy that it requires, the more difficult it’s going to be for you to stick with it and to get it done.

Create daily routines, nightly routines, and weekly routines that are going to help you relax and rest consistently. If you are a parent, you likely had a nightly routine for your kids that cued them that it was bedtime.

Was it a bath, a book, a story, a song? Do those things for yourself. For me, at night, I like to spend five or ten minutes journaling, do some stretching, take a warm shower, and then go to bed.

What can you do for yourself that allows you to wind down?

If you want to have rest time during the day, what routines can you establish? One routine I have is that when I journal, I like to do it outside. I’ll go for a short walk to a specific spot, journal there, and then walk back. This routine helps me clear my mind, focus, and decompress afterward.

Think about what routines you can put into place for yourself.

Those are 10 things that you can do to help create a restful environment in your home. I hope that you can try one of these tips right away. If you can, that’s going to help you create that environment that you need so that you can be rested, and it’s going to give you exactly what you need.

As you’re working on managing your emotions, processing things, and just walking through life, you must have time to rest and relax. Having a specific space that you can do that is going to make that so much easier.

Other Helpful Resources:

The Importance of Rest as a Highly Sensitive Introvert
4 Ways to Make Life Easier as an Introverted Christian Woman
How to Cope with Trauma as an HSP

10 Keys to Creating a Restful Environment in Your Home