Quick and Easy Ways Your Home Can Be More Welcoming—for you and your guests—at the Holidays
This holiday season I want your home to feel more welcoming—to YOU and to your guests! Here are some quick and easy ways to make that happen!
When your guests arrive at your door, what greets them besides your welcoming hug? Here’s how I’m up-leveling our Welcome-Home energy this season:
Scent: Do you have a diffuser or mini-crockpot that will help your home create a welcoming winter scent? Use any essential oils that uplift you; I diffuse an essential oil blend of spruce, orange and cinnamon. If you don’t have a diffuser, put a few drops of essential oils in a room mist bottle and spritz the space or boil water on the stove, turn off the heat, and put a few drops in the water and that will create your holiday scent signature. Over the next few days, you can reheat the water to refresh the scent. Note: check with guests first to make sure you don’t use anything to which they might be allergic.
Sound: When you come home, does it relax you to hear holiday music playing or do you prefer nature sounds (waterfall, rain, birdsong)? Play what makes you happy! Note: for parties or gatherings, delightful background music subtly broadcasts your intention to have an enjoyable time.
Spaciousness: What is your first view when you walk over the threshold? How can you create a bit more spaciousness and serenity? Do you need to empty or tidy your coat closet to make room for your guest’s outerwear? Are guest rooms and bathrooms clean, spacious and welcoming? Are yours? Note: if there are any items that have to be removed to temporary storage (garage, attic, closet), please put a calendar reminder for a day after the holidays that you’ll have time to put things back, and restore order and optimal function.
Scheduling: At a time when there are so many demands for our attention, it's wise to schedule some relaxing downtime at the holidays—for you and your guests. One of my happiest memories of our family time in Seattle for my granddaughter’s marriage happened the day after the wedding. As a gift to their family and friends, Genevieve and Fox prearranged a yoga nidra class at their favorite studio for the wedding party. The soft lights, crystal bowl vibrations, and restorative poses were deeply relaxing and the meditation about two trees whose roots and branches entwined together brought tears of joy to my eyes. It was the perfect way to de-stress after the busy joy of the day before. Note: If you don’t have a close affordable yoga studio, find a meditation or yoga class online and spread out blankets or yoga mats and do it at home!
If you’d like more ideas and inspiration, have a listen to this Women Connected in Wisdom podcast interview with me where I share tips for Wellness During the Holidays.
The interview starts at minute 10.
How to Create Right Relationship with our Land: minute 12
Is the space inside your home dead to you? minute 16
You have a Relationship with your Home (and everything in it): minute 18
How to make space in your home at the holidays for grief and sadness: minute 22
How to clear your space with the elements: minute 24
How to create inexpensive altars to honor the holy days: minute 30
How to heal the “original wound” on your land: minute 35
We don’t rise to the level of our organizing goals, we fall to the level of our systems: minutes 41
Understanding the 80/20 rule re: decluttering our homes: minute 43:27