The Secret to Joy & Contentment in Your Home
Finding joy & contentment in our home is something that we all seek, right? We long for our home to be a place that we want to spend time in, are proud of, and desire to share with others. But stuff gets in the way. Unfinished projects get in the way. And ultimately, we get in our own way.
So I’m going to lay out the recipe for finding joy in your home… are you ready? It’s super complicated, and up until now, super secret. Here it is:
1. Surround yourself with things that make you happy
2. Get rid of things that don’t make you happy
Yes, it really is that simple.
Surround Yourself with Things That Make You Happy
This means decorating your home for you and your family. Not for the neighbors. Not for your distant relatives. For you. I’m basically giving you permission to be a little bit selfish when you’re picking out that rug or that couch or that piece of wall art. Decorate with things that bring you and your family joy.
A simple (affordable!) way to do this is to surround yourself with happy memories—photos of your wedding day, children, family vacations, etc., family heirlooms, souvenirs from trips, gifts from loved ones, and the like.
Get Rid of Things That Don’t Make You Happy
It’s time we stop holding on to things out of guilt or “what ifs.” It’s been proven that having a bunch of extra clutter around is not conducive to joy and contentment, and when we keep things that we don’t love or don’t have a specific use, we’re just adding to the clutter.
So start letting go of things you no longer need, want, or like. It doesn’t matter if your great aunt gave it to you for your wedding… if it causes you stress or guilt every time you look at it, don’t keep it. If this is an area you need more help with, head over to my post on purging.
Bonus Step: Heart Check
I really do believe that if you do these two steps that you will be on your way to joy and contentment in your home. But I also believe that joy and contentment are heart issues that go deeper than the stuff in our homes. So if you’ve done these two steps are still feeling joy-less and discontent, perhaps it’s time for a heart check. I outline 5 steps to further cultivate contentment in this post.
Great points but a little hard to do when you live with someone else…. 😅 and one who loves to leave things everywhere and keep a lot of crap. Maybe I’ll slowly wear him down.
Haha so true! I think I had that thought when I was writing this but then forgot to address it! Another post for another day I guess… “How to live with a hoarder who has totally different style than you…” 😛
Thankfully my husband really likes most everything I do to the house and we have pretty similar levels of tidiness. Lucked out on that one for sure! 🙂
Oh I love this!!! Such a great post!
Thanks, Jordyn! I think that sometimes we complicate stuff too much, so it’s nice to have some simple guidelines to follow. 🙂
Love this!! I’ve been working on keeping only the things I genuinely love in my home and it’s making all the difference.
It really does make a huge difference! I used to decorate with things I didn’t love out of guilt or just feeling like I should keep it, but now that I’m using only things that bring me joy, I really love each room more!