Homefulness: the home as a place of well-being

That feeling of comfort and tranquility we experience when we arrive home has a name: homefulness. Taking interior design as its starting point, this new branch of mindfulness promotes a feeling of fulfillment at home as another tool for finding harmony in everyday life. 

What is homefulness? 

One of the first people to use the term homefulness was writer Tiffany Watt Smith in her book The Book of Human Emotions. It is a concept that refers to the comforting feelings that our home gives us and the pleasure of coming home and experiencing security and tranquility. 

This phenomenon, which connects emotions with the here and now (just like mindfulness), is clearly determined by the atmosphere of the space we inhabit. For this reason, interior design plays a fundamental role in the search for this harmony. 

How can you introduce homefulness into your home? 

While mindfulness techniques focus on the mind, homefulness focuses on space. Here are some of the keys to transforming your home into a haven of peace and comfort. 

• Simplify the decor: it's not about going minimalist, but rather reducing as much as possible the number of objects that don't add any aesthetic or emotional value. 
• Introduce natural shapes and elements: linen sheets, jute rugs, laminate flooring, exposed stone... Natural finishes and other elements such as plants bring freshness to the decor and help reduce stress. 
• Soft shapes and colors: rounded shapes and organic structures provide lightness. Combined with soft fabrics and pastel colors, they contribute to the creation of comforting environments. 
• Orderly layout: keeping things tidy is essential for your home to convey that feeling of homefulness. Visual cleanliness, keeping only those items that generate pleasant feelings (for example, a photograph or a souvenir from a trip), will help to achieve that balance. These feelings can be enhanced by using scented candles, incense, or small lighting elements in strategic places around the house, such as the living room or bedroom.