Change Your Space and Change Your Mood
Often times during a separation or after a divorce, one party stays in the marital home. Many people report seeing reminders of happier times, or memories of significant events (both pleasant and unpleasant). These memories can be stressful. It is well known that stress can cause issues with digestion, immune health, anxiety, depression, and other mental and physical health issues. Changing your physical space can help change your mood. Particularly after a separation or divorce, changing the interior space of the marital home may be just what the doctor ordered! Below we discuss some budget-friendly (and some not so budget friendly) ideas about how to change your space and change your mood.
Incorporate Greenery
It is amazing how remarkable a plant can change the way a room feels. Unless you are a natural green thumb, consider plants that you find easy to care for. However, you should also make sure it is a plant that sparks your joy. If you find the easy to care for spider plant to be unkempt and ugly, there’s really no sense having it in the room. While a bit more costly, buying yourself flowers once a week is also a lovely way to change the mood of the room.
Organize and Throw Away the Clutter
There’s nothing like coming home to a clean, organized space. However, not all of us have the natural ability to declutter and organize. This particular approach to change your space may seem overwhelming at first. If you are a natural born clutter bug, give your self permission to start small. Perhaps you can focus on decluttering your desk. Maybe you’d prefer to start with your favorite chair and end table. Just picking one spot to keep clean, orderly, and devoid of clutter will lift your spirits. Once you discover the joy of that clean space, you may find your tidiness spills over to other areas of the house!
Feng Shui
Feng Shui is a practice that dates back to 4,000 BC. The literal translation is “wind water.” The idea is to arrange furniture and incorporate elements that create flow and harmony. Incorporating Feng Shui into your space can be extremely budget friendly. There are countless resources on the internet that can be consulted to determine your best arrangements and small additions to any room for optimal mental and emotional wellbeing. Interestingly, one principle of Feng Shui is eliminating clutter and disorganization. If you have a larger budget, you can hire a professional to assist you in rearranging your home to best design the flow of Feng Shui.
Paint A Room – Or the Whole House
Painting a room can change the feel of the space. Do you want soft pastels? Bold jewel tones? Regardless of the colors you choose, painting can not only cover up the color of old memories, but it can also give the room a completely different tone. While this is a slightly more expensive approach, painting will undoubtedly change the space and offer a pick me up with a color that suits you.
Change your Lighting
Like painting a room, changing the lighting can have a significant impact on how a room feels. If you have a natural light source, use it! Open up those curtains and let the sun shine in! Natural sunlight can improve our moods and calm our emotions. When natural light is not an option, consider the lightbulbs you use. Get rid of harsh lighting and find some softer light bulbs for your lamps. Consider installing new lighting or replacing your fixtures for an updated look. Mirrors are also an effective way to reflect more light back into the room.
Change Your Furniture
If you want to and can afford it, consider replacing some or even all of your furniture. New furniture that reflects who you are as a newly single person can be a life-affirming choice. A lower budget approach is to consider selling your furniture on Craigslist or by holding an estate sale and then using those funds to buy another set of furniture off of Craigslist or by shopping other estate sales.
Add Artwork
If you don’t feel like painting, you can still change your space by adding artwork. It doesn’t have to be expensive artwork. There are plenty of places that sell art at a fairly low cost. Even a wall decal can brighten up a room and change the feel of the space. Consider creating some art of your own, if you are of a mind to do so.
Considering Divorce?
Divorce is one of the most stressful things one can go through. As such, it is important to hire an attorney who can advocate on your behalf, look out for your legal interests, explain the legal process in terms you can understand, and help you get back on your feet and back on track with your life.
At Fait & DiLima, we work with our family law clients to achieve these goals. We focus our practice on family and divorce law exclusively so that we can provide our clients with the most up to date, accurate legal information regarding their divorce process. Contact us today to discuss your case at (301) 251-0100.
