white wall with paintings and plants

Balancing Seasonal and Year-Round Decor for a Happier Home

If you love making your house look and feel like a home, then you’re bound to have a collection of different kinds of decor stored up everywhere for different festivals and seasons each year. However, this can also make one feel overwhelmed, given that the decor needs to be often changed to match the aesthetic of the season, not to mention the clutter that’s bound to happen when you have way too much decor stored in the house.  Creating and maintaining indoor decor needn’t be that hard - all you need to do is find a good way to balance the decor you use by separating them into two sections: Seasonal decor and year-round decor. Once you’ve done this, things simply get easier.  On that note, here are some tips which will enable you to maintain an easier decor process while also keeping your home clean and clutter-free, let’s get started! Choose decor that’s timeless For starters, make a list of all the decor you want to have around the house all through the year - this could include certain candles or candle holders, carpets, photo frames and paintings, plants, chinaware and crockery, lampshades, and so on. These are pieces that are going to be there all year-round, and you’re rarely going to get rid of them.  That’s why you need to be extremely picky with the color scheme and objects, because you want them to all blend in with the general aesthetic of the house. Once you’ve figured this out, you can store or give away the rest of the general decor, because it’s best to not have them lying around or taking up too much space since this decor isn’t going to be changed anytime soon.  Once you’ve got your year-round decor figured out, you can move on to managing seasonal decor.  How to add seasonal decor to your home This is a pretty easy step. Since you already have your year-round decor in place, you won’t need to completely redo your home every time there’s a festival or new season. All you need to do is add tiny accents here and there, which will give the entire home a new look.  For instance, when Fall rolls in after Spring, all you need to do is switch out the bright flowers and vases for some warm candles and throws. Small changes like this can make a big difference when the colors match the aesthetic of the home.  One of the best ways to keep track of what decor goes where and how you can effortlessly decorate your house each year is by documenting your decor changes each time there’s a change - you can try Memento's video creator to do this and always have the video to refer to each year. Happy decorating! How to manage seasonal decor First things first, make a list of all the seasons and holidays you generally decorate the house for.  If you need help, here are some common decoration themes most homes follow: Christmas New year Easter Thanksgiving Summer Winter Spring Fall If there are other holidays you celebrated, feel free to add them to the list. Once you’ve got this down, you need to figure out how to sort out your decor.  To start with, find the exact number of cartons you need, depending on the different types of decor you have (for Christmas, Spring, Summer, etc). This way, you can label and store them away with ease, and take them out only when you need them.  Once you’ve done this, you can start separating your decor into the different cartons. Keep in mind that you also have year-round decor already in place, which will mostly stay put throughout the year.  This will give you an idea of exactly how much decor you need for each season, and how many unwanted things you need to get rid of. Once sorted through, you can store them away in the garage, store room, or loft.  For more ideas on how to make fill your home with joy, check out 33 Ideas for a Happy Home.
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A woman meditating on a couch.

Putting the Om in Home

How rethinking your home design can make you happier. Rebecca West knew that if she was going to move forward with her life, she had to stop looking at her past.“I had gone through a divorce and I was going on with my life, but every day I was waking up in the house I shared with my husband,” says Rebecca, who lives in Seattle. “Every day, I was waking up and looking at my history. I realized that I couldn’t keep doing that.”So Rebecca began her journey of turning what had been “their” dream home into a launching pad for her newly solo dreams.“I painted a lot of things pink and bought a twin bed,” she recalls with a laugh. “I made a lot of horrible design choices, but at least I was looking at my future instead of my past.”Rebecca focused on making her home completely reflective of her hopes, interests and imagination. She created not just a customized nest, but also the perfect place to regain her happiness. Happy at Home As Rebecca healed and her space once again became her happy place, she “moved into colors that weren’t so man-repellent,” fell in love again, ditched the twin bed and eventually remarried. She also discovered more than she expected to during her foray into refurnishing; she found a calling to help others transform their homes to create a happier environment. “I realized that being happy in your space really depends on what you need in life. It changes for each person and it changes throughout our lives. The key is to think about what is happening in your life and what you want for your life,” she explains. “What energy are others [in the family] bringing into the house?” Today, Rebecca is a certified design psychology coach, interior designer and author of the book Happy Starts at Home: Getting the Life You Want by Changing the Space You've Got. Through her company Seriously. Happy. Homes. she takes a unique approach to help clients find happiness in their living spaces, focusing less on trendy design styles and more on each person’s spiritual and emotional path. Her approach begins with a guided meditation to help clients get clear on what they really need from their homes. “It doesn't throw out that instant appeal that interior designers are going for, but sometimes it changes the focus,” she says. “Wanting to be proud of your space is good,” but trying to make it look like it fell out of the pages of Architectural Digest may not help your cause. “The focus should be you,” Rebecca says. “You should be the one who smiles when you come in. Happiness in your home does not require perfection.” Happier by Design While interior designers and architects are long-time advocates of how the appearance of a space can influence emotion, psychology and neuroscience are still catching up with the science to explain it. The relatively new field of neuroaesthetics studies how viewing art and colors and design affects our brain activity, while the equally fledgling field of embodied cognition looks at how the environment around us shapes our cognitive capacity. In other words, we now realize that the space around us has a strong influence on our emotions, but we’re not fully aware of what it all means. In his 2006 book, The Architecture of Happiness, British philosopher Alain de Botton looked at the way our surroundings—the colors, the chairs, the walls and the way they are arranged around us—can have a profound effect on the way we feel. “An ugly room can coagulate any loose suspicions as to the incompleteness of life, while a sun-lit one…can lend support to whatever is most hopeful within us,” he writes. The Psychology of Space Using what we do know about how design affects happiness can help us make our homes more satisfying, Rebecca says. She has seen clients make dramatic personal changes just by altering the space they live in. “If you love where you live, it makes you feel happy just to come home,” she says. “If you’re frustrated by it, that’s going to increase your anxiety and stress and embarrassment on a daily basis. There are so many things that we don’t have control over; taking control over our homes is something we can do.” Psychologist Stacy Kaiser says the effects of changing your surroundings can be profound and lasting. Your daily environment may be contributing to your stress in ways you don’t realize, while living in an environment that you find appealing has an ongoing therapeutic effect. “As human beings, we are emotionally impacted by our surroundings,” she explains. “If they are peaceful and calm, it invites peace within us. If our surroundings are stressful or disorganized, it can create discontent.” That discontent spills over into your emotional state and can color your view of seemingly unrelated things; it can even begin to affect relationships. So you might be surprised how one small change—such as finally covering up a dent in the wall or freshening up a room with a coat of paint—can have a greater effect on your happiness. “Our mood will affect our behavior, so do what you can to fill your home with colors and objects that evoke positive moods and feelings,” Stacy recommends. She suggests creating a wall or space within your home that showcases special moments and joyful memories with items like photos, ticket stubs, trophies and other memorabilia that will give you an instant boost. “Then, when you need an emotional lift, spend more time in that space.” Tips for a Happier Home Rebecca West’s go-to solutions for redesigning your home for happiness: Ditch the design magazines. This isn’t about living up to someone else’s standards; it’s about creating what works for you. Add light. Most rooms benefit from more light, and brighter spaces make you feel happier. If you don’t have enough overhead lights, get a lamp. Or two. Keep what you love. Ditch what you don’t. Do what you can. So you can’t afford new bedroom furniture? Get new sheets. Can’t foot the bill for new living room furniture? Spring for some throw pillows. Small changes can have big payoffs. Embrace the power of paint. Adding a fresh color you love or even just updating with a fresh coat of the same color can reinvigorate the room. Check out our latest interview with Rebecca West on the LiveHappyNow podcast. This article originally appeared in the October 2018 edition of Live Happy magazine.
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Colorful books on shelf

9 Books for a Happy Home

What does it take to have a happy home? It’s the people who live there. You could have a $3 million estate or a tiny house, but the people inside will have the greatest contagious effect on the energy, mood and feeling of the place. We put together the nine best books to create a happy home. Happy Home: Everyday Magic for a Colorful Life by Charlotte Hedeman Gueniau What if you could give your home a happiness makeover? Happy Home: Everyday Magic for a Colorful Life will make your house come alive with color and playful accessories. Do-it-yourself projects and contemporary designs transform rooms with bright colors, cheerful patterns and interesting textures inspired by designer Charlotte Hedeman Gueniau and her home furnishings company Rice. Add some humor to your décor and deploy her ideas, including vibrant throws and cushions, storage ideas to hide clutter, hand-painted furniture and decorative motifs for walls and other surfaces.  Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis What if the stories you tell yourself are derailing your happiness? If you think other people have life all figured out and you are lagging behind, this book can snap you awake. Rachel Hollis, founder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com reveals 20 lies and misconceptions that can hold us back. With vulnerability, Rachel shares her personal story to show how happiness is a choice you can make each day—regardless of where you are on your journey. Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up by Marie Kondo You’ve likely read or heard of Marie Kondo from her international best-seller, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, that inspired millions of people to get organized and surround themselves only with items they truly love. In her latest book, Spark Joy, she illustrates her popular KonMarj method of organization. Use her advice to organize kitchen tools, cleaning supplies, hobby goods and digital photos. When’s the last time you asked yourself if your items are propelling you forward or holding you back? Experience the euphoria and mental freedom that comes from Marie’s magical decluttering advice. The Empowered Mama: How to Reclaim Your Time and Yourself While Raising a Happy, Healthy Family by Lisa Druxman “There isn’t enough time in the day.” If you’ve ever said this sentence (or felt it!) then this book is for you. The old adage that if mama isn’t happy no one is—is so true. Use the tools in The Empowered Mama to learn how to recharge your body and mind when the demands of motherhood, your professional life and your home life are taking all of your time. Maximize your time by focusing on what you have to accomplish most and use her many tips to get your life in order. Rediscover how to feel like an empowered mother for your own well-being. When moms are happy, the home will be full of happy energy, too. Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanne Gaines Joanna Gaines, famous designer and co-star of HGTV’s Fixer Upper with her husband, Chip Gaines, shows you how to create a home that reflects your personality and becomes a place you never want to leave. In Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave, learn how to know your design style by assessing your likes and dislikes and going with your instincts. Homebody is your go-to manual to create a beautiful home and spaces customized to your personal tastes. Her step-by-step guide will help you redo your house room by room. Happier Now: How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Embrace Everyday Moments (Even the Difficult Ones) by Nataly Kogan When you step inside your home, you know it holds memories both good and bad. What if you began looking at your life differently and looked at every moment of your life as truly living—even the painful moments? Author Nataly Kogan immigrated to the United States from Russia and has a unique perspective and draws from science, Eastern traditions and her experience as a refugee on how to be happier by boosting your resilience and building up your emotional immune system. Stop the “I’ll be happy when” and change your life to “I’m happy now because …” Embrace difficult times with more compassion and stability. Enjoy life inside your home no matter what is going on in your life at the moment. Getting Back to Happy: Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Reality, and Turn Your Trials into Triumphs by Marc Chernoff Use the power of your daily rituals, mindfulness practices, and self-care routines to overcome whatever life throws your way and be your best self. Personal development experts Marc and Angel Chernoff wrote the book they needed most. Elevate your sense of purpose at home and live with a greater sense of self-worth. For example, learn the art of mindful reframing to get in a better mental state. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, reframe how you view your life and begin to see your life as rich and interesting. You also will learn how to work on your relationship skills to foster mutual respect, genuine affection and lifelong trust. Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life by Joshua Becker What if you reduced the possessions you own to inspire living? Simplify is a celebration of minimalism. Find out how to live more by owning less from someone who made the leap. Author Joshua Becker and his family minimized possessions, decluttered their home and simplified their lives. His experience led to a profound sense of freedom and inspired him to share his story with others. “We were never meant to live life accumulating stuff. We were meant to live simply enjoying the experiences of life, the people of life and the journey of life—not the things of life,” he writes. Get It Together! An Interior Designer's Guide to Creating Your Best Life by Orlando Soria Designer Orlando Soria started out on HGTV and his popularity grew with his well-known design and lifestyle blog, Hommemaker. With his signature blunt and funny style, Get It Together! walks you through challenges such as how to plan a dinner party when you’re broke, how to hang art like you own a gallery, or prepare your home for an unwanted guest. Laugh out loud with his take on topics such as "How to Make Non-Garbagey Flower Arrangements.” He offers design tips for men, how to make your own coffee table and decorate a kid’s room. Solve home entertaining dilemmas, avoid newbie design mistakes and host guests like a pro. With humor, he shows anyone how to get it together on the home front.
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Woman painting walls of her home.

8 Steps to a Happier Home

If you want a blueprint for happiness at home, modern science can help provide it. As environmental psychologists study the effects of physical space on mood and emotions, neuroarchitects—a mashup of neuroscience and design—investigate how our physical surroundings influence brain processes such as stress, emotion and memory. Together, their findings suggest that the purchases we make at Home Depot or Pottery Barn can affect us in ways we never would have imagined. Sitting pretty Consider the matter of buying a chair. Sally Augustin, Ph.D., editor of Research Design Connections, says that psychologists studying the implications of the way we sit found that our posture influences “the rich chemical stew in our brains.” People sitting up straighter have more positive views of themselves than people slouching. Sitting in a way that allows you to take up as much room as possible leads you to feel more powerful and have a higher tolerance for risk. Even padding matters. People perched on hard chairs are much more inflexible during negotiations than those on soft seats. Science also explains why we’re so willing to pay more for a room with a view: It’s good medicine. A 1984 study by psychologist Roger Ulrich found that surgical patients in a Pennsylvania hospital whose windows overlooked a small stand of trees left the hospital a full day sooner, had fewer complications and required less pain medication than patients with views of a brick wall. In 2006, neuroscientist Irving Biederman of the University of Southern California discovered that there’s a part of our brains, the parahippocampal cortex, that responds to sweeping views. Rich in opiate receptors, the site releases endorphins, our feel-good hormones, when we gaze at pleasing vistas. Researchers also say we’re hardwired to respond to nature because our survival as a species depended on careful observation of it. We needed to know how to respond to weather, spot predators, find refuge, farm and hunt when there was sunlight, and sleep when there was none. Roger Ulrich, who did the study of hospital-room views, has said, “When we recognize those elements today, even if we’re highly stressed or sick, our blood pressure lowers, our immune system functions better, and we feel less stressed.” Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson coined the term “biophilic design” to describe architecture or design that connects us with a living environment. To get a biophilic buzz, we don’t need to let goats graze in our living room. We can stay in touch with the cycle of sunlight—and our own circadian rhythms—by placing sheer curtains on our windows. Or, says Sally, even incorporating visible wood grain into our environment, through hardwood floors or unpainted maple or walnut furniture, will have a calming effect. Happy places Creating what Sally calls a more “place happy” home isn’t rocket science. Or even neuroscience. But it does require us to approach buying, remodeling or decorating tweaks to our home with introspection. Architect Sarah Susanka is the author of Not So Big Solutions for Your Home. Her philosophy is that instead of focusing on square footage and traditional room plans, we think instead about what it takes to create a home that’s an expression of our authentic self. “When our houses reflect who we really are,” she says, “we end up feeling much more at home in our lives.” Sarah says her clients are often uneasy after ceding control to an interior designer. “It’s like walking onto the stage set of somebody else’s home,” she says. “It’s filled with beautiful things but it doesn’t feel like their home because these objects don’t have any meaning to them.” Sarah suggests keeping a place journal for home-improvement projects. Make notes about the places in your life that make you comfortable. Take photos and make diagrams; you might admire the beauty of a soaring greenhouse but feel diminished by the scale of the space. Supplement with pages from your favorite magazines or websites. We've come up with eight ideas to make your home into a truly happy space. Experiment; pick and choose the ones that fit your personality. 1. Use space creatively Make a dining room double as a library by adding bookshelves. Place area rugs beneath furniture arrangements to define areas for reading, conversation and work. 2. Bring in the house plants Greenery helps sharpen focus, boost immunity, clear the air and lift our spirits. For a natural sleep aid, keep potted lavender in your bedroom. According to NASA, plants can remove up to 87 percent of gases like benzene and formaldehyde within 24 hours. 3. Make a breeze Place a plant or mobile near a window or fan for soothing motion. 4. Cultivate smart messiness For all the books on banishing clutter, décor that’s too minimalist can rob us of ways to highlight our values and interests. Decorate with travel mementos, family photos and objects that evoke happy memories. 5. Create a space of your own We all yearn for an area of retreat. This can be a window seat or a corner of a room framed with a folding screen for quiet contemplation. 6. Have a focal point for each room A fireplace, bay window, sculpture or potted palm tree are all good forms of visual punctuation. 7. Move Away from the walls Place furniture in a way that lets people meander around the space, but make sure everyone’s back is protected. Create “symbolic” points of protection with standing lamps and console tables. 8. Arrange seating for conversation Place couches and chairs in a loose circular or horseshoe arrangement. Shelley Levitt is a freelance journalist based in Southern California and an editor at large for Live Happy.
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7 Tips to Master Your TV Time

8 Tips to Master Your TV Time

When we settle down to watch TV, we are engaged, entertained and, if all goes right, happy. Among Americans—who watch an average of nearly three hours a day—watching television is the most common free-time activity. We simply love TV. But while television is a good servant, it’s a bad master. It can often swallow up huge amounts of time without giving much back in return. Here are eight tips to make your TV time a source of happiness instead of regret: 1. Watch TV with someone else We enjoy all activities more when we’re with other people, and we tend to find things funnier, too. Use TV as an excuse to get together with friends and family. Sporting events (the Super Bowl), awards shows (the Oscars), reality TV (American Idol, Survivor), comedy (Broad City), and special events (the finale of Downton Abbey) are all a lot more fun to watch with other people. 2. Use TV as a bridge If you’re having trouble connecting with someone—your sweetheart or your teenager—try watching TV together (even if football or Project Runway isn’t necessarily your favorite). Watching TV is companionable and a way to engage in a pleasant, undemanding way. 3. Record shows Recording allows you to watch a particular show according to your own schedule and mood. Most important: If you’re sleepy, don’t stay up late to watch TV! Record a show, and finish watching it another time. 4. Or enjoy watching them live Anticipation is an important aspect of happiness. Looking forward to a favorite show will heighten the pleasure you feel once you watch it. And it’s fun to think that people all across the country are sitting down to see what’s next on The Bachelor. 5. Enjoy commercials This is particularly easy if you rarely watch TV. An enormous amount of creativity goes into creating commercials, and they can be fascinating if you pay attention. Not only that—surprisingly, a study shows that we enjoy TV more when it’s interrupted by commercials. 6. Learn about TV The more you know about something, the more interesting it becomes. Read some TV criticism; read interviews with the creative people involved in your favorite shows; become more knowledgeable about what goes on behind the scenes. 7. Don't surf Especially if you’re feeling frazzled from multitasking, don’t flip from one show to another. Sit down, start watching, sink into the experience and stay on one channel. 8. Choose to watch TV Often, we don’t really choose TV, it’s just the easy default activity. Make the effort to ask yourself, “What do I choose to do for the next hour?” before you plop down with the remote control. In many cases, other activities would take a bit more effort to begin, but would yield more enjoyment in the long run. If you watch TV mindfully, it can be a source of happiness, especially if you use it to connect with other people. If you watch it automatically, and for lack of anything better to do, it can be a drain on happiness. Gretchen Rubin is the bestselling author of The Happiness Project, Happier at Home and Better than Before. She is one of the most influential writers on happiness today, and has become an in-demand speaker and keynoter. Learn more at GretchenRubin.com.
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Woman adding some happy to her home.

Put Some Happiness in Your Home

Happiness begins at home, they say. In fact, the more we feel that our home—our precious personal space—is a peaceful refuge from the world that truly represents who we are, the better we are likely to feel. Below are 7 easy ways to add some extra happiness to your home.1. Make your bed to start the day rightSo simple, yet so effective. When you make your bed every morning, you start the day with a sense of accomplishment and order. “It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed,” said Naval Admiral William H. McRaven, Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, in a recent commencement speech.2. Blue doesn’t cause the blues“All around the world, among every age, gender and income bracket, blue is people’s favorite color,” writes Bruce Feiler in his book, The Secrets of Happy Families. If you want calm, go for blue tones. “Blue reminds people of the ocean and the sky and is considered limitless, calm and serene.”3. Shop your own houseWe all have a tendency to think we need to buy something to make us happier. We often forget we already have what we need. Maybe you love new books, purple pens, a bright winter scarf or a comfy pair of jeans. Have you shopped your own house yet? Dig around in those closets and drawers, and you’ll get a happiness boost when you realize you already possess many of the treasures you seek.4. Dim the lightsInstalling dimmers for some lights in your house is another small change that can make a big difference. Dim lights—like those you’d see in a spa or wine bar—give your home a relaxing glow. Dim lights are the ideal backdrop for a date night, movie watching or intimate conversation. Even scientific research shows that dimming the lights in the evening puts us in a better mood.5. Have an inner sanctuaryYou need a place that makes you exhale with calm release as soon as you step into it. Maybe it’s just a corner with the perfect chair for reading or your dream garden in your yard. It could be a sunroom, a room with a view, or an incredibly comfy bed. Maybe it’s a decluttered desk or the world’s most organized garage that enhances your creativity. Make sure you have a some personal space in your home that feels like an inner sanctuary, and immediately puts a smile on your face.6. Create a memory wallSavoring positive experiences makes us happier. One thing you can do to make positive moments or events last a little longer is to create a memory wall. Hang family pictures, school banners and memorabilia, framed scrap-book pages from a favorite trip … anything you’d like to look at and think about again and again, every time you walk by.7. Fill your house with happyLast but not least, fill your home with people you care about. University of Hawaii professor of psychology Elaine Hatfield coined the term “emotional contagion,” which means we catch the mood of those around us. Create a happy home environment by choosing to surround yourself with OPP (only positive people).How do you add happiness to your home? We would love to hear your ideas! Share below!
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Environmentally sustainable home

Simple Steps to a Greener Home

Whether you are concerned about climate change, your family’s health or saving money, the solution is the same: Invest in sustainable changes to your home.Get an energy assessmentThe first step in understanding your home’s energy use and environment is getting a comprehensive home energy assessment (audit) by a professional company. Most states have Energy Star programs that offer free or reduced-cost assessments, and help you contact certified professionals (contractors credentialed by the Building Performance Institute - BPI).First they will evaluate how much air is leaking from your home. (You’ll be amazed at the sneaky, invisible ways heat and cold can get in and out.) They will also check the amount of your insulation and other home environment aspects including air quality.You’ll get a detailed report about how energy efficient and environmentally safe your home is as well as a prioritized list of potential improvements. Armed with the knowledge provided by the assessment, you can begin making smart changes.Here are a few of the best ways to get environmental bang for your buck:Air Sealing: Caulk and weatherize to reduce conditioned air from escaping and outside air from getting in.Insulation: Improve and increase the “blanket” around your home.Lighting: Change to energy efficient light bulbs (fluorescents and LEDs).Low flow: Change your plumbing fixtures to conserve water and energy.Thermostats: Use programmable thermostats to use energy only when you want.Appliances: Upgrade to high-efficiency appliances, including a boiler or furnace.Behavior changes: Turn off lights when you're not in a room; bundle up in winter to keep the thermostat low.What’s your power plan?Now that you’ve started taking steps to reduce your energy needs, you can also start thinking about the type of energy you consume.The most popular renewable source is solar energy. In many places, you can get a state or local rebate for installing solar panels on your house, along with federal tax credits. Your specific house and location will determine if you can benefit from installing panels. Buying green energy is also a great option, especially if installing on your home is not. Many electric utility companies offer green energy solutions (solar, wind and hydro).Money mattersVarious financing options exist if you don’t want to pay out of pocket. In addition to traditional financing like home equity lines, many state programs offer low interest loans specifically for these kinds of home improvements. Several solar companies such as Solar City offer leasing options with no upfront cost. (Remember, the energy savings should be greater than the financing payments, so you will be cash positive the whole time.)It’s all connectedPeople integrating various sustainable improvements, have reduced their utility bills by 20 to 50 percent. Just like the actions you take to increase your happiness, your sustainable choices have a ripple effect. With time and effort, it is possible to save money while also creating a healthier, more comfortable home and helping the planet.Brian Kaminer is the founder of Talgra, a consulting firm focused on sustainable, responsible and impact investing​. His educational website Invest With Values (investwithvalues.com) helps people interested in aligning their money and values.
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Organized workspace

Clear Your Desk, and Your Mind Will Follow

A neatly organized workspace telegraphs to others that you are serious about your work, whatever it may be. If your workspace is cluttered, it can be distracting and unsettling, decreasing your productivity. When we are less productive, we are less happy. If you can find papers and emails when you need them, you’ll get more done throughout the day.1. Go paperlessPaper constantly comes into our lives from all directions. Identify where these unwanted documents are coming from, and put a stop to it. Sign up for the do-not-mail list, cancel unwanted catalogs, and start paying bills online. (You are not only getting rid of clutter, you’re also helping save the planet.)2. Practice ShauchaShaucha is a yoga principle that can be applied to everyday life. The philosophy suggests that through a clear and clean environment, we can achieve a higher understanding of ourselves, and the world around us. When our space is clear, our mind is clear. When our mind is clear, we can focus and find time for the things we want to do. We all have goals to achieve, and if you’re constantly dealing with the mundane, you will never have the time to reach your higher aspirations. 3. Scan what you canScanning is a great way to store documents, without taking up much space. Find a scanner that’s easy to use, and make a time to scan least once a month. Keep a “to-scan” bin nearby so you have a single location to put items that need scanning.4. Be mindfulWe race through our days, and we very often don’t take the time to simply stop and think about what we are doing. Being mindful and present not only helps you feel less stressed, it can also help you improve your workspace organization. Stop and think before you toss something down on your desk. It takes virtually the same amount of time to file something properly as it does to just throw it on the desk.5. Set aside timeMake organizing your workspace part of your weekly schedule. That way, things won't pile up over months, making the prospect of clearing it even more daunting.6. Pay attention to the small thingsMake the right decisions about the little things over and over again, and it will pay dividends in the long run with a more productive and organized life.How do you like to keep your workspace—messy and loose, or neat and tightly organized? And does it increase your sense of wellbeing? Let us know in the comments, below.
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House having garage sale

A House in Higher Order

Call it human nature of a side effect of civilization. We tend to collect more things than we need. Extra canned food in the pantry, outgrown soccer equipment in the closet, unopened soaps and shampoos on the bathroom shelf. These unused things can be a burden to us, adding stress to everyday life. Thankfully, we can declutter and reorganize our homes, repurpose our extras so they benefit someone else, and feel good about doing both. Start by decluttering and reordering three home storage areas with these easy steps. You’ll find spring cleaning takes on a whole new meaning when it includes repurposing usable items. With a plan to donate unneeded good to others, dreaded “have to” household purging can become a “want to” weekend activity. 1. The Food Pantry Sort your stuff: Take out everything from your pantry, then cluster like items together. Check for expired or stale items, and discard or recycle them. Edit the remaining items asking, “Will I use this in the next few weeks or a reasonable time frame?” If the answer is “Yes,” it stays. If not, choose to give it away. Repurpose with purpose: Unopened staples, such as flour, sugar, cooking oil and unopened, unexpired packaged goods are badly needed at local food banks. See the sidebar for more information. Organize and label: The success of any organizational system is based on it being sustainable without a lot of explanation. The same is true for your food pantry. If you organize it one way but the others in your household don’t know the system, it may not be successful. Take the time to leave clues for yourself and others of where things go, with labels that you make yourself. More Tips If you have room, keep a small dustpan and broom nearby for quick cleanups, a fold-up stepstool if some shelves are out of reach, and markers for labeling and for writing purchase dates of ingredients. 2. The Family Closet Sort your stuff: Take out everything from your closet, grouping like items together and checking for condition, fit and importance: Is it in good shape? Is it being used? Does its use warrant a place in the family closet? Items that get “yes” on all three questions stay. Those that don’t should be tossed, recycled or given away. Repurpose with purpose: If you have unwanted items, there are many new homes for them. including Goodwill, local homeless shelters, animal shelters and local church clothing drives. Organize and label: A family or shared closet quickly becomes a myriad of clutter if its contents aren’t organized so everyone using the storage space puts things back in their place. You can make that happen more often with personalized boxes, spaces, hooks and areas. More Tips The multitude of storage containers, systems and products available provide great selection, functionality and style. To save money and time, buy compatible organizational items so you can mix and match boxes, bins, containers, etc., between similar storage areas in your house. Boxes and bins suitable for a family closet should also work in bedroom, bathroom and linen closets, for instance. It’s also best to choose a family of materials and stick with it. It’s difficult and often awkward to mix natural baskets and boxes with plastic and wire bins and containers in the same storage area. Check out the smart storage solutions for dorm rooms—even if you and your family have no one in college right now. Over thedoor and under-the-bed storage ideas abound and are adaptable to family closets and other areas in the home. 3. The Kids’ Rooms Sort your stuff: The rate that children outgrow clothes is matched only by how fast they age out of toys, books and learning tools. Make sure you go through their bedroom closet and storage areas as often as possible and select items that are too small or are no longer being used. Repurpose with purpose: Kids’ clothes, games and toys are easy to donate. Kids’ bedroom furniture also will have value to others. See the sidebar for more information. Organize and label: In order for organization efforts to last longer than a couple of days, think like your child. Where do they want to keep their toys, books and personal things? Are they ready to hang up clothing, or will shelves and hooks work better for them?
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