How to stress-proof your living room

Everyone preaches it: Don’t bring work and the entailing stress home with you, and they’re not wrong – your home should be a sanctuary not just from the physical dangers of the outside world, but also emotional ones.

That’s why it’s so important to stress-proof your living room. 

While you can’t eliminate stress from your life completely, there are ways to keep it in check at home by taking some mindful steps, and why not, since it’s where you head to at the end of the day to recover and recharge. This means it’s vital that it’s a safe, soothing and comfy space to escape to. 

Not sure how to start? As always, we’ve got you covered.

1. Pick the right colours

There’s plenty of science to back up the effects of color on our mental state, making it worth trying out in your living room.

The first rule of thumb is to avoid bright, stimulating colors like red, orange, purple, soft pink, mint, and baby blue (great for when you’re at work, not so much when you’re trying to relax). If you’re a fan of bright colors like purple, opt for softer variations like lavender instead. 

Not sure which colors to pick? Safe bets you can count on are neutral colors like cream, pearly grey, or white with warm undertones. More vibrant but relaxing options to consider include light blue-green, blue-grey, mauve, or even sage green. 

Beyond the walls, it’ll also help that the large furniture pieces in your living room complement the overall relaxing tones. 

If you want to experiment with a lighter color on your sofa but find the thought of reupholstering daunting, try slipping on a removable, machine-washable sofa slipcover instead. 

This way, you can play around with different colors with feeling afraid of dirtying the fabric.

2. Eliminate clutter

How To Stress-Proof Your Living Room
Image credit: Pexels/ ATBO

Eliminating clutter from your living room doesn’t just mean keeping things tidy and out of the way.

It also means ensuring that everything in your living room has its own designated area: Children’s toys in the trunk, used coffee cups in the dishwasher, and remote controls on the TV cabinet. 

It also pays to take heed from Marie Kondo and her effective tidying methods – give away or throw out items that you no longer have use for but still keep around for nostalgia’s sake.

Once you’ve gotten rid of clutter in your living room, you may even feel some weight lifting off your shoulders. 

3. Invest in plants

Other than being pretty to look at, there are plenty of reasons to bring plants into your home — they’ve also been shown to help relieve stress.

And no, you don’t have to plant an entire garden indoors. All you need are  a handful of potted plants can help ‘calm’ the living room and improve the air quality.

Studies have shown that looking at greens can also help relieve tired eyes, which is a plus when you’re trying to wind down.

4. Make it smell heavenly

How To Stress-Proof Your Living Room
Image credit: Unsplash/ Ellie Elien

Whether it’s with scented candles or essential oil diffusers, having scents of soothing essential oils wafting through your living room can help calm your senses.

However, it’s a worthwhile effort to do your research on the right scents for you and your space.

Those like lavender, ylang ylang, frankincense, vetiver, bergamot, and chamomile are some aromatherapy fragrances that have been proven to soothe anxiety.

And if essential oils aren’t your thing, try pick one that reminds you of a happy memory, even if it means baking chocolate chip cookies or blueberry pies every weekend!

5. Play with your fur babies 

Do you have pets at home? Make the time you have with them count for something.

Savour the joy of playing, cuddling and grooming them (which they’ll love you all the more for), all of which have been proven to lower stress levels. Plus, who doesn’t like a cute distraction in the form of a soft, loving pet after a long day at work? 

A word of caution: Having a pet at home means that you’ll need to pet-proof your living room (check out our post on how to cat-proof yours).

A great place to start is to ensure that your sofa is made of a fabric that’s pet-friendly, ie: Tightly-woven to discourage active claws and easy-to-clean options that’ll make your sofa low-maintenance.

Don’t want to change your sofa? Get a sofa slipcover instead. We have a wide range of fabrics in one-of-a-kind styles for you to choose from to ensure that they’re the right fit for your home and pets. 

You can take our sofa slipcover fabrics for a test run by having them delivered to your doorstep here:

Our favourite Instagram accounts for IKEA hacking inspo

As versatile as the Swedish brand has made its furniture, people all around the world are still finding ways to up their IKEA hacking game, and we can see why: It’s so incredibly satisfying to turn a generic IKEA piece into one that’s 100% your own. 

Some hacks are as simple as a different coat of paint while others require a lot more elbow grease, resulting in something that looks completely different from the original piece. 

Whether you’re looking for some IKEA hacking inspo or just love checking out other people’s creative hacks, here’s our pick of the best Instagram accounts to follow: 

1. @ikeahack

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaQvXn9nM-A/

Who knew that a simple dresser could be redesigned into part of a study table? This genius IKEA hack simply requires adding a piece of wood and glass to make the tabletop while the dresser supports one end while providing storage simultaneously. We love how this hack is so space-efficient and designed to keep you organised. 

2. @ikeahackersofficial

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0Tez0zJncF/

IKEA Hackers is perhaps one of the biggest IKEA hacking accounts there is on Instagram and one of our favourites (check out how Jules, the founder of IKEA Hackers transformed her bestie’s office space with one of our slipcovers here!).

Jules is constantly reposting the best hacks on the internet, ensuring that you never run out of inspiration to execute your own IKEA hack. 

3. @limmaland

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2BZcHlH6hG/

Hacking children’s IKEA furniture is perhaps one of the most fun projects you can dive into because you can be as creative as you like with the repainting, colours and designs you pick. 

Limmaland provides you with countless IKEA hacks designed for children’s furniture, from gorgeous wallpapered IKEA Duktig play kitchens to dressers in cute repaints. 

Take this IKEA Ivar cabinet hack, for example. It’s amazing how some paint and masking tape can result in a stunning Scandi-inspired mountainscape.

4. @makingprettyspaces

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3TCut8nRlF/

Jennifer of Making Pretty Spaces will convince you that just about anyone is capable of hardcore DIY-ing around the house.

Just take a look at her Instagram account and you’ll be amazed at the hacks she’s managed to pull off. One particularly intricate (and super impressive) hack she’s accomplished that she shows off on her feed to prove her point is this built-in IKEA Besta bench hack.

With this hack, she’s successfully transformed an unused nook into a seating area simply by putting several IKEA Besta cabinets together, paired them with seat cushions, and voila! 

We’re definitely impressed.

5. @beglorifiedhome

https://www.instagram.com/p/B09n6Zvnxkn/

Kara of Be Glorified Home is another avid DIY-er who loves spreading the IKEA hacking gospel through her feed to inspire.

We were particularly intrigued by this IKEA shoe storage hack Kara shared on her Instagram account — what was once a plain shoe cupboard has been repurposed into a gorgeous hallways storage chest with multiple drawers.

Love.

6. @beautytofashion_

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3ZYOXqI2xP/

Beauty To Fashion is a treasure trove of IKEA hacking ideas that you’ll never tire of.

From smaller hacks such as repainting the IKEA Dokument letter tray a gorgeous shade of gold to creating an ultra-girly fluffy stool, this Instagram account will have your DIY needs sorted. 

Need more IKEA inspiration in your life? We’ve got you covered. Download our free Timeless Living: How To Design A Classy IKEA-Inspired Home ebook:

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