Homes Extra: Home Sanctuary

Thursday, 16 January 2025 08:00

By Sara Whatley

Start as you mean to go on by creating your very own home sanctuary, a place to relax and enrich your life, says Sara Whatley

With a focus on new year wellness perfect time of year to create a sanctuary in your home. A place dedicated to listening, music, reading or art. A creative space; a space to be present and in the moment, to meditate or practice yoga. A cocoon of wellness, whatever that means to you. At first glance this kind of space may seem like an unobtainable luxury, but in reality it needn’t be a whole separate room, it can be blended into existing spaces where needs are shared.

Do you have a spare bedroom? An office, dining room or conservatory? Basically, any space that is less used on a regular basis that could happily endure a change. It could even be a corner of a room!

A good place to start this project is by asking yourself what you would like the space to be used for. This might be one, two or more activities, or you may prefer to keep it as a general sanctuary space for whatever needs arise.

What you are planning to do in your sanctuary will bear an influence on how you organise it; for example, yoga requires a bit of room to move, with at least a yoga mat size if not a little bigger. A clear and clean area is ideal to practice in.

Crafting might be your happy place in which case a crafting table, lots of shelves and storage for materials and supplies, good lighting and a comfortable chair are all necessities.

You may choose this space to practice instruments or make music. Or it might be a place to listen to music, records and podcasts. This would require a set-up of sound systems, speakers, headphones, and a chair or sofa to sit and listen. Depending on your room and space you may want to consider sound proofing and acoustics as well.

A quiet zone to read and relax could be your ideal sanctuary space, which can happily be integrated into a corner space or large room. Think jam-packed bookshelves, sinking into a cosy chair layered with soft blankets and cushions, a warm-glowing lamp and a steaming cup of tea by your side. Book-nook heaven.

CREATION IDEAS

Now comes the fun part – making your vision a reality. Once you have carved out your sanctuary space and thought about how you will use it, then it’s time to decorate. I would imagine, if you are already passionate about the subject you will have a lot of the required things already, so it might be more a case of gathering everything together and reorganising it in a pleasing way.

You may want to consider painting or wallpapering your sanctuary to either zone it, if you are sharing a space, or give the entire room a new personality. Think about what mood you want to create with your colour choice – neutral and light for a bright and airy feel, or dark and decadent for a cosy cave.

Fill your space with things that are meaningful to you. This might be a bookshelf to house favourite reads and records, treasured items collected over the years, and pictures of loved ones and places. Inspiring artworks could hang on the walls, providing a point of focus or the spark of an idea. Enrich the space further with a generous combination of textiles which might include macrame, wicker and woven, tactile materials, plants, stone and metal.

Scented candles, or diffusers will provide an additional layer to really indulge your senses. Choose scents that are pertinent to you and your wellness goals, personalising the ambience of your sanctuary.

Lastly, make sure you prioritise spending time in your sanctuary, feeding your mind, body and soul with the things you love.

Homes Extra: Home Sanctuary

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