Creating beautiful spaces is definitely a form of self-care for me.  I don’t thrive in cluttered surroundings at all.  My eyes dart from one thing to the next, observing all of the areas that need to be organized and put away.  Chaos in my living spaces makes me anxious and doesn’t set me up for success.  I am 100% a ONE on the Enneagram and have learned to embrace the good qualities of that personality type.  No, I don’t always expect perfection.  In fact, the homeschool room is never this tidy.  But there’s a place for everything, which is vital for my success.  I know myself, and I know what I need to thrive.

Because of that, we’ve always had a designated homeschool space.  It has changed quite a bit since we first started schooling in 2012.  OUR FIRST SPACE reflected the younger students I was teaching, with lots of color and lots of storage for toys.  I was looking back through the pictures of that space with the kids recently, and we were all remembering the old toys and reminiscing about the simplicity of life back then.  Such sweet memories.  OUR SECOND ROOM was a result of our move to the country in 2015.  I utilized all of the same furniture and supplies, but made it fit with the new area we had in the basement.  It worked, but it felt overstimulating for the smaller space.

In 2018, a basement flood prompted me to give the space a makeover.  Using just about all of the same furniture, the room was updated to reflect the growing ages of my students.  No longer needing a lot of storage for toys, the Ikea cubbies now serve as our homeschool library.  The walls are lightened up and subdued with neutral paint, and some of the more colorful furniture has been made-over with spray paint.  Side note: I love spray paint.  Additions of a few farmhouse decor pieces to the walls give the space a more grown-up feel.  A chalk-painted hand-me-down desk provides me a grown-up teacher desk.  It was one of those heavy particle board government desks in its previous life – amazing how much new life a bit of chalk paint can provide!  And I even have file cabinet drawers now.  The organizer in me explodes with satisfaction at the thought of functional storage.  Truly, what more could I possibly need?

Now, I want to hear from you.  Anyone else out there find self-care in creating beautiful spaces?  If you have a room in your home that really makes you happy, I’d love to see it!  I believe our homes should be our sanctuaries and make us feel good.  I’d love to take a peek at what that looks like for you!  Please shoot me an email at nicole@naturallywholistic.com with pictures, and I’ll post them to my Facebook page so we can inspire each other.  Let’s build one another up!

TIME TO START YOUR HEALING JOURNEY

Let’s heal our health.  Join me in the journey to create natural, wholistic, healing homes that offer safe havens where our families can connect, thrive, and find joy in wellness. When we fuel our bodies properly, practice the self-care we need, and experience connecting relationships, we can all resiliently thrive together and fulfill our God-given purposes.

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