The New Mindful Home: And How to Make It Yours

Interior stylist Thornhill (My Bedroom Is an Office & Other Interior Design Dilemmas) applies mindfulness to the home in this practical guide. Living mindfully doesn’t necessarily mean becoming a minimalist, the author notes. Instead, she aims to teach readers how to create a relaxing, “fuller” home without “living so sparsely.” Inspired by the Danish concept of hygge (a term related to comfort and contentment), Thornhill explains how to create a mood-enhancing color scheme using blue and green to encourage rest, orange and yellow for energy, and purple for creativity. She offers ideas for using vision boards to help decorators decide how they want a space to make them feel, advocates for creating a nontoxic cleaning kit, explains how to quell anxiety with essential oils as mood lifters, and embraces imperfection in materials and projects. Thornhill also offers instructions for easy-to-do projects, as with an enso circle painting and a crystal terrarium, which she calls “Mindful Totem” projects. Lush photos will inspire readers to create their own carefully arranged homes, and useful tips are sprinkled throughout (pure white is a color that feels “unforgiving” because it isn’t a shade in nature, for example). Those interested in creating a calming space should give this a look. [em](Apr.) [/em]