Social media has a lot to answer for these days. Sure. It has it’s positives but it’s got it’s negatives too, in a big way. It’s affecting how we live and how we perceive we should live our lives. We, as humans, have lost our ability to think for ourselves, be happy with what we have and are so influenced by bright shiny objects on social media. If you’re in a rut and sick of trying to ‘keep up with the Joneses’, here are 7 ways to improve your home life.

If you’re unhappy with your current home or the situation you’re in, then with a change in mindset you’ll soon start to love the home you’re in and start enjoying your home life more. I hear people say that they hate the house they live in, it’s not big enough, “I’ll just go and buy ‘xyz’ from KMart” and it will improve it. Buying stuff, cluttering your home and spending money unnecessarily will only add to your grief and it creates a spiral of out of control debt and consumerism. 

There is another way and it’s so easy. 

There is joy to be found in missing out

You may have heard of FOMO (the fear of missing out). Well, there’s also JOMO, the joy of missing out. 

Learn to be happy within your four walls. Learn to be happy with your life by not worrying what she’s having. There was a time when we lived our lives. When we discovered what it was that we wanted to do when we left school. We’d find partners, buy or rent a property and live together.  We’d decorate our homes based on things we liked not how other people did it.

Sure, we may have got inspiration from the current magazines or borrowing a book from the library but not how we are so influenced by people on social media today. The fact that I’m not influenced by anyone on social media I am at ease and confident with my own tastes.

Really, the only inspiration I’ve had is from my mother and grandmother. I learnt how to decorate, for example, like they did. It wasn’t even about having new furniture or the latest homewares. It was more about making do with what you already had, making over an old piece of furniture purchased secondhand or just go without until you could afford something you really wanted, or should I say, needed.

It’s actually quite a relief to be an individual and not follow what everyone else is doing. There is no stress that I can’t find it or have to spend money to buy it. I’d rather have a comfortable, clean, cosy home than one that is filled to the brim with decorator items because someone posted a picture on social media that it was their latest hack from KMart.

Unfollow

As simple as that. Unfollow those people who you envy on social media who seem to have it all together. Those people who have all the designer clothes and shoes and immaculate homes. Why spend your days worrying about what you can’t have and worry about what you already do have?

Discover yourself and your likes and dislikes and run with it. You’ll feel so much better that you have implemented your personal tastes in your home and for yourself.

A picture really doesn’t tell the true story. An image posted on social media really is only a snippet into people’s lives that very minute of that day. You never know what’s going on behind the scenes. The image might look nice and appealing but is it making you feel better or useless, unworthy or a failure? 

Just click unfollow and, if you must, follow people who are more your style. In fact, have a good social media detox. Step away from it for a while and learn what it is that really makes you tick as a person.

Be grateful

I bang on about this all the time but, for me, identifying everything I need in my life comes from three basic needs, food, clothing or shelter. I’m not talking about my emotional needs here (although food, clothing and shelter still do have a part to play in enhancing your emotional needs) but rather my immediate physical needs.

If it doesn’t fall into food, clothing or shelter and I don’t need it, I don’t get it. I’m grateful every day for my current life. Life certainly has thrown me some curve balls over the years but I’m grateful for where I ended up.

I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food in the cupboard. 

As far as my emotional and spiritual needs go, I’m extremely grateful for where the Universe has gotten me to. I went through a lot to finish up with the most wonderful man by my side, my two children and my pets. I’m still working on my self esteem but getting there and I’m extremely grateful for where I am in my life today.

Find beauty in the simple things

All too often we get caught in a trance, rolling through our Facebook or Instagram feed at everyone else’s sunset pictures we forget to take a look outside at the sunset that is right outside our door.

Remember what it was like to run barefoot through the grass? To smell that summer rain after a hot day? To pull out a batch of freshly baked cookies from the oven? No amount of social media influence can provide you with the joy these simple pleasures gives you.

Whether it’s holding your teenager’s hand, reminding you of when they were a toddler relying on you for guidance and help or listening to your partner after their bad day at work, find joy in the simple things in life that help you realise that you’re helping someone else which in turn will make you feel better.

Put your mobile device down and find your own joy in your own world. Don’t be envious of other people’s holiday snaps to a lovely beach location. Go out and make your own fun and live your own adventures.

Recycle, reuse and DIY

Before you even think about going to the store to buy something you need for your home, do you have something already that would work, can you recycle or reuse something already in your home or can you make it yourself.

I’m not what you would call a ‘greenie’ at all but something that I learnt from my parents and grandparents was that if you can make do with what you’ve already got, you’re winning in so many ways. You’re saving money and the environment but you’re finding joy in making something yourself.

Recycling helps protect the environment. It reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying and logging), refining and processing raw materials. All of these create substantial air and water pollution. As recycling saves energy it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps to tackle climate change. (Source)

With so many tutorials and information available to us now, it’s near impossible not to be able to learn how to DIY a project. Whether that’s sanding an old piece of furniture and painting it, reusing or repurposing previously loved linen or creating a brand new piece from scratch like a hand crocheted rug in the exact colour you want or making your own clothes.

You’ll feel proud that you made it yourself and it will bring joy to your home life. You will look at it fondly and it will be an original. You won’t be copying what anyone else has done or bought from a discount store which has been mass produced. Even though it might be a bargain, really, is there a better way you could fill the need in your home? No amount of shopping, spending or copying others is going to bring you true joy to your home life.

Making Do

This isn’t a term I hear a lot of lately but it’s one I grew up with. I can remember moving into my own apartment after coming out of a bad relationship. I was in a new job so not a lot in savings. My sister gave me a bright orange vinyl dining set, an old 1970’s style day bed for my lounge and I think I had an old cardboard box with a tablecloth on it to hold my television.

Did I mind? No. I was extremely grateful for my sister giving me these things. I didn’t want to rush out and go into debt just so I could furnish my apartment. I was extremely happy because I had what I needed for free.

After a while, Mum was going to throw an old timber dining table that she had used for planting pot plants and I said I’d take it. I sanded it back (having never picked up a sander before) and varnished the timber. I eventually bought 4 dining chairs and a “baker’s stand” to match. The old day bed stayed and I think I got a small TV cabinet for my TV. 

Everything worked and it worked well. You know the old saying “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”? Well, that’s how I live my life and it brings me great joy. I feel exhausted thinking about how young people today are in too much of a hurry to go out and buy a whole house full of furniture, plus decor items just to set themselves up. I’m not saying all young people do it. There seems to be a movement in recycling and upcyling, which is great, but there is still a lot of people who live with the thought that they need these things to improve their home life. You don’t.

Make do with what you’ve got until you can afford what you need. This applies to all areas of your home life from cooking to home decor.

Stop Comparing

My husband and I were only discussing the other night about how we all compare our lives to others. My children (he is their step father) are great kids and very grateful but they take some things for granted. My daughter is extremely lazy and untidy and I told my husband that most teenage girls are like this. We got talking about it and thought it doesn’t have to be. We have the right to run our household the way we want to and if my daughter doesn’t conform nor respect our property, there will be consequences. We started looking at comparing in another light.

I think it’s human nature to compare your life with others. I look at women who are naturally slim, who have had a baby and they probably only put the weight of the baby on while they were pregnant and you wouldn’t have even thought she’d had a baby. WRONG! Why would I compare my pregnancy to hers? She was probably 20 years younger than me. She may have had the worst pregnancy with all sorts of complications, who am I to know? Did she walk in my shoes or me in hers? No. Comparing is one of the worst things you can do to make you feel sad about your life and, in particular, your home life.

It’s like comparing oranges to apples. No two people have walked the same steps in life. Develop your own tastes. Find your own style. Once you have, you won’t need to worry about what other people have or are doing.