In this, my 16th year sharing reflections alongside interiors inspiration on Hello Lovely, “small homekeeping shifts” hardly makes sexy copy. Yet beyond engaging headlines fetching clicks from design doomscrollers? It’s just me on a creative journey at home. Sharing simple small shifts to add fullness to the everyday…slower, smaller, subtle (and even safe!) gestures to calm anxious minds…lovely little dreams and schemes to ease overwhelmed nervous systems.

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Small Homekeeping Shifts & Timeless Impact
Let’s start with my obvious bias about simplicity. It is neither unsophisticated nor mindless. There’s a quiet elegance about it when things feel more natural than contrived.

At this very moment, I’m in a MORE SANCTUARY, PLEASE mode. It is uncommon for me to get a second wind in January, but it’s here.

A longing for more simplicity and lightness.
My thoughts are heavy too often; it takes intention to return to center.

A decade ago, I might be inclined to swim laps with an energy surge. Today? Goodness gracious. Autoimmune illness ran away with half of my hair in 2024. Pulling a swim cap over fragile strands hanging on for dear life? Hahaha. Maybe next year when I’m bald and lower maintenance. I allow these thoughts to surface then allow them to gently swim away.

But work around the house qualifies as exercise too! How might I calm down a cluttery kitchen, dispense with the unnecessary, donate excess, and incorporate the new?
New?

Lovely AND Luxe, Please
Isn’t this hardworking kitchen essential gorgeous?
Coffee is a heavenly something my restricted diet allows, so I was more than happy to take this lovely white Melitta Vision 12-Cup Coffee Maker for a test-drive.
With its charming copper accents and irresistible 180 degree swivel dashboard, ooh la la, what a joy to wake up to. 🙂

It’s also a realistic homekeeping shift. Bring light to a dim lonely corner (like the one in my kitchen’s walk-in pantry) with beauty, simplicity, and function.
Start From Spaciousness: Address ONE CORNER

When you feel ready to address your needs and desires for home, instead of starting from a place of scarcity or dread, consider the alternative.

I don’t mean simply count your blessings and be glad there’s a roof over your head.

Rather, don’t allow insecurities about your home’s potential shrink your creativity. I assure you a more sanctuary-like space is possible despite your:

bank account, health, square footage, mood disturbances, limited capacity for hope, and creative stuck-ness.

I have earned graduate degrees in all of these areas of messy struggle. 🙂

You’re in good company. If your emotional bandwidth is shaky, remember that’s okay too. We can drop out of our minds into our hearts where the best stuff…an infinite source of loveliness flows.

Let this be your reminder to tend to your inner landscape. Nap. Meditate. Slow your breathing and sink into quiet to experience spaciousness and rest.

Psst. Am I even credentialed to speak this boldly about nervous system regulation? I have a master’s in counseling, but it is my lived experience of hurting and healing that equips me. A lifetime of failures, control issues, suffering, and getting it wrong will do that.

Low Cost & Timeless Tweaks
Sometimes it makes sense to tread lightly and address a little corner as I did in that lonely corner of the pantry. But it can also be energizing to begin with a whole room that perplexes you. If it’s already unsavory, perhaps the odds are in your favor that it will improve…hahahaha.

Prettier Possibilities With PAINT
Set the mood with a color story. Need a reminder how paint is an inexpensive start for dramatic change? Dig in my archives for paint colors and moods to sample.

It is Still Perfectly Legal to CLEAN LIKE A FREAK
Does house cleaning work qualify as decorating, spiritual practice, and mental healthcare? On planet Michele, we proclaim OUI, OUI, kittycats. Get yer freak on organizing those drawers. Vacuum, scrub, polish, and launder those linens. The world begins to sparkle again.

Suddenly we notice what was hidden. A furniture arrangement needs a tweak. The dresser top is no longer a collection of dusty clutter. Lost rings, prescriptions, and reading glasses are recovered.

Interiors Influencer for a Day
Take it from me, you wouldn’t want to be an influencer more than a day. (Although for years now, anyone using social media is a micro-influencer!) But it may help to walk around your home and snap photos from different perspectives.

Scanning a room from a doorway is a different experience than viewing a photo of the room on a screen.


Gain fresh perspective by scrutinizing images snapped. Note what pleases or offends your eye.


For example, you may realize you dislike the scale of a particular object or recognize you should swap the accent tables in the room.


You may notice “holes” in certain areas and suddenly realize AHA, that painting you inherited and love can be hung there!.


What seems off kilter? What reads too formal or fussy? Are the window treatments working?

Shop my home

More reflections and tweaks await in part 2. Thank you for opening your spirit to these musings and for reading with tenderness. I love having you here.
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
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Dear Michelle,
I love the depth of warmth and love in this post. It felt to me, like a big hug!
Thank you for doing what you do.
Looking forward to part 2!
Sarah
Author
Awwww – I’m so glad to hear this! Happy Wednesday, Sarah. (How how how is it already Wednesday? And also, is it Wednesday? Hahahahaha – I’m still in that weird post-holiday stupor.)
I’ve followed you for years but not sure if I have ever commented before…I’m lazy that way😉just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your thoughtful posts…I hope this is a year of better health…
Author
I love hearing from you and am so touched – thank you kindly. xox