If you’re looking for a bit more happiness in your life, what better place to start than a happy home.

With the end of winter in sight, you may be starting to get a spring in your step with the thought of warmer weather and brighter days. Your home, however, may not be feeling the same. With a busy family household and fast-paced modern living, our home can start to feel more tired than happy. If this is the case with your home, maybe it’s time to get it ready for summer with some quick and easy adjustments. Get ready to invite in the light and create a warm and welcoming space, and make a happy home for everyone.

Create an inviting hallway

Make sure you feel happy to be home every time you step through the door by creating a warm and inviting hallway space. Your hallway may be feeling tired or dated; this often-neglected room might have been overlooked even if you have updated your décor recently. Your hallway may also be lacking windows and light compared to other rooms, so start by painting it in light and airy colours. This should help create a bright space in what otherwise could be a dark and dingy room.

It’s also good to keep your hallway clutter free with hooks and a shoe rack. This helps prevent muddy floors and keeps things neat and organised, even if you have a lot of guests around. The whole house will appreciate a clean and spacious welcome.

Make your bed

The simplest and quickest way to inject some instant happiness into your home, and your life, is to start by making your bed every morning. A tidy bed can make the world of difference to your entire bedroom and is a great mindset to start the day off right. It’s also a welcoming sight at the end of a long and tiring day – a tidy bed and fresh bed linen just feel cosier.

If you’re wondering if this simple three-minute task can really make a difference, there’s no need to take our word for it. Studies have shown that making your bed every morning can improve productivity, happiness, and even your ability to stick to a budget.

Let in the light

It’s not exactly an unknown fact that plenty of sunshine can have a positive impact on our moods and behaviour. Summer time see’s us shake off the cold and start to smile again. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that inviting more light into your home could help make it a happier place.

A simple way to do this is to keep your windows clean. While cleaning windows isn’t the most exciting of tasks, clean windows can make a huge difference to the amount of light in your home. You’ll also be surprised just how rewarding some clean windows can be.

Additionally, invite in more light by keeping curtains open during the day and sticking to light or bright colours. A bold and eye-catching feature wall contrasts well with fresh white paint and will give the whole room an uplifting ambience.

Bring the outdoors in

Fresh flowers are another way to instantly uplift your home and inject some happiness into your décor. Just like light, flowers and plants can be extremely rejuvenating with a huge positive impact on our moods. Buy flowers that are in season or on sale from your local florist or supermarket to keep costs down, or even try growing your own to cut.

Strategic places in your home for your flowers include the hallway for a fresh and cheerful welcome and your dining room for those special occasions.

Display happy memories

Displaying photographs and souvenirs of happy memories and time spent as a family is a great way to make your home happier. Photographs are a constant reminder of happy times that have been and the ones to come. Additionally, these types of personal items instantly inject some personality into your home and make those happy times contagious for family and guests.

You probably have a lot of family photographs on your phone or computer, but not so many printed out. Set a time aside one evening and pick out your favourite photographs, then simply print online for a low cost. This can also be a family activity, with everyone involved in selecting their favourite memories to hang on the wall.

Make a cosy corner

A busy household can be a stressful place at the best of times and our lives often don’t leave much time for relaxing. No matter how happy your whole home is, it’s still important to have an extra special spot for relaxing in. If you have enough space with a spare bedroom or spare office room, you can turn this into your own sanctuary. Otherwise, a nice corner or window seat in your favourite room will do. Cosy homes can help make everyone’s life that little bit happier.

Make sure your corner has plenty of comfort with a cosy chair and plenty of fluffy cushions. During the colder months, you may also want to keep a soft blanket nearby. A lamp or some low lighting will help make your corner extra soothing while providing enough light to curl up with a good book. Cosy corners like this are also a great way to make your entire home feel cosier, and guests will notice the relaxing spaces and feel right at home.

Create a good dining space

Nothing brings family and guests together like a good plate of food. A welcoming dining area can quickly become the hub of your house and is perfect for bringing the family together for some quality time every evening. It’s also essential for entertaining guests, as a sociable home is a happy home.

If you have space, opt for a larger dining table or a smaller table that can convert to include a few extra places when necessary. If you live in a smaller home or apartment and don’t have space for a full dining area, there are plenty of modern dining area solutions such as wall mounted breakfast bars and pull-down dining tables.

Keep it clean

Just like making the bed, keeping your house clean every day can have a huge impact on the ambience of your house. A tidy home is a happy home, and keeping it that way doesn’t have to be a lengthy chore. By keeping lots of handy clutter free storage tools, such as shoe racks and cupboard organisers, you can make sure there’s a place for everything in your home.

You can then keep everything in its place with the ‘back to ready’ rule. When you leave a room, take a couple of minutes to walk around and put everything back to its position. Making sure your rooms are ready to go before you leave means they’re always ready for when you get back, even if you have surprise guests in tow. You’ll also find plenty of satisfaction in leaving your home neat and tidy, as a couple of minutes each time can save you hours on the weekend.