Mother Distracted
A Family Lifestyle Blog In Wales

How to create a Hygge inspired bathroom

Once autumn arrives, the nights become noticeably longer and temperatures significantly cooler. Here in the UK, the clocks go back in October plunging us all back into the early morning and early evening darkness which can frankly be a little depressing. Even more important, then, to cope with approaching stresses of the festive season by creating essential relaxation time for yourself and a great way to do this is to incorporate the principles of Hygge by creating a Hygge bathroom. 

What is Hygge?

In Meik Wiking’s book “The Little Book Of Hygge“, he defines Hygge thus.

“Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience, rather than about things.  It is about being with the people we love.  A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe, that we are shielded from the world and allow ourselves to let our guard down.

Hygge is about creating your safe space and what better place to do that than your bathroom? I know that whenever I am feeling stressed or anxious, I head straight for a bath or a long hot shower.  As a therapy, it runs a very close second to my other favourite taking a nap!

Hygge is a relative newcomer to the interior design scene and is showing no sign of declining in popularity. It is more than just a style trend; it’s an attitude which teaches us to appreciate a simpler lifestyle.

The principles have been fervently applied to interior design in every aspect of the home. Hygge is a Danish phrase loosely translated as ‘cosy’, so here are the top tips to create the perfect cosy bathroom.

Create your Hygge bathroom  

Use candles 

According to recent surveys, the Danes are the nation which burns the most candles. We Brits are trying to give them a run for their money with our enthusiastic adoption of their culture. Candles are paramount in creating a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere. The soft lighting instantly calms and relaxes you. These are highly useful to use around the entire home; however, there seems to be something so enticingly indulgent in the warm tones and comforting lighting for your bathroom. 

White furniture  

The Scandinavians are known for their love of minimalism, using white as a basic staple in their homes. White bathroom furniture provides the perfect base to create the Hygge environment. By using a simple white base for your bathroom, the furniture will not only be timeless but also produce a serene space. Make sure your bathroom is free from clutter by fitting plenty of storage units to hide away unsightly toiletries and cleaning products. White bathroom furniture also offers a great base to build layers with various materials and textures.  

Adjust your colour scheme

If white furniture isn’t your thing, try clean, contemporary furniture, for example, light and blond woods, complemented with soft and cosy colour palettes. Add a mirror or two to reflect back the light.

Lighting

Talking of lighting, your bathroom lights should be soft and warm rather than harsh and clinical.  Who wants to see their wrinkles first thing in the morning! Try installing a light with a dimmer switch.

Create warmth 

Longer nights generally mean the central heating comes on earlier and stays on later. Danish living centres itself around creating a cosy and warm atmosphere to bring the family together and this applies to the bathroom too.

To create the best minimalist effect as well as creating optimum heating, consider installing underfloor heating. This produces an even and ambient temperature which is kind to your bare feet. 

Your choice of heating will depend on the size of your bathroom, your style preferences and your budget but there are plenty of radiators styles to choose from, including straight ladder, curved and traditional radiators.
And there is nothing like a heated towel rail to help you wrap yourself up against the early morning chill.

Make it spa-like  

Ensure your bathroom is a place for rest and relaxation after a long six weeks of entertaining the children. Nothing beats a soak in a spacious bathtub filled with steaming hot water for the optimal spa-like hideaway.

Be sure you’ve got plenty of scented bubble bath so you can luxuriate whilst soothing aching muscles. Add texture to create the perfect opulent spa experience by including plush materials such as fluffy towels and soft bathrobes.  

Declutter

Declutter your room to declutter your mind they say and certainly it’s hard to take a relaxing bath when you are surrounded by cluttered windowsills drowning in half-used toiletries.

A vanity unit will help, or at least a sink with a cabinet underneath to conceal those skincare purchases you made to cheer yourself up.

Go natural with your toiletries

Talking about your toiletries, why not introduce some pure, organic, vegan-friendly soaps and body washes and swop out those products containing nasties that are bad for our skin.

You could even make your own bath products.  In Susanna Seton’s lovely book “Simple Pleasures Of The Home“, she recommends making a calming bath using essential oils:-

  • 4 drops bergamot essential oil
  • 4 drops lavender essential oil
  • 2 drops clary sage essential oil

Run a warm bath and drop the essential oils into the pouring water.  Relax in your bath for 10-15 minutes.

And environmental friendly with your household cleaners

You can make your own household cleaning products too and evict toxic products which are bad for the environment and our health – particularly important if you have children and pets.

You can find some simple household cleaner recipes in this post.

Add some greenery

If you have room, or perhaps a bathroom window which catches the sun, add a houseplant or two. Spider plants, orchids, Peace Lillies and even Aloe Vera will do well in the higher humidity.

Grab a great book

There’s nothing nicer than reading in the bath, as long as you don’t mind the pages getting a little damp and curled.  You could try the latest waterproof Amazon Kindle or just do what we did in school in the ‘old days’ – cover your books with sticky-backed plastic!

Failing that, how about a portable radio to listen to some classic music whilst you sip a chilled glass of wine or sparkling mineral water.

By applying the Danish lifestyle into your bathroom and creating a cosy retreat from the family, you won’t ever want to leave.

Tips To Get Your Home Sparkling Now The Kids Are Back At School

I have to be quite honest and say that our domestic arrangements have gone slightly awry since the kids broke up from school in July but if, like me, you need to have a good old tidy up to get your home ready for autumn, read on because I have some great tips.

get your home ready for autumn - pink and yellow flowers in a vase

Bedtimes have become later and we’ve been surfacing later too.  And let’s not talk about the number of pizza boxes I’ve recycled.

If you’re anything like me (i.e. a parent, tired and subject to unprecedented levels of ‘grump’ and shouting), I doubt you’re in the mood to channel Martha Stewart (or even Kim Woodburn – clean that mess up luvvy pleeeease) so here are a few home cleaning hacks from my fellow bloggers to get your home ready for autumn.

No time for a full-on cleaning assault?  Try these.

get your home ready for autumn - little girl playing with a teddy

Tips to get your home ready for autumn

Baby wipes are not just for babies

Beth at Twinderelmo.co.uk recommends using baby wipes for everything.  For example, you can use them to:-

  • wipe the dust off houseplants
  • dust surfaces – particularly dusty cistern tops, dodgy taps and sinks
  • clean ick off your leather sofa, jacket or handbag
  • use them to [amazon_textlink asin=’B01DUISSCA’ text=’remove stains’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’mothedistr-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’1e2f959e-b1fc-11e8-8651-afea865130ac’] off loads of things – have little hands been drawing on the walls? Is there something indescribable on the carpet? Give a baby wipe a try.
  • remove greasy finger marks off light switches and windows

Soak while the pan is still hot

Victoria at Lyliarose.com suggests tackling the mound of dirty dishes in the sink a bit quicker – even if you have a dishwasher. As soon as you’ve finished with a pan/tray, leave it in hot soapy water to soak or even better, rinse out. This will save lots of scrubbing trying to get dried stuck on food.

If you’re really stuck a drop of biological washing liquid left to soak works a treat too – just make sure you clean the pan really thoroughly before reuse.

Swab down with liquid soap

Rachel at The Daisy Pages, a blog dedicated to simple living, recommends Dr Bronner’s Organic Liquid Soap. She suggests diluting it 5:1 for handwashing and cleaning. It cleans windows, mirrors, worktops, showers, cooker tops etc and smells lovely. There are no nasties and it has a million other uses too. Plus it saves having a multitude of bottles in your cupboards. A bottle lasts ages and there are different fragrances to choose from.

get your home ready for autumn - sparkling kitchen sink

Sprinkle the baking soda

Kate from How To Rock At Parenting (a blog about managing motherhood madness) says it’s amazing what a bit of baking soda can achieve. From cleaning tarnished silver to getting rid of caked-in dirt on dishes and polishing the grout between tiles, it’s her best friend!

Give up and hire a cleaner

If you work at home, as I do, it’s worth considering the money you are potentially losing when you’re cleaning, instead of creating great content, working on your newsletter or revamping your household budget so you can actually afford Christmas.

Many of us won’t hire a cleaner because we feel it’s indulgent and many of us who DO hire a cleaner still clean the house before the professionals turn up in case they are horrified by the mess (go figure!).

Not only this but finding a great cleaner is not always easy.  Personal recommendation is the tried and tested route but it can take ages to find the right person.

If you want to compare cleaning companies quickly, try a site such as Bidvine.com,  which allows you to quickly specify your house cleaning requirements. You tell them the size of your house, when you’re available, the level of cleaning you want and whether you have pets to allow Bidvine to match you with the right providers.  You leave your contact details and wait for bids from competing cleaning companies from which you choose the one that is right for you.

I don’t have a cleaner at present but I am rapidly coming around to the view that, whether you’re a working mum or are running a business from your home, it’s a valid investment – and not a luxury.

Would you hire a cleaner?  Have you any great home cleaning hacks to share? How do you get your home ready for autumn?




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Creating A Fun Kids Bedroom They’ll Want To Sleep In!

Looking for ways to revamp your children’s bedrooms?  Here are some great ideas you’ll want to try.

Everyone loves their bedroom. It is the place they return to every day to rest and relax, where we recover, where we dream and where we keep all of our personal and essential goods. It can be a spot in a home that is completely ours and not shared with other inhabitants. We can spend a lot of time here, even when we’re not sleeping. It’s all these reasons that the bedroom is so important to us and this is especially the case for kids.

Kids Bedrooms

Child's bedroom furniture - Bedstar - motherdistracted.co.uk

Image credit: Flickr

A child’s bedroom can be their whole world and the only spot in the world that they can call their own. Making a bedroom suitable for a child and being vibrant and comfortable is vital. Decorating a kid’s bedroom can be a lot of work, but rewarding when your son or daughter first sees their completed room. With a few tips, you can make this difficult work go smoothly.

Themes and colour

The first thing you should do is think about the goal you wish to reach. The theme and colour of a room should be decided as early as possible so that everything can be built around it. Simply selecting colour or two to focus on will give the bedroom cohesion and style, as well as allow you to appeal to what your child likes. This applies heavily to the carpet and the walls. This is the same with themes, such as super heroes, space, animals, princesses, etc. Your child can be very into something like this and so you can select murals, paintings and items that will keep in with what you select.

 

Brightly coloured child's bedroom with stencils on walls - motherdistracted.co.uk

Image credit: Flickr

Get Your Child Involved

It’s their room after all, so you should consult with your child. Ask them about the things they want and how they want their room to look. Asking simple things about colour and theme, letting them look through catalogues with you and taking them to stores to chose items will make them happy and feel like an important part of the process. They will gain some responsibility and know that the bedroom is truly theirs.

The Bed

In a bedroom, you need a bed. What you chose for your child though is important. You may need just one or multiple, so prepare accordingly. Work out early where the bed will go so you can arrange and decorate to fit this. There are many type of beds available, with bunks beds for multiple kids, ones with storage options, large and small beds, cheap beds and more. Think where it fits the room and what your child will want and purchase accordingly.

Bright blue bedroom with bunkbeds

Image credit: Flickr

Make Sure There’s storage

A bedroom can be full of items. It is where we store may of our goods, but for a child, it’s where all their belongings will be. From toys to clothes, books and games, and more you need space to put everything. There are many ways to do this such as toys chests and boxes, cabinets and cupboards, drawers and wardrobes. You can even do something more interesting with hooks, string, baskets and more. Think about how much you need, what will fit where and try to think creatively about what could be used to store items. Encourage your child to use the storage of course, so you don’t have toys, pencils, paper and what not all over the place.

A Few Extras

Once the room is painted, the carpet down and the furniture in a place, you can start thinking about extras. This can be adding painting to the walls, attaching toys to the ceiling, put goods on shelves, arranging books and more. Think about what you want on display for easy access and what can make your child’s new bedroom come to life and be truly theirs.