Colin and Justin: The happy home

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Don’t we all dream of and deserve the opportunity to decompress?

As temperatures dip, and skies darken, we’ve put together a decor prescription to help you feel happier on the home front: it’s amazing what can be achieved with a few key changes. Read on, and smile…

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Brighten up to enliven mood

Wall coverings, with sunny motifs, suffuse a feeling of joy. A bold paper in a tight space (like a powder room) can engender emotional uplift. ‘Chinoiserie Toile Provence’ (in warm yellow and cool blue) from www.spoonflower.com will help flush the gloom as you spend a penny.

You lay in your bed, now make it

Taking a moment to pull up your nest won’t simply tick off a task, it’ll reset your nocturnal quarters as somewhere to look forward to, all over again, as you navigate the day. Happiness ‘habits’ – like bed making – encourage productivity (and pride) making other tasks less arduous, and the day brighter. So smooth down that top sheet, shake out that duvet and plump your pillows to tempt a happier, more satisfied you.

Upon reflection

To avoid unflattering shadows, bathroom lights should be positioned either side of (or within) the mirror, rather than above. Did someone say younger? Fresher? Start the day on a happy note with the Elisse Arch LED Mirror from www.lightscanada.ca Measuring 24”x30” the product features a built in illuminated perimeter (think Hollywood dressing room, but without the gaudy bulbs) that’ll help you glow from first inspection.

Natural daylight

It’s winter, so you should optimize natural sunlight. Pull back drapery, and open blinds, to help tempt positive mood. And remember to continue airing rooms during colder climes, if only for a minute or two each day, to maintain crisp, uplifting atmosphere.

Choose fresh flowers and house plants

As much as ‘permanent botanicals’ (that’s faux foliage in industry speak) are convenient, little beats the real thing: nurturing growth is good for the soul and amplifies the feel-good factor. Come on, the sweet smell of fresh flowers is enough to make anyone smile, n’est ce pas?

Waxing lyrical Flickering candles can help elevate mood and evoke guilty pleasures, without the Jiminy Cricket remorse. Who, for example, doesn’t like chocolate? Or a nip of brown liquor? Thanks to the ‘Dark Chocolate and Bourbon’ candle from www.capecandle.com, your waistline needn’t panic. It’ll bring a smile as you lick, sorry light, the wick…

Create a feel good picture wall

Forgo mass market scenes depicting hackneyed landscapes or city monuments, and instead curate a gallery wall of imagery with pertinent feel good triggers. Assemble portraits, frame achievement certificates (sporting, educational or familial) and arrange pictures of places you truly love as a reminder of travel that touched your heart. Suddenly, that vintage Sarah Moon seems old hat when pitted against personal mementoes and souvenirs, huh?

Sofa so good

For C+J clients, when budget allows, new furniture is a given: it’s beyond satisfying to sink into comfy upholstery. We typically forgo the harder lines of tailored ‘tuxedo’ sofas in favour of the comforting ‘yield’ of rolled arm, squashy fill alternatives.

Comfort, after all, is satisfying and mood forming, its realization nurturing the notion of ‘happy home’. Scope Canadian sofa company www.couchhaus.com who offer cross Canada delivery.

Dress an escape corner Don’t we all dream of – and deserve – the opportunity to decompress, to lift the foot from life’s gas pedal? Chase this happy idyl by commandeering an underutilised bedroom corner or nook: add a comfy chair, a textural rug, and a cute table to anchor a wine glass or coffee mug (delete as appropriate) and you’re done. Cue self-indulgence and smile inducing reward.

If music be the food of (a happy) life, play on. Okay, so the line from Shakespeare’s 12th Night cites love, not life, but allow us a modicum of poetic licence as we wrap today’s column.

Context? We still possess every mix tape, every C30, C60 or C90 (and all our vinyl) stuffed with music from days gone by. Haul yours from the basement, crank up your vintage hi-fi and take a fun stroll down memory lane.

The happy home? Riding the domestic feel-good bus can be contagious: if somebody who shares your space isn’t smiling, give them one of yours. And watch as their day blossoms…

Watch for Colin and Justin on City-tv’s Breakfast Television and on Colin and Justin’s Sub- Zero Reno
premiering Jan. 31 on Paramount TV. Find the Colin and Justin Home Collection in stores across Canada. Visit www.colinandjustin.tv.