Thursday, September 10, 2015

By Barbara Pronin With Labor Day in the rear-view mirror, fall and winter bear down quickly—making this the ideal time to ready your mood and your indoor space for extra hours spent inside.

The lifestyle editors at Wholeliving.com suggest seven ways to make your time indoors more comfy and productive:

• Bring nature indoors – Bring in fresh flowers while they are still in bloom. Then bring in branches, berries and leaves and arrange in various vases and containers in several rooms of your home.
• Clear the air - According to the EPA, the air inside a home can have two to five times the pollution level as the air outside. Leave your shoes at the door to avoid tracking in dirt, mold, allergens and chemicals – and add a few indoor plants such as English Ivy to help clean the air.
• Hang mirrors - Reflective surfaces give more bang for your lighting buck, opening up the rooms of your home and expanding dark or tight spaces. Since they add no visual weight of their own, you can use larger mirrors without fear of overpowering a room.
• Prep the kitchen – Make sure your appliances are running efficiently by vacuuming the condenser coils of the refrigerator and cleaning up the grease buildup in the oven's vent system. Clean out old and expired items from the pantry and stock up on cold-weather staples like lentils, beans, cocoa and baking supplies.
• Start cooking – Nothing says comfort like the smell of home cooking, so get ready to start the soup or bake some bread and fill the air with inviting smells.
• Get grounded – This is a great time to sit and ponder and set goals for the coming months. Before the hustle-bustle of the holidays sets in, breathe deep, try some simple yoga exercises or lie on your back with your eyes closed, and visualize life as you want it.
• Reach out – As the days get shorter, keep stress and depression at bay by nourishing your network and putting friends and family support in place. Get out your calendar and make some coffee dates, plan a homey potluck dinner, and schedule time for community service projects.

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