Day to day life can be stressful and all consuming - especially if you have a high power job or lots of tasks to do each day. So having somewhere that's your safe haven to come home to each day each is incredibly important! Did you know that studies also show that children who see pictures of themselves hanging in there home, have greater confidence and self-esteem than those who don’t? So not only are you creating a happy place for you to live, but also for the whole family to benefit from.

But where to start? In this post I'm going to share three ways to create a happy and enjoyable environment in your home, most of which incorporate the whole family too. I hope you find this helpful!

Hang your Child/ren’s Art

When your children start creating their first little masterpieces it can be tempting to keep every single piece of art. And that's completely understandable! But how can we display this without looking like you have just shared it on the wall without care? One idea is to buy a collage photo frame to create a collage from all of those different creations. You could also decide on a few favourites, and then laminate them and display them on your walls (filing away the other pieces that don't make the cut). Both ideas make it easy for you to update the displays as and when you want / need to as well.

Take Family Portraits

Investing in some professional portraits is a beautiful way to celebrate your family. You can then either purchase the prints from your photographer to display, or even get them put onto a canvas or a photo collage. You don't even need to pay a professional either! If you have a camera (or even a smartphone) and a tripod you can save money and just take your own. Plenty of websites, and even stores such as Boots, offer photo printing services that could be a lot cheaper than using a professional.

Affirmations

Another way to brighten up your home and also spread some key messages, is to have some printed affirmations on your walls. These can range from "you are loved" to "as far as anyone knows we're a normal family". The beauty of these is that they can be completely personalised to your family (some companies will even personalise them with your family names / quotes for you), and you can decide where to hang them.

This is a collaborative post.

How to Make Moving House Less Stressful

As parents our priority is making sure that our families are well taken care of, fulfilled, and happy. But from time to time, we need to take the time to make sure that our dreams and goals come true too. An example of this is when we’re moving house; it’s a stressful operation, one filled with many trivial and time-consuming tasks that can take a very long time. But hopefully with these tips I'm going to share in this post, you can make a house move run smoothly, without letting your family down!

Get the Timing Right

Some times of the year just aren’t suitable for a big change such as moving house. You won't want to ruin Christmas, or stress your children out during exams with a big move. You can help yourself though (and make sure you fulfil your family obligations), by moving home at a quiet time for your family. Avoid birthdays, significant events, and any other major life events - and try to remember that these things take time, so don't focus too much attention on a set date too early on.

Remove Some Pressure

There are a lot of small details that need to be taken care of when you’re moving home. However, it doesn’t have to be you that takes care of every last detail personally! By recruiting professional help for some of the tasks, you can take the pressure off yourself and free up some of your time all at once. Don’t spend days transporting all your belongings; hire movers and let the experts do all the leg work - you can click here to learn more about removal firms in your area. Also make sure to hire a decent property solicitor to ensure all the paperwork is in order. Just taking a few of the tasks out of your hands will make hopefully you feel more relaxed too.

Get Family Involved

If you are moving to a different part of the country, away from family and friends, then you might find they aren't as excited about the move as you are. There are fun aspects to moving house though, such as exploring an empty home, digging through a new garden, and meeting new neighbours. By getting your family involved though, you can help them adjust to the idea a bit more, and they may even find some hidden treasures at your new house that you haven't found yet!

Hire an Assistant

You’ll have a million and one things to do when you’re moving home - and that’s on top of the million and one family responsibilities that you already have. If you have a friend or family member who you’re particularly close with, why not ask for help with admin tasks? As it's someone you know you are more likely to trust their decisions and ideas, and would probably help for a smaller fee as well. If there is a lot of work to do though, maybe look into hiring some professionals instead.

When moving house of course you won’t get everything right straight away, and there will be stressful moments too. But if you take things slow, and follow my advice above, you can make sure none the move goes as smoothly as possible. Good luck!

This is a collaborative post.