Lucky you: your genius broker just helped you score your dream-house! You’re excited, of course, but you may also feel depression and anxiety as you plan your move.
Recent surveys conducted by OnePoll reveal that only losing a job ranked higher on the stress-scale for thousands of respondents. Experiencing a breakup or divorce trails the angst of moving, while other major stressors, namely getting married and having children, don’t even come close. But here’s the good news: new digs are always an opportunity to reinvent ourselves. Do a bit of soul-searching before you start packing. Ask yourself this question: how do I want life to look and feel at my new address?
1 – Be Authentic
Define your priorities for your new space. In fact, having these priorities sorted out is an essential step before buying, leasing, or even renting. Having a clear understanding of what makes a space your happy place will inform your decisions about your decor choices, so you never have to ask yourself “What was I thinking?”
For example: If an intense daily fitness regimen is a big part of your life, your weights, treadmill and equipment obviously deserve a primo location in your home. If you’re an entrepreneur with the midnight mind of a mad scientist, you may prefer to dedicate choice square footage to your home office. Make authentic choices to lower regrets and buyer’s remorse.
2 – Lighten Up
Current research establishes a link between clutter and depression. Use your move as a great opportunity to lighten your load of anything broken, worn, torn, or unused. If it’s unused, it’s probably because, in the vocabulary of master organizer Marie Kondo, the item does not “spark joy.” Do a massive purge on former office attire if you WFH, shoes that hurt your feet, books you won’t read again, LPs that you now listen to on your streaming service. Digitize documents to reduce paper files.
3 – Consider color. White and white-ish walls in myriad shades of bone, ivory and cream present a refreshing blank canvas, but color may offer therapeutic benefits. It’s no coincidence that fast-food places use mood-elevating bright yellow, orange and red in every aspect of their branding, since warm colors trigger feelings of familial closeness, and spark appetite – consider this sunny spectrum for your kitchen. By contrast, many sleep therapists suggest a dusky blue for bedroom walls, to invite effortless sleep – adequate sleep being a crucial aspect of mental wellness.
An insider hack: if you’re striving to create a less stressful environment, resist the urge to put mirrors everywhere. For some people, being constantly confronted with one’s own image is, well, stressful.
4 – Treasure Yourself
Back to bullet number two “Lighten up.” As you sort through the tchotchkes and odds and ends, repurposing, recycling, and discarding as much as you can, do treat yourself by gathering your “core collection,” a few precious objects that you love, and maybe even use as talismans for good luck. Your Mom’s strand of Sweet Sixteen pearls, a framed photo of your best dog, an exquisite fragrance (certain aromas can reduce serotonin levels in the blood, thus reducing stress), your favorite china tea mug, your cashmere sweater (even though it has a few moth-holes): put together a few highly personal, highly symbolic possessions to keep with you during the move, for calming and self-soothing.
