A joy-filled home. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? But often we end up in survival mode and it’s not even something we can think about. I’m so passionate about our homes because we need joyful, peaceful places to be now more than ever in this challenging world.
Our first post here on the blog was about creating a peaceful home so I encourage you to check out that post too. (Linked At Bottom of this post) It focuses more on the physical environment. A joyful home starts with the environment but in this post, we’ll focus more on things that we can do in our home to make it a joyful place.
The simplicity of homemaking is a beautiful thing. A joy-filled home is about simplifying. If you have tension and stress in your home I pray this will be a new beginning for your family.
Aspects of a Joy-Filled Home
- Fun
- Connection
- Growth
We often think we will be happy when ___. Fill in the blank for yourself. But we don’t have to wait to have more joy now. Where happiness can be conditional, we can choose to carry true joy in our hearts wherever we are.
Here are 20 ways to infuse more joy into your home creating a place where your family wants to be in no particular order…
1. Find Ways To Laugh More
Laughter is so stress-relieving. There is nothing I love more than the sound of a deep belly laugh from a child. As we are trying to get through the day to day we often forget to laugh and how important it is.
See: Stress Release from Laughter
2. Go Indoor Camping
You can set up an outdoor tent inside, use sheets over a table, or simply put a mat and pillows on the floor. Gather flashlights and books, tell stories, sing songs, and eat fun camping snacks. If you have a fireplace light a fire. You can even decorate with an artificial campfire and lanterns. Have fun with it. You are creating memories for your family that will last.
3. Host A Themed Dinner
Whew, cooking dinner every night is one of the great challenges of motherhood am I right?! Sometimes we just need a fun theme to get inspired again. You can decorate and use special dishes. You could even eat in a different location of the house or outside.
Here is a big list of family dinner theme ideas.
4. Do A Kindness Challenge
You could get the whole family to do random acts of kindness for each other. Everyone can draw a name and whoever has which name will focus on acts of kindness for that person all week. You can help smaller children brainstorm ideas. You can also brainstorm ways that you can do acts of kindness for others at church and in the community like making small food bags for people on the street.
The Random Acts Of Kindness Foundation has a list with ideas: Kindness Ideas.
5. Invite Others In
We do have to be careful in the world we live in to keep our families safe. But a great thing we can do to bring more joy into our homes is by sharing it. Hospitality is a beautiful gift that we can give friends, family, and even strangers when safe and appropriate.
well reported of for good works; if she hath brought up children, if she hath used hospitality to strangers, if she hath washed the saints’ feet, if she hath relieved the afflicted, if she hath diligently followed every good work.
1 Timothy 5:10 ASV
Foster connection. There is such a pressing issue of loneliness in our world. The impact of social media has made loneliness worse in so many ways but we can also use it for good. You can have an uplifting chat online with other moms too when you need a friend and don’t have one close.
6. Support Each Other In Daily Routines
Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “Many hands make light work.” If everyone helps with household duties mom especially will not feel so burned out and there will be more time to play together. Let everyone help with things that need to get done and also with adding something they enjoy to the routine. Make the additions simple things that everyone can participate in. You can help little members of the family participate by offering ideas. It could be anything from singing a certain song to having a cup of tea, to daily book reading.
7. Daily Gratitude
There is so much research on gratitude and how it positively affects our lives and happiness. And there are so many ways we can practice gratitude as we go throughout our days. We can thank the Lord for each room as we clean our homes. We can thank the Lord we had food to eat as we wash dishes. We can ask each family member what their favorite part of the day was over dinner.
If you have a way you love let us know about it in the comments.
8. Get the Clutter Out
I would not be true to this blog if I didn’t mention this one. The more things we have in our homes to “inventory,” clean, and keep track of the more stressful it can feel. By reducing the items we have in our homes we can create more space for play.
You don’t have to become a full-on minimalist and certainly keep the things that bring your family joy but reduce the excess.
Here are a couple of posts to help:
How Minimalism Helps Moms Beat Overwhelm
How To Organize And Declutter Kid’s Toys
9. Bring in Light and Nature
As mentioned this post is less about the physical environment but I did want to mention this because it’s so important. Plants, natural light, and fresh air can contribute greatly to how joyful a home feels.
Add plants, and make sure they are pet and child-safe. Open curtains and windows. Focus on natural materials like wood and stone. Let children help pick flowers.
10. Create “Comfy Zones”
Create areas in different rooms that invite family members to get cozy, read, play, relax, and enjoy. Places with soft textures from blankets and throw pillows. A sense of calm and well-being helps foster peace but also more joy!
Add personal touches too like family pictures that bring back positive memories.
11. Play Joyful Music
Music can completely change a moody atmosphere and it’s one of my go-to resources to change the atmosphere of our home when needed. Little ones respond big time and it can turn their moods around quickly.
Praise and worship music is great as are some classical styles like Baroque. And music your family loves. Have fun and try something new. I can remember dancing around the home office to waltz music with our daughter when she was younger and it has stuck with me as a happy memory.
Our daughter is spinning to baroque music now in my home office as I type this. It’s great for her brain development too! If your family has musical ability play instruments and create your own.
12. Create and Celebrate Traditions
Whether it’s including traditions from your childhood that you love or creating your own, traditions are a great way to bring joy and excitement. You can have holiday traditions but you can also have daily and weekly traditions. We mentioned adding something special to the daily routine. You could have weekly game nights, Sunday Brunch or special weekend breakfast.
13. Be Present
It can be so hard for busy moms especially. We just want to get stuff done. But we can experience so much more joy if we stay in the moment. The little special moments the day presents.
Our toddler is on a shoe spell where she wants to not only wear shoes all day when I would rather her stay barefoot but she also wants to change shoes multiple times per day.
This morning I just decided to stay present for it. I asked her what shoes she wanted to put on and she put her little hands up to her chin and squealed with delight. That certainly brought more joy to both of us than allowing myself to feel irritated.
14. Get Creative Together
As we become adults we often push down our creative sides. Children can remind us to have fun and create again. Doing creative activities as a family can bring more joy to our homes. Whether you have a dedicated space for arts and crafts or just bring out artistic bins from time to time make creating a regular part of family life. You could even take some creative classes together.
15: Prioritize Your Family Relationships
Sometimes we so overschedule ourselves with outside activities to the point where there is no time to connect as a family. We have to nurture the family relationships if we want a strong family unit. By scheduling regular date nights, coffee date, family nights, and time with each of our children we can create strong bonds and memories that will last lifetimes. Have honest conversations together. We may need to declutter our jam-packed schedules. Focus on the social activities that are the most meaningful.
16. Learn Love Languages
The Gary Chapman series of books on love languages has helped so many families. We can all look at what love languages each family member prefers and find ways to love them in that language. This can be a regular family discussion. You can ask each member what makes them feel loved. Great dinner time discussion. What is your love language?
Also, practice showing appreciation. Say please and thank you and try not to take your family for granted.
17. Make The Mundane Joyful
Think about all the just regular things you do daily and weekly and look for ways to make those things feel elevated and joyful. Use the good china, put a welcoming scent in the diffuser, and play festive background music. We love instrumental Parisian music in our house. Ordinary days can be special days that create lasting memories.
18. Look at How Far You’ve Come
We can so easily get stuck on how far we feel we have to go or what we don’t have. Take a look as a family at how far you’ve come. There was probably a time when you wanted to be married and maybe now you are. Maybe you were desperate to have children and now you do. Maybe you wanted a pet and have one now.
You will likely all be able to see something that you longed for and have now or it could be a goal you wanted to meet and did. You can keep a jar where you can put pieces of paper with dreams that have come true throughout the year and read them as a family when you need reminders.
19. Be An Example of Joy
It’s hard. The world is hard but as mommas, we can set the tone in our house and lead by example. To do that we need rest, and time for personal care, and we may need to ask for help, especially in the early years of motherhood. We have to keep growing and learning and filling ourselves up so we can set the tone.
20. Invite In The Joy Giver
Last but most important. In the peaceful home post, my best tip was to invite in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. He is also the joy giver and lifter of our heads.
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fullness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm 16:11 KJV
Sometimes We Need To Work At It
Joy is a work in progress in our home so if the atmosphere of your home is feeling less than joyful know you are not alone. The weight of motherhood is big. All the seasons of motherhood have their hard things but also beautiful things. But by implementing even just a few things on this list we can slowly start to change our homes to be more joy-filled.
Use past experiences as fuel to move forward in this specific area of life better and stronger. I need such timely reminders always. Last year seemed to present extra challenges. I need the invaluable insights of any mentor I can get so I can have so much joy. And increase it a little bit at a time as I learn and grow through hard times and better times. The one thing to remember is our Creator has you in His hands. That simple truth if really understood could transform your home and life for greater joy.
Being a naturally more serious and quiet person I have to put conscious effort into this and it’s not always easy but by God’s grace, people have noticed the peace in our home. Joy may be hard in your current season. It’s not just about a positive mindset. Remember the mission of this blog is to help you live under grace and have a joy-filled life through the light of Jesus.
There is always going to be some chaos. We are currently sleeping in our living room as we have a damp issue in the bedroom. Life happens. But that is even more the reason that we need to keep our homes as peaceful and joyful as we can. We can make it a top priority in our homes. The perfect opportunity to create a joyful home may never come. The time is now especially if you have little people in the home. The good old days can be now and that’s good news!
Have great advice about cultivating more joy in the home? Let us know about it in the comments!
Having joy is about enjoying the journey of motherhood, of our lives, rather than trying to reach a certain destination or outcome. Dear friend, I believe in you and your power to change atmospheres. You have so much power as a household manager. Never forget it! Create those good memories for your family. I hope this post gave you practical tools and actionable takeaways to make this season your most joyful one yet.
You may also like 9 Ways To Cultivate A Peaceful Home Now
Leave a Reply