Your home is your own. It's the place you escape to after a long day at work, or just to hang out and be yourself. It's your personal sanctuary, and everything about it should feel as such. Every space should feel comforting, soothing, relaxing, evoking the emotional state you expect when you crawl into your favourite chair, your bed, or curl up on a giant bean bag if you like. 

It takes little design and décor changes to achieve this in your home, and we have some ideas on how to get you there.

Proper Lighting 

Let's look beyond the dimmer switch. Although dim lighting is certainly a significant way to achieve a softer mood within a space, it isn't always achieved best by lowering the lights. Choose high-end custom lighting options that create the mood on their own with their strategic placements or their style. 

For reading areas, choose a table or side lamp instead of overhead lighting. For dining areas, choose an artistic, show-stopping style of light with perhaps a patterned shade to provide softer lighting but also a unique display of light patterns throughout the room. Be creative with your lighting and don't be afraid to experiment with application.

A Bathroom to Escape Within 

In addition to a calming bedroom, your bathroom is definitely a space you'll want to spend plenty of time in to relax. A hot, soothing bath or shower, a place to pamper yourself on your own time, and even to calm and slow you down in your morning rush to get ready makes for a great way to start off the day. In your tub or shower, you may consider adding in multiple showerheads (including a rain head for soft waterfall), handheld faucets, massagers, and other types of fixtures to create the ultimate bathroom oasis.

Choosing cozy paint colours and calming finishes such as wood-grain tile or softer coloured porcelain and marble can set the mood and turn a typically cold room into a soothing paradise. Opt for plenty of fluffy towels, mats, and other textures to soften the space. And perhaps the most important piece of all — a heated towel rack makes everything warmer.

Living Area of Serenity 

We live in an age of technology, and there seems to be an electronic device of some kind in every room these days. Dedicate one space to ultimate quiet by removing all electronics. If you have a bonus room in your home secondary to your main great room, dedicate one of these spaces to be electronic-free.

Include only comfortable furniture, books and magazines, and no television or other electronic devices. It's best if this room has a fireplace as well to add to the coziness and comfort of the space. It's hard to imagine a life without electronics, but once you dedicate a space to this, you might not want to look back.

Basement Retreat 

Your basement space may not be the first place you think of as a calming area in your home; after all, it's usually reserved for the kids' play area, the man cave, or the family's recreational room. However, if you're looking for the ultimate getaway, nothing is quite as secluded as an entirely separate floor in your home. 

Convert this space into a full relaxing retreat with comfortable furniture, soft lighting, plush carpets and area rugs, and plenty of warm throw blankets. And if possible, you'll want to have a fireplace added in — there is nothing worse than trying to curl up on the couch to relax in a cold basement.

Bedroom Getaway 

Your master bedroom should already be a place of rest and relaxation, but there are things you can do with the design to enhance the level of tranquillity. Remove all additional lighting that makes this space too bright, and instead consider softer light fixtures near the bed. A soft light near each bedside, either hanging from the ceiling at a low height, wall sconces near your nightstand, or a tabletop lamp will work wonders. 

In addition, bring in natural, warming colours and textures into this space in the form of pillows, throw covers, artwork, and sculpture to create the ultimate home retreat.

The beauty of building a new home is you can plan out your spaces before they're even constructed. Choose calming colours and finishes throughout your home to create your most ideal in-home getaway. Any space can be designed to create the mood and ambience you desire in your own home.