Since the news of this recent pandemic, keeping our loved ones healthy has become our number one priority. Our team believes that the best way to keep our families in good health is to thoughtfully clean, sanitize, and declutter our living spaces.
Our personal space is a direct reflection of our emotions and our state of mind. Ultimately, though, your space should be the safest place for you and your family. For some, updating your space might bring to mind a huge shopping trip. On the contrary, creating your family’s sanctuary should not always require buying a lot of new things.
We’ve put together a short list of steps you can take to update and clean your space for your family’s well being and your peace of mind.
Purge and Declutter
How will you know what you will need to refresh your space when there is clutter in your home? Start small. Declutter in sections, like starting with a set of drawers, a cabinet, or a closet. Move across your home with intention -- it’s not a race!
Be thoughtful about which items you can reuse and which are unusable. Purging items that you don’t need will free you from clutter and will help you grow into an intentional consumer. The next time you go shopping for a piece of art or an item of clothing, you will know exactly why you’re buying it and how it will contribute meaningfully to your sanctuary.
Detoxify and Cleanse
Detoxifying your home from harmful chemicals can feel like a daunting task because it is so hard to know where to start.
Many companies use marketing tactics to make us think their products are “safe” or “earth-friendly” solutions to household cleaners. Other companies sell products that are unapologetically chemically-rich and rely on generations of brand recognition (i.e., “Grandma used this brand, so it should be okay...right?”).
Even once you are aware of these subversive tactics, it can still be difficult to know where to begin in switching over to healthful and conscientious cleaning options. In order to help, we have curated an exclusive Starter Kit with cleaning essentials that are both natural and eco-friendly, ensuring that your home is safe from harsh chemicals and lingering germs.
Our Starter Kit’s amber glass spray bottle with measuring lines includes 5 cleaning solution recipes for safely cleaning your home by room and by surface (kitchen, bathroom, wood, tile, and hard floors).
We suggest you begin with the Kitchen recipe on the bottle. Why? Studies show that the germiest room in our homes is the kitchen. Surprisingly, the kitchen tends to contain the highest concentrations of both Salmonella and E. coli -- concentrations even higher than those found in bathrooms!
Salmonella and E. coli are considered dangerous because they can cause severe symptoms like stomach cramps, fever, diarrhea, and vomiting. People typically ingest these bacteria from eating undercooked meats, eggs, or dairy; however, you can also come into contact with the bacteria from an unclean surface or from not washing your hands thoroughly after handling a contaminated item. Because these bacteria are found on ingestible items, using harsh chemicals to remove them is equally as dangerous for our bodies, especially if you have little ones around.
This is why we believe natural cleaning solutions are the safest route to take when eliminating dangerous bacteria, viruses, and allergens in our homes. Simple ingredients like vinegar, vodka, and essential oils have been shown to kill these harmful bacteria just as well as store-bought cleaners -- without the effects of toxic synthetic chemicals.
Our favorite essential oils to use for cleaning are Tea Tree and Lemon, both of which are included in our Starter Kit.
The Vitruvi Lemon Essential Oil we’ve included in our Starter Kit is created by cold-pressing lemon rinds and extracting their naturally-occurring oils. The result is an incredibly potent oil that smells amazing and is useful in cutting grease and cleansing surfaces like glass, tile, porcelain, stainless steel, and grout. Add 10-12 drops of Lemon Essential Oil to your cleaning solutions, add 5-7 drops to your dishcloths for wiping down your counters and tabletops daily, or add 5 drops to a large bowl of water for rinsing and disinfecting your produce before consuming.
Outside of the kitchen, add 5-7 drops of the Vitruvi Tea Tree Essential Oil to your laundry detergent to kill bacteria during the wash cycle. Then add 5-7 drops of Lemon or Lavender Essential Oil to the Echoview Wool Dryer Balls included in the Starter Kit to give your clothing a light, refreshing scent for the drying cycle.
Another great use for these fragrant essential oils is to combine them in our Vitruvi Stone Diffuser to naturally purify the air in different rooms of your home. We love all of the multi-use properties of these two oils. They are the perfect combination to get you started.
Taking the time to make your own cleaning solutions has many benefits: it is healthful, cost-effective, and sustainable. We’ve noticed that we are more aware of the cleanliness of our homes and have experienced relief knowing exactly what is and isn't being ingested into our bodies. It also simply feels great to have stopped sending plastic bottles to our local landfills!
Set an Intention
The final step of turning your space into a sanctuary is to think about how you want to feel when you get home. Creating a sanctuary includes curating your space for aesthetic value. Take note of how you want to mindfully add beauty to your living space.
Begin with one room, considering its intended use. Ask yourself questions like the following:
- Do you want this space to be tranquil, where you immediately feel relaxed?
- Do you want this space to inspire you, energizing your creativity?
- Do you want this space to be functional with minimal distractions, allowing you to focus on your basic needs?
After you decide on how to best use the space, consider how you would like the space to look and feel. With a critical and intentional eye, consider how you can decorate to help the space function in the way you need it to. While in the space, ask yourself questions like the following:
- Which items can I remove to help make this space more functional?
- Which walls need art?
- Which nook needs a ceramic sculpture?
- Which cabinet needs organizational tools for functionality?
Keeping a running list of your home's needs will help you shop with intention and see products in a new light. The goal is to prevent buying throwaway pieces on impulse and to encourage you to make deliberate choices about what a space needs instead.
We hope you will be able to devote some of your extra time at home to making your space the sanctuary you need it to be.
Stay safe and healthy, dear friends.
xx Gifted Gals