Tips for Creating Sacred Space | Apartment 46 for the home

It doesn’t matter if you live alone or are a family bursting at the seams. Whether your home is large or small, if you have a room or your own, or no room to breathe, creating a little sacred space can do wonders for your well-being. A while back, I wrote an article on Houzz about this very thing – ways you can carve out magical moments in your home that keep you grounded, remind you of what’s important in life, and touch on whatever spirituality means to you. To help get you started, here are 7 of my most favorite ways to add a bit of spirit and soul to your surroundings.

Crystals instantly add a little natural glitz and mystery to your space. Display a small handful of mismatched quartz on an antique tea saucer or laid out on a piece of favorite textile. You can let them shine in a small offering bowl and add black sand to support and frame them. A small collection draws you in and allows you to see it differently each day.

Flower petals are a simple but special way to keep you connected to beauty. Dry a few flowers from your garden and collect their petals in a place where you’ll come across them as you enter or leave your home. Sprinkle them in a water-filled bowl or fill a clear jar with their various colors. You can change them out every couple of days and keep it interesting by substituting whole flower heads, leaves or floating candles.

Vitrines date back to medieval times and were used to protect religious statues and important items. Vitrines can be square, rectangular, pyramid-shaped, or obelisk-ish. Mirrored bottoms make anything you place inside seem much more special. I have a small stack of vitrines that display various natural treasures I find on the beach. They’re easy to change out and a great way to keep a varied collection of objects in plain view. Try creating one that holds items from an especially meaningful day or tiny gifts you find on a walk you take around the block. Having a central location to protect and honor your findings give them meaning, reminds you of why you collected them, and helps you stay connected to positive memories each time you interact with them.

Some of my most favorite things in the world are feathers. I find them constantly and each one is its own little intricate work of art. There is something magical about a feather, and what its true purpose is. In Space Clearing a feather is used to fan the sage smoke into corners as well as help purify a space. In many cultures feathers are an integral part of ceremonial practices and act as embellishments on impossibly gorgeous royal garb. The act of finding a feather, is a small moment you are able to hold nature in your hands and give in to its wonder. I have feathers in bowls, in tiny bottles, bound together on a shelf, in jars, pretty much everywhere you can think of! Adding a feather (or feathers), to small vignette changes the feeling of it and creates a bit of mysticism.

You can see that the central theme in my practice of creating small sacred moments is directly tied to nature in all of its forms. Because life is so hectic and we often have so much on our minds, taking a second to focus on the smoothness of a stone or the patterns on a leaf is something we don’t tend to make time for. Reclaiming those seconds to examine something cool you find is really like a tiny meditation. It takes your mind off the myriad of things that can weigh you down. Children are natural collectors of things and they find interest and beauty in everything from a piece of popcorn to a random twig. I’m not suggesting you hoard a bunch of sticks but try to notice the details and shapes of natural things. Display them on a flat tray or (as is my usual suggestion) in a small bowl. Change out the collection whenever the mood strikes. You never know when you’re going to come across something worth noticing twice!

If you know me, you know that I can honestly never have enough religious iconography in my life. I have found that religious objects are some of the most beautifully created things around. Done with love and reverence, they embody some of the creator’s devotion and that translates to an object that carries that care with it from space to space. Though I predominantly display a certain sort of icon in my home, there are also a few Quan Yin statues, a Buddha, and a Ganesha. Something about each of the objects brings me happiness and I love placing a flowers, sparkly stones, feathers (!) or other sweet things at their feet. Often my Mary statue is wearing a strand of beads. If there are specific icons that mean more to you than others, by all means incorporate them into your everyday decor! It makes a personal statement that reflects what is important to you and lifts the overall decor to a more spiritual level.

To me, creating a sacred space is about creating a place – on a wall, shelf, in a box, on a table – that allows you to step away from things that are happening around you and give you a moment to pause on something beautiful, memorable, interesting, calming and loving. Love notes are one of the most special things we can receive in this lifetime. Handwriting is incredibly personal and words on paper are physical manifestations of thoughts someone is sharing with you. I have a collection of personal love notes from people that spans many decades. I see them each time I open my jewelry box and it never fails to help me remember that I have worth. If you haven’t written a love note to someone in a long while, do so today! It’s such an easy thing but something we forget to do. Keeping a visible collection of these expressions will lift your mood and can help you to remember goodness and hope when things feel overwhelming.