I believe there is no greater calling than creating a home to support, fuel and nourish you and your family on every level.

At its highest expression, your home sets the stage for the day – preparing and sending you all off into the world to create, achieve and grow. Then in the evening, it welcomes you back into a nest of safety, comfort and rest.

For your home to provide this type of supportive environment, it needs to be in alignment with what you hold most dear – your dreams, interests, beliefs, ethics, morals and values.

Denise Linn, author of Sacred Space, says, “Homes are symbolic representations of ourselves, and in fact in a deeper sense, are extensions of ourselves.”

Your home is a reflection of you!

Think of a show home. Yes, it is a house with all the necessary rooms, furniture and pretty accessories, but it has no soul. You and your family bring that soul into a space through your energy and how you choose to decorate and organize your possessions. These things all work together to create a space that supports your emotional, mental and physical well-being.

Determining your authentic self and altering your home to be in alignment with your values, beliefs and goals is powerful!

Sacred space is where you discover all that is holy in you, around you and above you. It’s where you go to dwell with the divine.

Caroline Myss

What are my values? Does my home reflect what I believe in? Does my home support my hopes and dreams and how I want to live my life? These are overwhelming questions for many of us. I get it! So let’s talk about your values!

Family values exercise

The official definition of a value is one’s judgement of what’s important in life; the importance, worth or usefulness of something. One’s values could also be principles or standards of behaviour – moving more towards ethics or morals.

Determining your family values is a powerful exercise to help set the energetic tone of your home. Suggest a conversation at the dinner table and invite each family member to talk about what is most important to them.

Perhaps one of your children loves hockey. What makes hockey so special to them? Be curious and ask questions – especially why? – to get to the core value.

Is it being healthy and strong (value of Health), or being part of a team (Belonging or Cooperation)?

Perhaps one of your loves is gardening. Why is it important to you? Do all things green light you up (value of Nature) or does taking care of things bring you joy (value of Nurturing)?

Create a list of at least 5 to 10 core values for each person. Then, chat about how your home could reflect and support these values. If your daughter loves hockey and identified Teamwork as a core value, perhaps creating a trophy/achievement wall in her bedroom or decorating with inspirational quotes about working hard and teamwork could help give her a visual anchor point for this value!

Live to your values

Aim to create a home that support your values and gives you ample opportunity and space to actually live them. If one of your values is Creativity, do you have a space in your home dedicated to creating? It doesn’t need to be extravagant, but perhaps a corner in your basement for crafting projects. If one of your goals is to write a book, keeping your office clean and organized is the first step to penning the next New York Times’ best seller!

It’s all about allowing your home to show up for you and set you up for success!

To help you understand the power of a value-centered home, consider the opposite. If you value Organization and your home is cluttered, that misalignment could subtly (or not!) impact your energy/mood and make it difficult to reach your goals. Again, let’s use the example of Creativity. If your office is dark, uncomfortable and disorganized, how does that environment inspire and support you to write the book you dream about? It doesn’t!

What Matters? value card activity

If you need a more structured activity to determine family values, consider trying the What Matters? family value exercise available from Coach on the Go, a small business created by Danielle Reed. The activity comes with a deck of value cards and instructions. I had the pleasure of attending one of Danielle’s value workshops severaI years ago and I came away with a new appreciation of the importance of values and a colourful fan deck of my top 10. All of my values still ring true today and I am especially happy that HomeHearted Living is an expression of my top three – Home, Beauty and Gratitude. No wonder it feels so right and true for me!

If you want more information or to order the What Matters? activity, check out her beautiful website.

When we find our key values, choose to live by them and give others permission to do the same, we feel most authentic and fulfilled in our lives.

Danielle Reed

A values discussion can also include morals – determining the standards by which your family aspires to live. Kindness, acceptance and patience are just a few that may come up.

I love the fact that talking about your family’s moral code of conduct also extends to how you treat your home. Teaching everyone to honour and respect the home is a powerful lesson. Model this heart-centered behaviour for your children!

Living with clarity and purpose and aligning your life to your values are powerful ways to show up in the world. Properly nurtured, your home can help manifest your dreams and support what you hold most dear.

That’s the HomeHearted way.