We all wish we could head to the spa after every long or stressful day. But who has the time and money to do so? I know I don’t.

Rather than spending your money on a one-day treat, consider transforming your bathroom into a home spa. With just a little planning and a few purchases, you’ll end up with a place where you can relax and rejuvenate every day.

To get started, consider the following items.

Soft Lighting

After leaving the fluorescent lights of your office, you don’t want to step into a bathroom that reminds you of a cubicle. Rather, aim for lighting that evokes a cozy, warm, feeling.

The soft, flickering light of candles provides just the right amount of light. Unlike large lights, you can achieve your preferred brightness by altering the number of candles you use. And since they’re small and wireless, they can fit just about anywhere.

People often shy away from candles because they’re worried about the danger of fire or messes from wax. If this sounds like you, consider trying out flameless candles.

I’ve found the candles from Matchless Candle Co. are indistinguishable from traditional flame candles. They provide a soft, natural glow, and I can relax without worrying about wax or fire. I like to put them on the edge of the bathtub at the end of a long day.

Appealing Storage

Your bathroom holds a ton of stuff — makeup, hair products, toothpaste, etc. While it’s easy to let your belongings sprawl out over your vanity and shelves, there’s a better way to organize your things.

Simple yet eye-pleasing storage solutions hide clutter yet keep your items within reach. There’s a storage option for every style, including wicker baskets, metal tins, and colored glass jars.

Don’t forget to swap out containers that products like hand soap and shampoo come in. An elegant glass bottle says luxury while a labeled plastic container screams cheap.

Indulgent Fabrics

Towels

We might not want to admit it, but one of the best parts of going to the spa is the towels. They’re fluffy and fresh, and they wrap you in comfort.

While it may seem impossible, you can have luxury towels at home! The trick is to look for large, heavyweight towels made from Turkish cotton. This type of cotton creates longer and thicker thread loops, leading to an extra soft and luxurious feel.

Rugs

We’ve all stepped out of the shower or tub and onto a cold floor. Yikes! After washing away stress, we don’t need a jarring step back into the real world.

To help keep your bathroom cozy, consider ditching your ragged bath mat and adding a shag rug made from cotton or wool. Your feet will thank you.

Natural Elements

You know the peaceful feeling you get when walking through a garden? You can bring a bit of that feeling to your bathroom by adding some of the following elements.

Plants

Succulents are a great choice for bathrooms since they don’t require constant watering nor large containers. Another low-maintenance option is an air plant.

If your bathroom doesn’t receive any natural light, you can always add some artificial plants. They’ll provide the same stylistic element as live plants, yet they don’t require any care.

Wood

Adding a touch of wood to your bathroom brings in an element of the forest, making your home spa feel warm and cozy. Try adding some wooden elements such as a toothbrush holder, towel rack, or plant stand.

Stress Relieving Scents

If you haven’t heard, scents can largely impact your mood. With the growing world of essential oils and aromatherapy, you can easily find your preferred spa scent.

To induce a sense of relaxation, fill an essential oil diffuser with lavender, chamomile, or bergamot oil. If you’re not into essential oils, look for a nicely scented body wash.

Artistic Touches

As with all the rooms in your house, artwork can help transform your bathroom. When searching for photos or paintings for your home spa, consider what you find relaxing. Maybe it’s a photo of a forest, or maybe it’s an abstract painting.

Whatever artwork you choose, don’t forget to add a nice frame.

You can also update your bathroom with adjustments to furniture. While you may not want to replace your whole sink or vanity, consider switching out door handles and faucets. These small changes can drastically alter how you feel while getting ready in the morning.

Relax in Your New Spa

By implementing some of the ideas above, you’ll soon be stepping into your own relaxing, candle-lit oasis. You might want to keep your new spa a secret, or else your friends will be trying to book an appointment to relax in your new space. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Decorating our home’s fireplace mantel at Christmas is easier than any other time of year. Stockings arranged just so, evergreens and holly draped elegantly, beautiful flameless candles to flicker through the night … but what about the rest of the year and other holidays? How should we style our mantels in the middle of March, the hotness of August? Everyone is different, but we have some fun styling ideas and tips to take you from winter to fall, and all of the fun times in between, and we think you’ll love them!

Choose a Seasonal Theme

I love changing up the style and decor of our fireplace. I especially enjoy decorating it for the holidays, big and small! Christmas is my absolute favorite but decorating for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s, and Easter are equally as exciting. But I only keep those holiday decors up through that particular holiday so I go with four major changes through the year with the holiday styles mixed in there for good measure.

My mantel is always aligned with the four seasons and I love adding little elements of fun for the eyes. Here I’ll share some of my favorite mantel decor ideas for each season.

Winter

When the Christmas decor comes down our first mantel decor change happens. It’s still winter so I go with classic winter colors and fun design elements. Whites, silvers, and icy blues are my colors of choice.

Stockings are replaced with metal snowflakes, a string of lights, or another fun winter-themed element. I, of course, need my flameless candles to have a spot on the mantel. I incorporate flameless candles into every mantel design I do. I don’t have to worry about flammable items, we can enjoy the special touch that the candle offers, and it adds an element of style.
I try to use items that allow me to vary the height of items for eye-catching designs and candles are especially easy to do this with. Win-win all around.

Finally, I choose a backdrop. Sometimes that backdrop is a simple picture. I’ve used an old fashioned white-washed window before. Shutters, metal motifs, and framed mirrors are also good choices. I have two rules when choosing a backdrop: one, it has to have a texture or depth to it and two, it can’t distract from the decor items of the mantel.

Spring

To me, spring symbolizes renewal. The trees come back to life, flowers bloom, and new plants bud. I love incorporating fresh greenery and pops of color in my spring mantel style and one of my favorite looks is similar to this one. The varying heights of candles draw the eye in while the pops of color speak of the trueness of spring. Adding a texture to the background gives a focal point to the room while adding an element of style to the mantel.

When you’re trying to decide on a style for the season, consider your current situation. Sometimes a simple, fresh look is needed to calm the chaos of life.

One year we took fresh tulips and placed them in beautiful white jugs for a simpler design. We had four of them across the mantel with a few flameless candles as accent points. The fresh and clean look was exactly what we needed that year.

Summer

We don’t use the fireplace in the summer but love the feeling of home, warmth, and ambiance that a fire creates so in the summer we utilize an abundance of flameless candles to help create that effect. And because they are flameless, there is no added heat to the house!

My summer designs tend to be more beach-themed than anything because that’s where my family’s always at the happiest.

I try to choose all of our home decor based on what makes our family smiles and that doesn’t end at the fireplace mantel.

There are many different design elements you can incorporate into a summer fireplace mantel, depending on what makes your family smile. A mirrored backdrop to send rays of light around the room, a plant inside the fireplace to add a touch of greenery, candles in the fireplace to add to the ambiance. The list could go on and on.

Use light colors, soft textures, and clean lines for a pure summer look.

Fall

Pinecones and acorns and pumpkins, oh my!

Hues of red, orange, and browns galore!

Fall brings cooler weather, vibrant colors, and lots of fun decor ideas to the home! One of our favorites for our fireplace mantel is glass jars filled with small fall items and a flameless candle nestled inside. Not only is it a beautiful style but it adds a touch of warmth to the home as the nip of fall comes in.

We usually need to start a fire in the fireplace by the middle of October but until then, I keep an array of fun fall harvest vegetables on display, much like this. To insert flameless tealights into your harvest vegetables simply cut a circle out of the stem area.

Beautiful and simple are my key elements when I am choosing any of my mantel designs. I want it to help make our home feel welcoming and warm and I want it to look pretty too. I mean, isn’t that what we all want?

Tell me, what’s your favorite season to decorate your mantel?