Five Easy Luxuries from My Home

In these hectic, over-scheduled days with technology moving at the speed of light, I always make time for five little luxuries that help me pause, smile, and slow down to enjoy life.

1. Ironed and scented sheets. No, I don't have all the time in the world. When I launder the sheets, I just iron the pillowcases and the top half of the flat sheet. I use lavender linen water instead of starch. The 20 minutes or so that it takes me to iron is quiet and soothing. With the scent of lavender in the air, I find myself inhaling deeply and slowly as I'm ironing ... what a way to meditate while doing the bedding ... and that's multi-tasking at its finest! Then, just wait until you crawl into crisply ironed, silky, lavender scented sheet. You'll drift off to sleep easily and awake refreshed and ask yourself why you didn't do this sooner.



2. Fresh Flowers. I always have fresh flowers on the secretary in the living room, on the nightstand next to the bed, and in the bathroom. There is no need to constantly buy fresh flowers. Most of the spring, summer and fall I cut branches, leaves and flowers from my garden. OK, yes I have a large garden, but you can do a lot with a few hosta leaves and twigs; and they last for up to two weeks. I often make arrangements that strike my mood at the time. These days I strive for more of a simple look than a fussy vase. Today, it's mini vases full of blue pansies ... happy little faces just staring at you.



3. Cloth Napkins. In Europe they have an art and a love for dining. You can easily bring some of this to your table with cloth napkins. In my linen closet I have two stacks -- ironed and not ironed. Some are individuals and some are sets that have been collected from garage sales, flea markets, store sales and ones I just had to have to feed my addiction. Today, my favorites are still Le Jacquard Francais napkins. They are machine wash and come out of the dryer beautifully for a casual look; or, if I need a more elegant table, I take a few moments and iron them. No scented linen water here ... that would interfere with the scent of the meal and I don't use starch.



4. Scented drawers and closets. I have lavender sachets in all the drawers and on all the closet shelves. This provides another quick, meditative moment when you open a scented drawer or closet, take a deep breath, and enjoy the second or two. Think how often you do this in a day. I feel the stress just dissolving away!



5. Scented liquid soap. I have scented liquid soap at all the sinks. This is yet another quick, meditative moment when you take a deep breath and enjoy the second or two. And how often do you wash your hands? My current favorite ... Belle de Provence Waterlily.

Try one or all of these easy luxuries and let us know what you think. Have an easy favorite luxury, I'd love to know. Enjoy!

Yvonne