We started a series yesterday sharing tips on how to make your home serene and comfortable. Remember this is not a one size fits all scenario, we believe you will find one of these hacks helpful.

Try to create spaces to catch these items every time you walk in the door.

Installing a small wall shelf or console provides a landing pad for your mail, keys and wallet. That way, “you never have to think about them,” Ms. Cattano said, “because they’re always by the door,” rather than lost between the sofa cushions. 

Wall hooks or a coat tree can hold outerwear that might otherwise be thrown onto benches and chairs. Ms. Cattano also likes to designate an “in-and-out spot” for packages – a place that can hold boxes until you have time to deal with them. “Have one shelf that’s always available,” she said, “near the entry or in the coat closet.”

Feel-Good Lighting Ideas

How a room is illuminated can have a significant impact on your mood.   

Watch the Color Temperature

For warm, soothing light with a golden glow, look for fixtures and bulbs that offer a color temperature of 2,700 to 3,000 Kelvin. Any higher, and the light will begin to look bluish white — good for an office or warehouse, but rarely desirable at home. In the age of LEDs, however, not all light sources advertised as 2,700 Kelvin are equal. Some may appear more yellow than others. Some may hold a constant color temperature as they are dimmed, while others will get warmer, like a traditional incandescent bulb. 

Read specifications and packaging carefully, and test the different fixtures and bulbs together in the rooms where you plan to use them. “Do all the color temperatures work together, and dim together? That’s very important,” said Francis D’Haene, the founder of D’Apostrophe Design in New York. 

If one fixture gives off a golden glow while another provides bluish white light, the overall look will be unsettling. Even though they may come from different manufacturers, the goal is to have all the fixtures appear as though they’re on the same team. 

If you need one lamp to appear slightly warmer, Mr. Wolf said, try installing a lampshade with a gold lining. 

Layer the Light

Don’t expect a single light fixture on the ceiling to create an environment that feels welcoming. Designers typically install many different types of lighting, at three key levels

— with ceiling lamps, table lamps and floor lamps

— to highlight different parts of a room while offering pleasing ambient light that can be adjusted for different functions and times of day. 

“Layers of light are very important, so there are different focal points,” said Grant K. Gibson, an interior designer in San Francisco. “I have overhead lighting in my house, but I tend not to use it at night, as it can feel like a classroom. I’ll turn on a floor lamp and a table lamp and add candles. That softens the room and makes the space feel calmer.” 

Mr. Gibson also has picture lights above key artworks, which not only highlight some of his favorite things, but also offer a warm, nightlight-style glow. 

“Think of the room as a stage,” Mr. Wolf said. “There are things you want to accentuate and other areas you want to fade away,” depending on the time of day and your activities. 

Resist the impulse to indiscriminately flood a room with light, unless you’re doing the housecleaning, he said, because “everything just gets washed out, and it’s certainly not flattering.” 

Take Control

Interior designers frequently recommend having every light fixture on a dimmer, so that light levels can be adjusted to perfection. While that advice may not be as critical for small and low-powered lights, such as picture lights, having the primary lights in a room on dimmers can be a big help when trying to achieve your desired mood. 

In most cases, the function can be added to hardwired fixtures by replacing standard wall switches with in-wall dimmers. It can also be added to freestanding lamps with a dimmer on the cord, or a plug-in adaptor at the outlet. 

For more advanced control, consider wireless smart dimmers or bulbs, such as Lutron Caséta and Philips Hue, which can be controlled from a smartphone. One of the primary advantages of a smart lighting system is that it allows you to create different scenes where numerous light fixtures in a room can be dimmed to predetermined levels with a single tap. “You have the option of putting multiple functions into one switch,” Mr. D’Haene said, which can make life a tiny bit easier.

Manage the Sun

Sunlight helps almost any room look its best, but it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Direct natural light pouring through windows can be almost blinding, while also fading artwork and textiles. And, if the windows look out to neighboring apartments or homes, uncovered windows may make your space feel uncomfortably exposed. 

To control natural light levels, designers frequently install two layers of window coverings over each opening – a light layer, such as a solar shade or sheer fabric, to filter sunlight and provide a degree of privacy, and a heavier layer, often with a blackout material or lining, which can make the room truly dark. 

Mr. Wolf frequently uses Roman shades. “I like them sharp-edged and clean, with a gauze fabric that cuts the harsh sun,” he said. “You can still enjoy the light without it overwhelming the room.”

Then, in rooms where absolute darkness is required, like bedrooms, he adds blackout roller shades behind the Roman shade. This strategy can also be reversed by installing drapes with a blackout lining on a track or rod in front of the window, and adding a light-filtering shade within the window frame behind them.

Welcoming Wall Finishes

Choose subtle colors and textures over electric hues and eye-catching patterns. 

Use Light Paint Colors

Personal preference always comes into play when choosing paint colors, but for the primary spaces of a serene home, a good rule of thumb is to choose subdued colors that don’t cry out for attention. 

“If you really want to make a room calm, making it fairly light and keeping all the parts and pieces of that room in the same color family tends to be a pretty soothing visual experience,” said Eve Ashcraft, an architectural color consultant in New York. 

Many people react well to “really quiet soft grays,” she said, while others prefer very pale blues. “Colors that feel almost shadowy,” she said. 

Mr. Wolf offered similar advice. “I like paint that looks almost white when it’s sunny, and as the day progresses, the color changes and becomes stronger,” he said. “When you look at the fan deck of colors, go to the lightest tonalities. It’s about having just a hint of a color.”

Avoid Shiny Sheens

For walls with color that almost appears to dissolve in space, Ms. Ashcraft recommended a flat or matte sheen (two terms that are used interchangeably for the same finish) for walls, and a slightly shinier, more durable eggshell or satin sheen on trim. 

“For a client who wants a Zen retreat, instead of changing the color between the woodwork and the walls, I'll make those two surfaces the same color, but I’ll change the finish just a little,” she said. “Just to give it a little tailoring while keeping it really simple.”

Paint the ceiling the same color in a flat sheen, she suggested, or choose a shade that is ever so slightly lighter than the walls.

Go Dark in Smaller Areas

Very dark paint can be highly effective in creating a cocooning environment in secondary rooms that are used primarily at night, such as bedrooms and media rooms. “I’ve done it myself,” Mr. Gibson said about his own bedroom. “A dark, dark navy blue feels very calming.”

“A lot of people are surprised by how much they like a room like that,” Ms. Ashcraft said. “I’ve had clients worry that it will feel too small. Often, the opposite is true. You get this cocoon or nest feeling, and people want to use the room more.” 

Use Wilder Colors as Hidden Surprises

Designing a serene home doesn’t mean you have to give up your favorite bright, saturated colors. Just be choosy about where you use them. 

Clodagh frequently uses her clients’ favorite colors as surprises inside closets, cupboards and drawers. “I have one client with a daughter who loves shocking pink,” she said. Even though her bedroom is designed to look peaceful, “when she opens her closet, guess what color it is? Shocking pink.”

For other clients, she has made closet interiors “acid yellow,” she said, and the insides of kitchen drawers “flaming, orangey red.”  

Seek Out Textural Alternatives

Paint is the most common and least expensive way to finish walls, but a number of alternatives can add desirable textures. Mr. D’Haene and Clodagh  sometimes use specialty matte plasters with integral colors from companies such as Portola Paints & Glazes and Domingue Architectural Finishes to give walls an earthy, hazy appearance. “It has a little texture and a stone-like feel, which is very calming and serene,” Mr. D’Haene said. 

While highly patterned wallpaper may not be ideal, Mr. Gibson said he often uses different types of grasscloth from Phillip Jeffries to add a natural, calming touch to bedrooms. “They add texture to the walls, but don’t seem jarring as you walk into the space,” he said. “And they come in all colors, including creams, pale blues, greens and soft grays.”

SOURCE: Nytimes.com