How to Display What Matters in Your Home

If you're a Cultivator, you likely know where you want to go. You know who you want to be, the kind of relationships you want to have, the way you want to spend your time, and ultimately, the life you want to lead.

And that's huge—HUGE! Truly, only a small percentage of the population has thought deeply about those questions, let alone gained clarity on their answers. 

But uncovering what matters is only the first step, of course: the work of a lifetime is living it out. We live out what matters day by day (sometimes minute by minute!) as we make choices, cultivate habits, resist distractions, pursue goals, choose kindness, and grow in character.

This can be hard, friends. Our natural instincts are to go with the flow, to take the path of least resistance, to choose easy and safe and known and comfortable. If we're going to move past those instincts into something new, it really helps to be reminded of our why—of what matters. And there's no better spot for those reminders than the place you spend the most time: your home.

In this blog post, we're going to help you brainstorm how you might display what matters in your home, and then offer some "do's" and "don'ts" as you go about making changes. In his discussion of environmental cues in Atomic Habits, James Clear writes that, "the central idea is to create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible." We agree—and would add that creating an environment that brings you joy and makes you feel likely yourself is quite important, too. 

Let's get to it!

What might matter:

First, let's go over what might matter in your life. This might spark ideas for what to display in your home!

People

Relationships are at the heart of many Cultivator's visions for a flourishing life. Our families, our friends, our ancestors, our mentors—all of these people can tell a story about who we are and inspire us to move toward who we want to be. Displaying their photos or incorporating their belongings can remind us of them and help them feel close.

Values

Your values paint a compelling picture of what matters to you. They also can provide a practical framework for making decisions. A strong set of core values can help you say no to what doesn't fit, give an enthusiastic yes to what does, and lay the rest aside with confidence.

Once you're clear on your values, you can display items that remind you of them or prioritize belongings and spaces that help you live them out.

Activities

Certain activities might be particularly meaningful to you, whether because they help you live out what matters or they bring you joy. From painting to reading, working out to drinking coffee, playing games to having a heart-to-heart with a friend, you can elevate supplies and spaces that help you live them out.

Experiences

The experiences we have shape the people we are—and are becoming. Displaying reminders of where you've been or what you've done can be a powerful way to reinforce your desired identities. Think: your bib number from a marathon, a souvenir from your first international trip, a piece of pottery from the hobby you cultivated after having a baby.

Goals and habits

Of course, if you're reading this post, your goals and habits probably matter quite a bit to you, too! Keeping these pursuits front and center is a way to help you go further, faster, to bring other people into your ambitions, and to solidify your identity as a goal setter. Try taping your vision board to your mirror, hanging your family goals on the fridge, or leaving your PowerSheets® goal planner open on your desk.

Do's to consider when displaying what matters in your home:

DO move what matters most to the center and what matters less to the edges

While most of us will always have less-desirable items in our spaces, we can minimize their presence by pushing them to lesser-used rooms or the edges of our busiest rooms. For example, if creating with your hands matters to you, prioritize an easily-accessible space for your supplies and move the television to your bedroom or the basement.

DO keep things fresh 

If you close your eyes, could you name all of the art and photographs on your walls right now? It might be surprisingly difficult! Our eyes tend to glaze over what's become routine, so even though it can feel like a Herculean task to get anything on the walls at all (hand raised!), it's worth mixing things up every so often. New items are more likely to catch your eye, making them stronger reminders of what matters. (The reason we're going to this trouble in the first place!)

DO prioritize an item's value over its aesthetic

This doesn't, of course, always mean monetary value—what we care about is its value in your pursuit of living out what matters!

A good example of this is the keyboard that takes up a prominent space in my home's main room right now. Do I love having a bulky black item hugging the wall? I do not. But my children learning to play an instrument, and family members playing music regularly in our home, matters deeply to me—so I put up with a less-than-lovely keyboard.

Don'ts to consider when displaying what matters in your home:

DON'T abandon aesthetics altogether

Maybe you're a form-over-function gal and aesthetics truly don't matter. Fantastic! But if you're like many of us, and you'd like the place you live to be pleasing to the eye, it's worth it to make your visual cues as lovely as possible.

For another musical example, my husband wanted to learn to play the guitar. Keeping his guitar—again in a bulky black case!—in our living room meant he played it more often, but I disliked having it in the middle of the floor. We compromised by hanging it on the wall, where it's equally accessible for impromptu jam sessions but now gleams like the treasure it is. And no one trips over it :)

DON'T be afraid of conversation starters 

The things that matter are very personal to us, and it can feel vulnerable to put them on display. Prioritizing what matters also means we might make different decisions than our neighbors, and our homes might look different because of it. 

Our perspective? Embrace it! The things that make us unique are excellent conversation starters. They often draw people in and endear us to them. And best of all, they can start a ripple effect, either of giving other permission to be their authentic selves, or to pursue their authentic dreams.

DON'T keep things that no longer matter

The PowerSheets® Prep Work helps you evaluate what matters over time as you fill it out each year, releasing what's mattered in the past so that you can give your time and attention to what matters in your current season. We want to do the same in our homes. Whether its artwork, gifts, or past purchases that no longer fit who you are or what's important, give yourself permission to kindly retire these items and send them on their way to someone else who can use them. This will clear the way for items that are a better fit for you right now.

DON'T forget the people you live with

If you share a space with a loved ones, consider and incorporate what matters to them, too. Seeing their hopes and habits reflected in the places they spend time will help them feel seen, known, and loved—a worthy goal for any Cultivator.

Your turn! How do you display what matters in your home? Please leave a comment— we'd love to hear!

P.S. You might also love this blog post: Achieving Your Goals by Changing Cues in Your Environment!