Step by step, one foot, then the other, you enter your home.
…as your back foot lands inside the door, you’re hit with a powerful, disgusting, rancid, smell.
Cat Shit.
Damn, that’s the worst. Experiences like these and others take away from your coming home experience which should be delightful, it should be like you’re the CEO walking into work where everyone opens doors for you, has your coffee ready, and takes your jacket off for you.
Getting home should be a pleasant comfortable experience, I know I personally love it when the doorway is clear, my home smells great and the lights are turned on to the right color and level, it’s a small experience in my life I highly value.
So what are some ways to create an amazing arriving home experience?
Keeping the trash fresh
So we may not all have a cat that takes some of the dankest poops in the world, but we all have a trash can, and when something in there like a banana peel transitions, it’s the most gut-wrenching stench!
To prevent this from happening so your house never smells you can
A) get on a trash schedule, like every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday you take out the trash when you leave for work.
B) Have children so you can use them as indentured servants that have to take out the trash every day or else they don’t get to use a phone or call Sally on Friday night.
C) Create a suction system as you see at banks where instead of a trash can you put the trash in a tube that sucks it out and puts it in the trash directly in the garage. Then you never have to take the trash out again!
Candle warmers
So not only do you not want bad smells, a delightful pleasant smell can 10x your coming home experience. I know this one is by far my favorite. Buy a candle/wax warmer and the candle in the sent you to love. Then buy a smart plug, we recommend this one, plug the candle warmer into the smart plug and the smart plug into the wall, THEN connect the smart plug to Alexa and set a location-based routine so that it turns on when you’re 2 miles from home. From there, when you open your door, you’ll get a fresh inviting sent when you take that first step inside.
Door locks
Don’t use keys anymore, use a code. It’s way better because there are no more missing holes.
Shoe Holster
Just like you holster your gun until it’s time to use, which is hopefully never, you should holster your shoes so they aren’t flopping around everywhere. This also gives them a great place to return back to.
I made my shoe holster hide my shoes, but also allows me to easily grab them and put them on when it’s time to hit the streets.
You can also get simple cubbies and such at places like Target and Ikea, these work great as well and allow your home to look nice as you settle in after your grand arrival!
Jacket rack/hooks/key wallet area
I can’t believe how long it took me to finally get these, but hot damn do I love how much better it makes my experience at home with my jackets, both arriving and leaving with me on and off of coat hooks
Another good move is to put a table by the door that has a dedicated space for keys, wallet, purse, ect. This way those things always go right onto that area and you’ll never lose them or have to look for them. A pro tip is to either give them space or outline that area with tape so everything knows where it goes back to and just by looking at the counter you know if something is missing.
Alexa, turn on the lights
If you’ve read any of my blogs you’ll know I ’m a big fan of smart home tech, and this is another reason why. Having the lights on and set to the right setting when you get home is a remarkable experience. Not walking into a dark house is very uplifting. So, as you can do with the lock, you can do with the lights where they turn on when you break the barrier of a geofence. Or, you can just schedule them to turn on at sunset or at a specific time of day.
This is an absolute must, especially for nights, or if you live in Alaska!
Enjoy!
Even if you apply two or three of those concepts, your home arrival experience will drastically improve, which honestly, can sometimes turn your day around. I recently noticed how much I care about this, and it’s more important than you may initially think!