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Turns Out I’ve Been Relaxing Wrong
Recently, I talked a little about lowering stress, and I shared something that surprised me when I started digging into the research: not everyone relaxes the same way.
For years, the advice I heard was always the same — rest, lie down, be still. But my Oura Ring kept showing something strange. Even during “recovery time,” my body was still stressed. It turns out there’s a reason for that.
Some people calm their nervous system through stillness. Others do it through movement. I’m firmly in the second camp.
For me, the fastest way to lower stress is what I lovingly call puttering. No deadline, no checklist, no real purpose — just quietly moving around the house and fiddling with things. Rearranging shelves. Moving art. Swapping objects around just to see what happens.
It’s basically meditation…but in motion.
Sometimes the Best Way to Relax Is to Move
Recently, I spent about an hour and a half restyling our kitchen hutch. That’s kind of the perfect puttering window for me — long enough to get lost in it, but short enough that I can move on before I start overthinking everything.
And honestly, that’s one of the best rules for styling: stop before you overthink it.
When I’m layering pieces on shelves, there isn’t a strict formula. Sometimes items sit alone, sometimes they’re two or three deep. In this case, I started with blue-and-white plates at the top and decided to carry that color story down each shelf so it felt connected.
Balance doesn’t have to be perfect. But repetition helps.
Scale matters too. For example, a large white bowl at the bottom shelf helps visually connect the countertop with the artwork above it so the piece doesn’t feel like it’s floating.
Another thing people always ask: Does kitchen art need to be food-related?
Not at all. If anything, I like it when it’s unexpected.
Kitchen Sources
A few other styling details from the hutch:
- Figs are my favorite — whether they’re on a charcuterie board, in a candle scent, or on faux branches. These feel right at home in a kitchen.
- Some of the copper pots are intentionally turned so you can see the worn side. A little age and patina add character.
- Everything on these shelves is functional. Chris regularly grabs pots from the shelves.
One last tip that changed how I style candles: if you display taper candles, they should have been lit at least once. (See our tried-and-tested dripless taper candles.) A bright white wick makes them look brand new, like they’re just there for the photo. A slightly burned candle feels lived-in. Which, really, is the whole point.
Because the best spaces aren’t perfectly styled—they’re used, moved around, and occasionally puttered with.
Want more intentional styling tips? I share how to style a kitchen in this post!
