How to make time for yourself. A quiet evening spent with a small light and a gentle scent

Do you have a habit for resetting yourself after a busy day?

During the day, as we're pulled along by work, housework, time with children, and all the other things we have to do, time slips away before we know it. But if we can carve out even a little time to face ourselves amid all that, we can sort out our feelings and thoughts, and greet the next day with a fresh mindset.

"Light" and "scent" are the items we'd like to recommend for resetting yourself at home, in the same space you always spend time in. Used well as tools to shape your surroundings and your time, they can easily create a moment for you to slow down and face yourself.

Try Using Indirect Lighting

Every home has some form of lighting, and most of it is fixed to the ceiling. Light shining down from the ceiling brightens the whole room, of course, making it an indispensable part of daily life. Many people also have a small lamp for illuminating detailed work up close—for reading, cooking, or writing.

Apart from this kind of lighting, what we'd like to suggest as a way to "set the mood" and create a relaxing space is indirect lighting. Rather than functioning as a practical light source, it plays a role as interior décor that shapes the atmosphere of a room.

This is the Michiyukitou by Fores. As its name suggests, this andon (traditional Japanese paper lantern) is designed to be carried by hand to light one's way, and it's built to be easy to hold.

This Michiyukitou has an LED lamp built inside. When lit, it gently diffuses a warm-colored light. It's made using Mino washi (Japanese paper), a craft with a 1,300-year history. Made from kozo (paper mulberry) fiber, this washi is sturdy despite being paper. Its accordion-fold structure makes it easy to assemble and store, and being very lightweight, it's also easy to carry around. With a simple design that lights up at the press of a switch, it's a convenient piece of indirect lighting you can incorporate into your life with ease.

The Key Is "What to Illuminate"

Indirect lighting offers more freedom than ceiling lights, but that freedom can also leave you wondering how best to use it. If you choose a spot just because it's "out of the way," you might end up pushing it to a corner of the room, and with so many possible places—the living room, the bedside, a bookshelf—it's easy to feel unsure.

Rather than looking to indirect lighting for brightness, if what you want is light that creates a calming space, we recommend focusing on the question of "what to illuminate."

Placing It on a Table = Illuminating Your Field of Vision

A dining table you use for every meal, a work desk, a low table in the living room—these tables around the house are easy places to start with. For example, if you place the Michiyukitou on a table and sit down in a chair, a soft, hazy light comes into your field of vision. In other words, placing a light on a table means illuminating your own view. With the Michiyukitou, rather than the harsh glare of a fluorescent bulb, the light passes softly through the washi, helping to calm your mind.

Another nice thing about the Michiyukitou is that, since it doesn't stand very tall, it doesn't feel overly conspicuous even on a tabletop. It's not bright enough to write by, but on an evening when you want to relax with a leisurely cup of tea, or unwind while listening to music, turning off the ceiling light and lighting only the Michiyukitou lets you enjoy its soft glow.

Placing It on a Shelf = Illuminating Your Favorite Things

The top of a shelf is another easy place to put a light. It's fine to place it somewhere with nothing else around, but if you set it next to a favorite small object or book so that part of it is deliberately illuminated, you can create a stylish atmosphere.

When people are in the dark, their eyes are naturally drawn to bright spots. Try lighting up a beautifully bound book, a treasured ornament, or a vase of flowers, and you'll find they take on a different impression than they do in daylight. This is something only possible in the dark of night, and it's a way of using light we'd love for anyone who loves books and small objects to try.

Placing It at Your Feet = Illuminating the Space, Creating Depth

People often place lights near their feet in dark areas simply because it's hard to see and can be dangerous, but this spot is also useful for shaping a space. For instance, try placing one at the top of a staircase or against a wall, and you'll notice the light stretching along the floor or wall. Illuminating spots like this—especially by increasing the number of lit surfaces—creates a sense of depth in the room, producing a visual effect that makes the room look more spacious.

Try placing one in a corner of the stairs, by the bedside, or at your feet when seated in a chair, and you can easily enjoy shaping your space in a way that feels different from usual.

Enjoying Candles

Another light we'd like to suggest for use inside the home is the candle. Since it involves handling fire, it can't be said to be as easy to use as electric light, but it has qualities electricity simply can't replicate—the gentle sway of the flame, its color, and the scent that drifts through the air.

This candle is from Kurashiki Seirou. It's a candle with wax inside a glass vessel like a test tube, and since it comes with a wooden base, there's little worry of it tipping over.

Pegasus Candle, the parent company of Kurashiki Seirou, has been making candles in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture since 1934. They craft wedding candles, aroma candles and more using their own techniques, handling everything from manufacturing to product management consistently at their own factory.

The wax is made from palm wax refined from palm leaves. When lit, three gentle scents drift through the air: floral, green, and cassis leaves.

If you're not used to using candles, you might find yourself thinking "when should I use this?" and end up never using it at all.

So we recommend setting a specific time to light it and building a habit around that—for example, lighting it during your skincare routine, while checking your phone, or for just a few dozen minutes before sleep. Simply watching the flickering flame can be relaxing, and the softly drifting scent along with the gentle warmth will gradually invite you toward sleep. Just don't forget to blow it out.

You can use it again and again until the wax runs out, making it a wonderful companion for every night.

For enjoying scent more casually

If you want to create atmosphere even more effortlessly than with lighting or candles, we also recommend making use of "scent." With a diffuser, you can enjoy fragrance simply by placing it somewhere, without using electricity or fire.

There are many types of diffusers, but reed diffusers—which use sticks inserted into fragrance oil—can be used simply by setting them in place. The plant-based rattan sticks draw up the fragrance oil and release the scent. While it won't spread widely through a room, it lets the scent drift softly and quietly. You can also adjust the strength of the fragrance by changing the number of sticks you use, so despite seeming like an old-fashioned method, it's actually a very practical item.

The reed diffuser featured on ZUTTO is from CLAUSPORTO. Known as Portugal's first perfume and soap maker, they are also referred to as "jewels of fragrance." It's unfortunate that words alone can't convey the scent, but the aroma fragrances are blended in southern France using various flowers, plants, and fruits.

This is a diffuser you can trust to choose your favorite scent during a relaxed moment before sleep, or to leave by your bedside as you drift off. Scent, too, plays a role in making your own private time feel luxurious.

The time after a bath when all that's left is to sleep, or after the rest of the family has gone quiet—these moments are precious, freed from the sense of obligation to "get things done," a time to let your once-active self relax. To rest not just your mind but your body too, lighting and fragrance can help shape that space. If you can spend a calm, quiet night, tomorrow can start off on a good note as well.

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