The noisy summer is gone. It took with it the colourful beach towels, umbrellas and inflatable belts.
It left some shells in one corner and a slight tiredness from all the experiences. It is for our summer-weary bodies and souls that autumn comes - to bring us the comfort and peace we need.
If you want to tune in to the waves of autumn and soak in its slow gentleness, you need to part with the unnecessary belongings, garish tones and bright accessories.
The best at harmonizing the outer and inner worlds are, of course, the Scandinavians.
They don't like to clog up their lives and houses with possessions so they don't have to be slaves to them, but have time to enjoy life as they like it - warm and cosy.
Colour frequency - in one range
The harmonious colours in which Scandinavian homes are painted exude the calm of predictability. But that calm predictability with which you make your coffee in the morning - always with two lumps of sugar and some milk. No surprises, but no disappointments either.
You can play with shades of white and grey, add an accent of darker grey or even black, but overall a Scandinavian home is an ode to white - like snow and light, with a few grey elements.
Clean but not sterile
The best thing about Scandinavian homes is that they are lived in. You can feel it even if no one is home.
In a Scandinavian home, it feels nice to come home, take your shoes off in two or three in the hallway and hang out on the couch.
You're not worried about creasing or shuffling anything, because the arrangement of the home obeys the habits of the owners, not the other way around.
That's why the blanket from the couch is rarely put away. It's there, casually draped over you, ready to embrace you at the end of the workday.
Few possessions
The visual noise that many possessions create is not familiar in the Scandinavian home. Remove all unnecessary dust-collecting souvenirs and gifts. Stow them in boxes and only open them if you're feeling nostalgic.
They don't need to be in front of your eyes all the time. You need peace of mind, not coat hangers of attention.
And rely on quality
Quality items last us a long time and look as good as they did in the first days after we bought them.
The Scandinavian philosophy is that less and better quality is better than a lot and cheap.
Why clog up our home with cheap goods when we can have only what we really need and it will serve us long?