The Signal: Make Room - A Simple Spell for Creating an Intentional Space in Your Home

Julie Miller

Sep 4

6 min read

There is something about September that makes me want to move things around.

Maybe it’s the back-to-school energy: new notebooks, consistent schedules, the sense that summer is winding down and we’re being invited back into some kind of rhythm.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that idea of a reset this year. Not starting over. Not becoming a different version of myself. Just paying attention to what I want more of in my life and finding small ways to make room for it.

And I realized I wanted a place in my home that felt a little more intentional.

I was perfectly happy sitting on my couch reading, pulling cards, sipping coffee, or writing in my journal. I didn’t need a new personality, a twelve-step morning routine, or a complete overhaul of my home.

I wanted something much smaller.

I wanted a corner.

Before I moved anything, I spent some time thinking about what I was actually craving.

I already had places to do the things I love. I could sit on my couch and read. I could pull tarot cards at the dining room table. I could curl up with my coffee and a notebook almost anywhere.

But I wanted a place that felt intentional.

Somewhere smaller. Somewhere I could still see outside. Somewhere that quietly said: this is a place for reading, writing, pulling cards, thinking, dreaming, and drinking coffee while doing absolutely nothing productive.

So I decided to make one.

Cozy reading nook with an armchair, plants, books and warm lighting, created as an intentional space for reading, writing and reflection. — Making room doesn’t have to mean starting over. Sometimes it’s simply moving what you already have until a forgotten corner feels like an invitation.

First, I cleared the space.

I took everything out of the corner.

Not because everything there was wrong, but because I wanted to see the space without its previous assignment.

I wiped down the walls. Washed the window. Cleaned the floor.

Then I cleared the energy.

I used incense, but this doesn't require smoke or any particular spiritual tool. You could light a candle. Ring a bell. Clap your hands. Open the window. Use a feather to move the air through the space.

The tool isn't the spell.

The intention is.

I was simply signaling that whatever this little corner had been before, it was allowed to become something else.

Then I started bringing things back.

I knew I wanted a comfortable chair, and luckily I already had one elsewhere in my house that was perfect.

I changed the light.

I brought in a small table and a basket that could hold the things I knew I would reach for: pens, notebooks, tarot cards and, because apparently this is who I am now, reading glasses.

Then I moved things around.

Added something.

Took something away.

Sat in the chair.

Moved something again.

There wasn't a plan for how the corner was supposed to look. I was paying attention to how I wanted it to feel.

Warm.

Creative.

Quiet.

Inviting.

Mine.

And when it finally felt like what I had imagined, I stopped.

That part matters. There is always another thing we could add. Another basket. Another pillow. Another trip to Target disguised as spiritual development. But the point wasn't to decorate a reading nook.

The point was to make room.

Then I told the space what I wanted.

This is where arranging furniture became a tiny spell.

I stood in the space I had cleared and created and told it what I hoped would happen there. I told it I wanted a place for inspiration and creativity. For books and tarot cards and writing. For coffee and staring out the window. For ideas that weren't required to become anything.

And then I asked the space to show me what else it was there for.

That was it.

No elaborate ritual.

No perfect incantation.

Just acknowledgement.

I made this space for something. Let's see what happens here.

Woven basket filled with books, journal, tarot cards, pens and reading glasses as a portable intentional space for creativity and reflection. — Intentional space doesn’t require extra square footage. A basket filled with the things that invite you to read, write, create, or reflect can become a space of its own.

Your Space Doesn't Have to Be a Space

Not everyone has a corner of their home they can claim as their own. You may share your home with a partner, children, roommates, or family. You may live somewhere small where every chair, table, and corner already has a job.

Making room doesn't necessarily require having more room.

Your intentional space could be a basket that holds a journal, tarot cards, sketchbook, or your needlecraft project. It could be a tray you bring to the kitchen table, a box tucked under your bed, or a shelf that holds the things that invite you back to something you want more of.

The space doesn't have to remain physically set apart to be intentional. Sometimes the ritual is simply taking out the things you've gathered, creating your space for a little while, and putting them away again.

You aren't claiming square footage. You're creating a container for something you want to welcome into your life.

However you create it, the practice is the same: you are making room.

The next morning, I made coffee.

I sat down in the chair and turned on the lamp. I didn’t open my book. I didn’t pull a card or pick up a pen. I didn’t even have my phone in my hand.

It was just me, my coffee, and an open mind.

I sat there for a while, noticing. Breathing. Being.

Movement outside the French doors caught my eye.

I looked up and there, on my back deck, was a tiny wild bunny.

I have lived in this house for twenty years. I have never had a bunny visit my deck.

Of course, eventually I looked up the spiritual meaning of a rabbit appearing in your yard. Rabbits are often associated with new beginnings, good luck, and personal growth. As small, gentle animals who survive by knowing when to move and when to retreat, they can also be a reminder to protect your peace, nurture your energy, and make space for rest.

Well.

I had just created a space for exactly that.

Maybe the bunny was simply a bunny who happened to wander onto my deck that morning. I’m perfectly willing to leave room for that.

But I’m also a witch who had stood in this newly created space the night before and asked it to show me what it was here for.

So I’m leaving room for that, too.

Quiet sunlit corner of a home with hardwood floors, a window, and a single green plant, ready to become an intentional space for rest or creativity. — Sometimes a reset begins with an empty corner. Clear what was there, notice what you’re craving, and give the space permission to become something new.

The Signal: A simple spell for creating an intentional space

You don't need an empty room to create intentional space in your home.

You need a corner.

A chair.

A piece of a table.

A windowsill.

A cushion on the floor.

Start by asking yourself: What am I craving more of this season?

Not what should you accomplish.

Not what habit should you finally master.

What do you want more room for?

Reading?

Creativity?

Rest?

Tarot?

Writing?

Meditation?

Daydreaming?

Morning coffee before anyone needs anything from you?

Then find somewhere small enough to hold it.

Empty the space completely. (Even if it is simply a basket or a box.)

Clean it.

Clear the energy in whatever way makes sense to you.

Then shop your own home before you shop anywhere else. Move the chair. Steal the lamp from the bedroom. Find the forgotten basket in the closet. Bring out the blanket you love instead of saving it for some mysterious future occasion.

Build slowly.

Add.

Edit.

Sit there.

Pay attention.

And when the space feels finished, let it be finished.

Tell it what you're hoping for.

Then ask: What else are you here to show me?

And listen.

I spent no money creating my corner.

I moved things around.

Made space.

Cleared some energy.

Changed the intention.

That feels like exactly the kind of reset I'm interested in this September.

Not becoming someone new.

Making a little more room for the person who is already here.

An Invitation for September

This September, I’m spending a little more time tending hearth and home; not by changing everything, but by paying attention to the spaces, rituals, and small practices that make my home feel like mine.

Join me here every Friday for The Signal, where I’ll share a simple spell for tending hearth and home.

From My Own Practice

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Woodland Wardens by Jessica Roux - one of my favorite oracle decks for exploring animal symbolism, seasonal energy, and the natural world. The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur - one of my favorite books of poetry by this brilliant writer. It’s a book I’ve returned to more than once for its words on love, loss, growth, and becoming.

Pocket Notebooks - my favorite little journals for quick notes. I keep these everywhere because I never know when my brain is going to decide it has something important to say. They’re perfect for ideas, lists, observations, tarot notes, or whatever I need to get out of my head and onto paper.